They can ride my touring bike (steel), they can ride my comfort bike (aluminum), and an experienced rider can ride my cannondale synapse (carbon). If they want to race the steel or aluminum bike... fine... but not the carbon. If someone is going to bust up the carbon, it's going to be me. I have a neighbor that does triathlons and she has been doing the biking portion on a mountain bike with a suspension fork. I told her she was welcome to use my touring bike or comfort bike (has slicks on it) for her races if she would like. I figure if you let someone use your bike you are willing to eat the cost of repairs or replacement. The steel touring frame can most likely be repaired if it gets bent up a bit in a crash. The aluminum comfort bike was only $250 and if it was a total loss, I'd still be willing to eat the cost of that for a friend (as long as she doesn't get hurt too bad in a mishap.) But $2500 for a full carbon frame bicycle, nuh uh. I'm sure that she would be so nervous riding it that she probably would crash.