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Old 07-13-08 | 03:42 PM
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melville
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Originally Posted by Six jours
Back in the day I had a Vitus Carbone 9 which was a full carbon bike -- stays and everything -- with standard diameter tubes plugged into aluminum lugs. This thing was a total swingset. Handled so badly that any time I made up on on the climbs -- it was extremely light back then -- was lost fighting with it on the way back down. I eventually missed a turn completely on a rough downhill and splintered it into the hay bales. I didn't actually regret it.
My Vitus is the aluminum model and it's the best descending bike I've ever had. Yes the BB moves around, and it's not a problem.

I think my Viscount FG winter bike may be more flexible, and my 74 Raleigh International is a distant third to these two. The BB on the Int'l doesn't move about so much as the head tube moves relative to the seat tube. It can develop a slight wobble with a touring load, if it's distributed badly.

These bikes are all in the 52 to 54 cm range, and I'm a retired trackie, retirement putting me at 190+ lbs. YMMV.
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