Originally Posted by
BillyD
Most (much?) of that generation doesn't want to ride metal. They want what's trendy, what's the latest . . . they shun metal because they see it as old fashioned, like mom & pop. And like you said, they want what the pros ride.
Personally I think they're being suckered, durability-wise, but it's their choice . . . and their money.
As time goes by with my Trek 5200, I'm less and less sold on the "durability" argument as a knock against CF. In the last eight years, its survived thousands of miles and a couple crashes, and keeps on trucking.
I don't necessarily see carbon fiber, for road applications, as any more or less durable than the other frame materials out there. As a couple other folks have mentioned, I think it matters more what a builder does with those materials, than necessarily the materials themselves.
If two cooks both make breakfast, and one makes Waffle House esque scrambled eggs, and one makes Eggs Benedict, we don't run around saying eggs are a crappy ingredient for a meal.