I am currently riding a customized Giant Advanced Defy 2 that might or might not have a small crack in the frame. LBS mechanic thought it was a crack in the frame. Giant reassures him it is merely a crack in the paint, without ever seeing the frame. I don' anticipate much movement on their part.

Anyway, I'm thinking of replacing the frame with a steel frame road bike, with a carbon fork. I want something that is more durable, and potentially repairable, that offers a good ride.

I don't race and hardly ever participate in group rides. I keep track of my ride stats, logging about 8000 miles a year, usually averaging around 18 mph, which is not too bad for a 55 year old cycle dude.

I'm not too conscious of the weight, but I'd like to keep the frame under 4 pounds. I have a heavier commuter/touring bike for general riding purposes.

I have considered a custom bike, either steel or titanium, and haven't ruled it out. However, I'm not too thrilled about plunking down $3000.

I have looked at the Soma Smoothie, Richtey Logic, Wabi Lightening RE, and Gunner Roadie. I've looked at Lynskey titanium frames.

Any thoughts on the above frames or any suggestions in the $1000 or so price range? Also, what are your thoughts on steel (or titanium) versus carbon?

just keep riding the Giant.

Carbon is repairable

I have bikes made of steel, titanium, aluminum, carbon fiber. My opinion (here come the knives, I'm sure) is that you can skip titanium and aluminum. I love the responsiveness and lightness of my carbon fiber bikes; and I also love the solid feel of my vintage steel bikes. I've never had any issues with my CF bikes and they have held up really well on some not-so-nice road surfaces; and, as was just mentioned, CF is repairable.

I rode on this absolutely gnarly descent today on one of my CF bikes and I was thinking, hmmm . . . maybe I should have ridden my old, heavy Bianchi. Nothing happened because I was attentive and missed all of the terrible ruts and potholes in the road. I think there might have been spots in which, had I hit them incorrectly, I would have broken my frame. But, honestly, I think the same thing might have happened to my steel frame! So, it all just depends.

I switched to carbon about 10 years ago not because of the stiffness or lightness but because of the comfort.
I tried to back to steel but can't cause I'm so spoiled with the comfort carbon frames offer.

GL.

With today's technology, I wouldn't be too concerned with CF. Chances are, Giant reps aren't concerned in the least about your situation if the symptoms aren't there. Yes, you may see some hairline cracks, but without further evidence of an expansion of said possible cracks and/or loss in stiffness in the frame, cracking noises from hard OOS, etc. it's possible they come across situations like yours all the time, and the conclusion is all the same. Aesthetics, not a functional concern.
Is there evidence out there of how many percentage of frames are repaired by reputable brands over the years? Perhaps. And that'd be a revelatory data mine as far as I'm concerned... but currently it's not an issue to me.
I have a small crack around the BB area of my CF steed, which I noticed ~1200 miles ago. Since then, I've put about as much force as I'll ever put on it (being 265lbs and doing a reasonable amount of sprints and OOS climbing), and haven't noticed any loss in stiffness while sprinting, or heard any noises to be concerned about. The whole notion of CF bikes "assploding" while riding is such a cliche to me so as to be laughable, especially if riding a bike from a known brand that has been producing frames for the last couple decades.
If any concern, I'd take the bike to another LBS for a second-third-fourth opinion. Worst case, get it repaired. $300 for a frame to get repaired so that it's stronger than before sounds a lot more cost effective than plopping down 4 figures for a new setup, if all things are the same.

Yes, you're absolutely right, of course. Carbon fiber can be wonderfully compliant. One of my CF bikes is a Time VXR ProTeam and it is more comfortable on rough roads than any steel bike I've ever ridden. It is also twelve years old now and holding up supremely well to the tens of thousands of miles I've put on her.

It all depends on the bike. There's good stuff out there in any material, but I can't say that I've found a ton of aluminum I liked outside of
Douglas offerings. Steel remains my pick. This one is 16.34 lbs, so it can be done light. My advise is to get whatever feels good and fits.
Not only fits your body, but your needs and your wallet. Don't skimp on the frame or wheels, and don't think you can outride most components.

Above all, ride. Have fun, and ride.

Well, I got ride of two high end CF rides (Scott CR1 Pro, Trek Madone 5.9) and went back to steel and am SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO happy. I have found several vintage steels bikes that are so comfortable and fast. My normal routes have a lot of crappy chipseal and the CF bikes would beat me up. The wrong steel can do the same but the right steel is a joy. I did try a Trek Domane last summer fulling expecting to love it but found my 2003 LeMond Tourmelet was still more comfortable on the rough roads. The cool thing about vintage steel is you can get several bikes for the price of one C.F. I also got my dream bike this winter, a Ti Lynskey. Funny thing is it's set most of this year as I prefer to take out the steel.

Yesterday I even set a PR on one of my routine 23 mile routes on a 1987 Schwinn Circuit that I recently had built up with a cheap Athena 11-speed groupset I bought overseas.

Like you I'm in my early 50s and am closing in on 6000 miles for the year so far and I ride outside year round. I probably average day in and day out in the 17-18 mph range yet can go faster when I work at it. I ride solo 99% of the time.

Now all that said. Cheapest thing to do if you feel safe is to keep riding what you got.

Nice bike! Yeah, mine is just under 17 lb without trying too hard

Nice, I like the less bling

Carbon is better than steel, but it is fun to ride on a variety of materials. I have personal experience with the Ritchey, and find it to be the most comfortable steel frame I have ever ridden. And it meets your weight preference. Good value.

Here is an idea. If you ever travel with your bike, how about buying a steel Ritchey Breakaway frame that breaks down into two pieces for compact stowage in the supplied luggage. It generally travels by air for free. They have gone up in price lately, but you could still get one for not too much over your budget, less if used. And in most cases used means very lightly used. After all, it is a special occasion, travel bike, although it is perfectly suitable for everyday use. They are generally available on ebay at decent prices. Just be sure to look for the steel, road model. They also come in a mix of Ti and carbon fiber and also in MTB and cross models.

Regarding ride quality, the Ritchey Breakaway is as solid as a one-piece frame. I have never heard of anyone saying anything different than that. And it rides as well as Ritchey's one-piece Logic frame. IMO, a great choice for an N+1 situation. Kills a lot of birds with one stone.

my new bike for commuting is an aluminium Specialized S-Works E5 Transition .... it's an older model but in mint condition, has Campy Chorus groupset, and a carbon fork, and was dirt cheap. I average over 200 miles per week commuting:



I have only had the bike for 3 days, and went on some fast rides over the weekend. My 'fast' bike is a Giant TCR full carbon. Comparing these 2 bikes, I think that the Specialized is a lot faster on level ground, but the Giant is better for climbing hills (especially if you have to stand and pedal) ....

My Giant weighs approx 9kg (19.8 pounds), and the Specialized weighs approx 7.8kg (17 pounds).... ride quality is similar, although I think the Giant is a bit more comfortable on bumpy ground

They never made a carbon Shelby and that's what I would go for next if I were to adopt another.

Thanks for the input. If I'm completely honest with myself, I probably want to go with steel for aesthetics and nostalgia. I'm probably going to put the Ultegra 6700 group set back on the Giant frame, and switch the Ultegra 6800 to a steel frame. I also have an aluminum frame Lemond Chambery. I like the idea of have different frame materials for a variety and options.

With that said, I'm considering a Soma Smoothie with a carbon fork ($675), a Ritchey Road Logic with carbon fork ($1000), Wabi, Lightening RE with carbon fork ($1100).

Any thoughts on the above listed frames, or any suggestions?

If the cult wasn't already started, I'd suggest we start one.......

I like to see tri-bikes as roadies.

Sell 'em all, get a Wraith?

You could find a vintage steel frame in your size on Ebay or Craigslist, have the rear triangle re-set to 130, and simply transfer your Giant's components onto it. I've had pretty terrific luck with combining vintage steel and modern components. (Though my signature might reveal enough about my experience with carbon frames.)




P.S. Another old dude here who delights in riding carbon bikes off his wheel.

Initially it seemed the OP wanted peace of mind, and for that I would have suggested steel.

A lot of folks that I ride with have cracks in their CF frames or forks and they keep riding them and they don't asplode. Yours probably wouldn't either. But there is a peace of mind aspect to it as well. I understand that.

Keep in mind, most of the people here who are saying that X is better than steel have not ridden a modern steel framed bike. They are calling on memory of riding heavy, old, vintage steel bikes. Like with any industry, steel has gotten better over time. Just because carbon is the leader in cycling frames doesn't mean the steel industry stopped improving the quality of their steel bike tubesets. I suspect if many were to test ride a nice modern steel bike, their tunes might change a bit.

Of the three you mentioned, I would say the Ritchey is the best of them. @dr_lha has one that he has ridden a long time and loves it. I'm sure he'd be up to telling you all about it. If you like the color of the Ritchey frameset (I don't) that one is really hard to beat for what you get for the price. If they ever update the color scheme on that one, I might build one up. I've seen them sell for $840 as well. That's a steal for what you are getting.

If you really want a carbon fork, that would preclude some of the good steel fork framesets that are out there. Another one to consider with a carbon fork is the Fairdale Goodship frameset. It seems to be a similar steel to the Ritchey, but comes with an Enve 2.0 fork painted to match.

Another one that might be of interest is the Planet X Holdsworth frameset. It appears to be similar to the Ritchey and Fairdale, but less expensive.

Fixed.

Yep, you can't go wrong with the Ritchey Road Logic frameset, it's great, light (57cm frame ~3.9lbs), fun to ride, and pretty cheap for what you get (I paid $830 for frame, fork and headset - if you like Carbon forks, the one on the Ritchey weighs around 330g cut and IMHO looks nicer than the usual bulbous carbon fork looks).

Jarrett2 is just saying the colour scheme is bad because I called his Gunnar ugly.

I've just been more diplomatic heretofore

Wraith is 3 lb in M for around $300 more than Ritchey . I do like the Ritchey too