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Biking '10 part 2

#781
My name is Mudd said:
The M4 is a nice frame, arguably one of their best in the past few years. As long as the frame is structurally sound, I'd say keep it and save for a new fork (and for that matter, when was the last time that Manitou was overhauled? A new seal kit, fork oil, and some labor and it's good as new).

OTOH, that C/dale up there is a nice bike...
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Frame is boobies. The fork is shot. The carbon is fraying. Funny thing. I happened to be riding home by one of my favorite bike shops, and I stopped in to replace a brake cable. It was my front brakes. I've kind of become friends with a guy there, he really likes my bike. So he offered to pull my brake cable and put it on for me. He pulled it, and then saw my fork, and told me about it. He said "I'm about to get off work right now. Unfortunately for you I rode my bike, otherwise, if I had my truck, I'd give you a ride home. You are moments away from critical failure where your face will be meeting the ground." My fork is not worth overhauling. It's done. This is the third thing that's carbon that I've shot. I had some easton handle bars that I frayed, and then bent, a seatpost (I figured I rarely sit on it when on a trail, so this would seem like a nice place to lighten things up), and now these forks. I'm pretty much done with carbon I think. Not worth the money IMO.
 
#782
Not picking on you at all in saying...

I've said for YEARS now that carbon is for race day ONLY. The current 'gotta have carbon, dammit!' mentality is the same thing as the 'gotta have ti, dammit!' in the 90's, and the 'gotta have purple-CNC'd bits, dammit!' from the 80's - it's all 'new = better!' marketing, dammit...and it's mostly all bulls***.

Yeah, so anyway...if that M4 were my frame, I'd be looking for a used Marzocchi Z2-somethingsomething or a newer 22 RLO RC - parts are still available for these; yeah, they're springs rather than air, but springs are lower/easier maintenance and plusher, and each does have adjustable dampers; and overall, it's REALLY hard to kill a Marzocchi.
 
#783
My name is Mudd said:
Not picking on you at all in saying...

I've said for YEARS now that carbon is for race day ONLY. The current 'gotta have carbon, dammit!' mentality is the same thing as the 'gotta have ti, dammit!' in the 90's, and the 'gotta have purple-CNC'd bits, dammit!' from the 80's - it's all 'new = better!' marketing, dammit...and it's mostly all bulls***.

Yeah, so anyway...if that M4 were my frame, I'd be looking for a used Marzocchi Z2-somethingsomething or a newer 22 RLO RC - parts are still available for these; yeah, they're springs rather than air, but springs are lower/easier maintenance and plusher, and each does have adjustable dampers; and overall, it's REALLY hard to kill a Marzocchi.
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When I got the bike it had all this carbon on it. The dude raced it. I used it everyday and broke it. LOL. Thanks for the tips. I'll scour my craigslist again for these. Haven't really had much luck. Find myself good bikes for almost as much as a good fork.
 
#786
Ziltoid said:
I wouldn't mind carbon on a road bike but the thought of having carbon on a MTB just scares me, it's just a feeling, i have no facts to back this up :p
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Same here. I did break a carbon hardtail(Specialized Epic- the steel-lugged/carbon-tubed version; actually the drive side chain stay broke free of the BB but never really threw me or anything. I just noticed that in the granny on hard climbs it would rub the chainring- I examined it & found the glue joint had failed). At this point I think it's mostly *old-guy-afraid-to-hurt-hisself* syndrome. :atoz:
 
#790
bassteban said:
...Specialized Epic- the steel-lugged/carbon-tubed version...
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Pretty much EVERY one of those frames, as well as the road Epics and Trek's version of the same frame, came unglued after a few years, either at the drive-side chainstay/BB join or the head tube/down tube join...the glue used just couldn't handle the stresses the frames went thru and essentially disintegrated inside each join. The Trek frames lasted a little longer due to the metal rear triangle, but it was still 'when, not 'if.'

853 RULZ! And Moots does make a nice frame...
 
#791
Ziltoid said:
I wouldn't mind carbon on a road bike but the thought of having carbon on a MTB just scares me, it's just a feeling, i have no facts to back this up :p
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I had a Gary Fisher full suspension MTB (sorry, can't remember the model) that had an aluminum frame and carbon rear triangle. I beat on that thing all the time and it kept coming back for more. But, yeah, I feel the same way. I ride a carbon road bike (Tarmac) but I still just don't trust them for mountain bikes. Maybe if I was a little 120# guy or something, but that will never happen unless I chop both legs off.

anyonefortennis said:
Reynolds 853 is what my next frame will be.
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I would love to have a frame made of Reynolds 931.
 
#793
FWIW...it should be pointed out that carbon-then frames are not the same as carbon-now frames, in most cases; carbon-then was basically carbon-fiber cloth formed around a tube-mold and held together with a resin compound...not too dissimilar to fiberglass actually, except for the strength. These tubes were then bonded into metal lugs to make a frame. Kestrel was one of the first to successfully work with carbon composites poured into molds and 'bake' a frame, and Trek took that idea and ran with it to produce the OCLV frames. IMO tho, the Giant carbon frames are probably the best bang-for-the-buck road frames right now, with the Bianchi a close second.

As far a mtn carbon in general goes, I still say that some form of metal is a better option for anything other than a race bike, unless you can afford to retire/replace the frame on a semi-regular basis and/or, as Cosmo points out, weigh about 120 or so...
 
#795
On Dec 1st of 2009 we got the largest snow recorded in Western South Korean history. The snow lasted on the trails and roadsides until late January, early February. Crap weather continued until April. Gained about 15lbs.

Spring and fall are the best for riding in South Korea. Two weeks ago we got busted by a gen-Yu-eyn typhoon. Hit the trails today and never rode the bike more than 20 meters at a time for over 6km. It will be a year before they clear all of the trails we normally ride.

Road riding here sucks and you can imagine why.

Insert poopy diaper imoticon here.
 
#797
Cosmo420 said:
Even then, a warranty isn't going to help you much when your frame snaps mid-downhill and you end up in the hospital.

That's the problem with carbon. When it goes, it goes big time.
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At the moment, most carbon isn't meant for extreme technical riding. While carbon gets badmouthed for snapping, keep in mind that when alloy doesn't give, that force is often transfered to the rider. I think of it like crumple zones of a car.
 
#798
Cosmo420 said:
Even then, a warranty isn't going to help you much when your frame snaps mid-downhill and you end up in the hospital.
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That, and this - around the third time you hit up a builder for a warranty replace, they WILL start asking some pointy questions as to your skills on the bike. Pretty much every warranty has a clause in it that, simply stated and barring a previously-known defect, allows them to say that it's not their fault you broke your frame 'cause you ride like a drunken ox.
 

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