Originally Posted by
Duragrouch
I've shied away from carbon, a LBS has a web page devoted to fragility and bad failure modes of it, they only endorse its use for competitive racing bikes, and they won't service a lot of it. It also requires very careful installation to keep from damage due to clamp loads, such as using friction paste so you don't need to clamp as hard.
In defense of carbon fiber, I have a previous bike project that I built over 10 years ago that is composed of a EPX TT carbon frame, Easton EC90 Aero fork and Zipp 440 rims. These carbon components are vintage, the Zipp rims are from the 90’s and the frame & fork from the mid 2000’s. I’ve used this bike for commuting and training, on urban bike lanes and in century rides. From my experience, the durability, lighter weight and shock absorption (700x22 Conti tubulars) is excellent.
