On May 9, 11:49 am, grant <grant...@gmail.com> wrote: > It is unlikely that any carbon frame or fork bought in 2012 (I'm > giving them time to improve it still) will be both on the road and > safe on the road in 2020. Something will happen, or at least wise > heads will quit riding them.
That seems to me to be an overly pessimistic assessment. I still occasionally see Trek 2300's (CF tubes glued to aluminum lugs) from the early 90's (maybe late 80's?) on the road after some 20 years. Craig Calfee warrantees his frames for 25 years. I suspect quite a few of them will still be on the road in eight years. I wouldn't use a CF frame for touring, shopping, commuting, or back road/off road exploring, steel still makes sense for those purposes. It's no surprise that most of Rivendell's current bikes are suited to just those sorts of rides. When I ride solo, or with a load, or down dirt roads or trails, or with a friend on a casual ride I ride steel. Last Saturday I rode my 1995 Riv Road 62 solo miles with >4500 ft vertical and lots of steep hills and had a lovely time. But I also own a Calfee that I use for for fast, unloaded riding with my bike club. It doesn't need to be versatile, I have other bikes for that. Fenders, racks and baggage would only detract from its intended function, so it doesn't need eyelets to mount any of those things. Its 25 mm tires are wide enough to handle the many miles of decent paved roads within reach of my home. I'm not overly concerned about its longevity, it only gets a couple of thousand miles a year so it should last a long time. All the same, I'm careful not to abuse it. I don't abuse my steel bikes either. I'm also not so worried about cost per ride, or all I'd ride would be Miyata 1000 I bought in 1983 and still ride as a commuter. The cost per ride is low for that bike, but the fun per dollar isn't all that high either. Different tools, different materials for different purposes. Now, can't we all just get along? Bill -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
