Road Cycling - How well can a bike take BUMPS?

I went on my first group ride today, and the main thing I noticed is how these people ride their bikes! We start out, everyone's hopping over railroad tracks, hopping up curbs, down curbs, etc. Before this, I really really babied my bike. Over ANY bumps (even slight ones in the road) I would go slow, etc. These guys weren't riding bikes, they were riding their own personal *****es! Can the wheels take abuse like that? I followed them when going down curbs and stuff, and the back derailleur area made lots of clunking noise, and I just feared for my wheels! I got back, and the wheels look straight and everything, it seems in good order. Can bikes take treatment like that for a few years?

I think there's a balance somewhere in there. While you shouldn't have to worry about tip-toeing over every little bump, it's probably not a great idea to treat your roadie like your MTB.

Kind of depends on what kind of wheels you have....

55/Rad

I agree with the above.

Wheel maintenance will help too. Make sure your wheels are kept true and tight.

It's all right to be aggressive on road bikes but learn to hop over bumps and potholes. Make sure you call them out to riders behind you as well.

I regularly hop curbs and gap large cracks and potholes with my roadbike. I'm running Ksyrium SSC wheels which are fairly strong. I come from a MTB background and developed most of my riding skills on a full rigid so I'm pretty good at babying my jumps even if I don't baby my bike. Still, there are limits.