King of the Hil

Hi guys

The sales guy at the LBS was telling me the merits of having the carbon seatstays and seatpost. I test rode one for about 20 minutes. But, I don't think this was long enough for me to really notice the difference between carbon and alluminum. Is it really worth the extra $$, or is it more marketing hype?

Any thoughts and comments would be appreciated.

Thanks

Snicklefritz

I'd ride as many bikes as you can before making a decision. There are so many factors that combine to make a good ride. I agree that 20 minutes isn't enough. You also need to make sure the tires are pumped up to the normal pressure. Some less than reputable bike shops will slightly underinflate the tires to mak the ride seem more cushy.

Anyways, try to find some bike shops that will let you take it out for a good hour or so. Some places have a demo policy or demo bikes where you pay $50 and get to take it out for the whole day. they credit you the $50 if you end up buying the bike. anyways, on the CF/Al question, the geometry and fit can factor into it as well. When I was looking at bikes to use for general training, I test rode both teh Fuji Team Pro ('05 model) and the Orbea Dama Race. As much as people rave about Orbea, I didn't like the way it rode. The bike didn't feel as comfortable even though it had CF seatstays. The fuji also had CF seatstays but for some reason I liked the way it rode better than the orbea. Who knows what the difference was/. It just said to me you have to ride a lot of different things regardless of what the bike is made of.

head_wind

When I bought my road bike ('02) I tried a few bikes, probably for more
than an hour each. The Cannondale Al bike fit the cliche, 'on an Al
bike you can tell the year of the dime you rode over'. I tried an Al
Lightspeed with carbon seat stays and I think chain stays. That helped
the harshness noticably. The steel and Ti LeMonds were fine and the
carbon Trek 5200 was fine. These were my prejudices from testing. I
suggest that it is worth the time to decide what you like.

Fitting someone without recent experience can be confusing. Im my case
it felt like going to the opthomologist (sp?). Is 'a' better or 'b'?? Well,
I had no idea of which was better. The shop did a good job in spite of me.

terry b

I have a bike or two with that set-up and after 1000s of miles on them I'm completely convinced that they provide nothing more than a marketing advantage to the seller and a cool look. Oh yes, and in the case of the seatpost a 2x cost and maybe 40 less grams.

Five or ten pounds less air in the tires has a much bigger effect.

Miller2

Well my current Bianchi has carbon stays where my previous Felt did not. I could tell that the Bianchi rode smoother. Now, is this a result of the carbon stays or the Bianchi frame geometry or because the Bianchi fit me better.....I have no idea.....

FormerBMX'er

+1 @180°

Ramjm_2000

A well enginered design with quality materials will provide a better ride regardless if there are carbon stays or not. Unfortunatly, some companies throw a cheap under engineered carbon rear on a cheap frame and claim an enhanced ride. IMHE, a well designed mixed frame can enhance the ride but not all designs are created equal. If you need to convince yourself, take your wheelset and test ride the bikes so that your comparing apples to apples.

terry b

Yep, well if we all agreed on everything, the forum would be a boring place.

I'm the 1st to admit I'm not the most sensitive rider, in my opinion every good bike rides well. I leave the nuances for more detail oriented riders.

terry b

Bingo!

Garfield Cat

The combination of carbon and aluminum was once described as the "third metal". I think it means combining the frame with both materials. There is a respectible frame and tube maker from Italy. You would know it as Deda and their line of bars. They also make framesets and many bike manufacturers go to Dedacciai to have them do the frame design for their line of bikes, just like Easton and Columbus.

I have a Dedacciai frameset which is aluminum with carbon fork, carbon seatstay and chainstay. It rides very nice and I think its designed for recreational road riding but not especially for the cobblestone type riding in Europe. I can go on longer rides over 2 hours and its rides well, as well as my steel frame (Columbus tubing) Cervelo Prodigy.

By the way my Dedacciai build up included a metal Thompson Masterpiece seat post.