I can't answer about he carbon, but the BOB is cool to use. I have a steel Waterford road bike with geared-too-high Campy Chorus, but I do fine. I've never done mountains with it, but in SW Iowa, we have plenty of hills. Just pack the trailer right with as much weight to the bottom and back as possible. With it packed like that I've done 40+ mph down hill. Packed wrong, you'll know above 20 MPH.