redfooj

what's scary about it?

jamesdak 

I've seen this kind of statement on here a lot but wonder if it's true or not. The few old catalogs (brochures) I've collected to go with my vintage bikes show warranties. Mostly 80s though so maybe the earlier 70s didn't??

jamesdak 

Not even close! It's 19 lbs 9 ozs as pictured.

But it rides so lightly under me! I've had, or currently have, lighter bikes but none feel as good as this.

Others can have their 13 lb bikes I'll take this one that's been sprinkled with pixie dust by the bike gods!

jamesdak 

I've seen those too and who says they are dangerous other than the one filming?? It's a manufactured product and I guess it's a fairly complex process and stuff probably happens all the time.

This old 1985 steel frame has all sorts of manufacturing flaws too. Yet here it is 32 years later and still going strong. I suspect that less than perfect C.F. frames can last like that too for the most part.



Dont worry.

Trakhak

There are people here who are real students of bike history---I know only what I've gathered since I started racing bikes in the mid-1960s and managing bike shops in the early 1970s---but I believe that Schwinn was the first company to introduce a lifetime warranty for their bikes.

By the late 1970s and early 1980s, other companies had begun slowly and reluctantly following suit so that they could compete in the U.S. market (I don't know how this worked out elsewhere in the world).

A pertinent story from the mid-1980s---I once asked our Bianchi sales rep how their warranty program worked for the Italian-built bikes: were frames to be covered under warranty shipped back to Italy, or what?

He said that Bianchi USA offered the warranty, not Bianchi of Italy, and that supplying the warranty replacement frames was simply a cost of doing business.

According to him, the people who ran Bianchi in Italy thought it was funny that people in the US expected frame warranties on high-performance steel frames. He was once told, jokingly, "Sure, we can sell you frames with a warranty. They'll weigh 2 kg more, though."

joejack951

My full carbon fiber framed commuter/cross bike has nearly 25,000 miles on it, the majority of that with at least 10 lbs. of stuff on the rear rack and lately 80+ lbs. yanking on the chain and seat stays by way of a Burley trailer with my son and his bike. Anything can fail, and I have a slightly cracked top tube on a LOOK KG386i frame to show that I can damage carbon fiber (clipped by a passing motorist and fell on bike) but I have a hard time believing any lightweight steel or aluminum frame would have fared better. The rear wheel of the LOOK suffered the worst damage and it was a mix of steel, aluminum, and titanium. That said, both the frame and wheel are repairable and will be repaired once I get some more time on my hands.

dynawolf

I have had my 5200 OCLV carbon frame for 15 years without a crack. I weight 250 pounds.

joejack951

I agree. I believe most lugs used for steel frames are investment cast, a process with which I'm quite familiar. If you ever want to see a piece of metal with a bunch of flaws, from voids to contamination, check out an investment cast part. Luckily, most of that is all hidden under the paint so just like carbon fiber you never see those flaws.

Cyclist0108

My 1987 Bianchi developed a crack by the front derailleur braze-on, and Bianchi warrantied it (for life). What "European manufacturers" didn't offer this?

rpenmanparker 

I like 'em all. Carbon and Ti are my current faves. Course I don't have a Venturi. That could change everything.

Trakhak

Bianchi USA warrantied the frame; Bianchi of Italy didn't. See my post (#30) above.

Cyclist0108

So frames weren't warrantied, unless they were. Got it. Hard to argue that the frames weren't warrantied in that case.

(It didn't weigh 2 kg more either.)

(I wish they did have warranty frames available at Bianchi USA like you said. As it was, I had to wait about 10 months for one from Italy, despite being in Berkeley, quite close to where Bianchi USA is located.)

Trakhak

I recognize that the point is a subtle one. The point is that Bianchi USA had to pay for any warranty replacement frames. In other words, Bianchi of Italy did not supply free warranty frames to Bianchi USA.

I don't remember how long it took to get warranty frames from Bianchi USA when we were selling Bianchi bikes in the mid-1980s in Maryland (or when I worked in a Bianchi dealership in Connecticut 10 years earlier, when the bikes were coming from Portofino International, in Massachusetts), but it makes sense that they wouldn't stock many, since they had to pay for them.

Cyclist0108

Those were dark days. My Bianchi frame was busted, my girlfriend had dumped me, and a pile of frameless bike parts sat next to my desk where my grad school research was flailing and looked like it would never work.

That bike cost every penny I had as a grad student. I think if they hadn't warrantied the frame, they would have had a corpse on their hands. I still have the replacement frame now, BTW, and recently updated the component set (the old stuff having fallen apart over the years).

To bring this somewhat back on topic, this frame-breaking incident is what put me off buying carbon. (I weighed about 15 lbs less back then.) I am scared I will break it.

TimothyH

I have nothing constructive to add to this thread but just wanted to say how much I enjoyed reading this.

Made my day, in fact. I'd ride with you any day.




-Tim-

Stratocaster

I never had a carbon framed bike...I like the idea of someday owning one, though. But the more I ride and the more I think about it - there really doesn't seem to be a good reason to get one.
I enjoy the bikes I have (2 aluminum bikes).

PepeM

I like my aluminum bikes. I also like my iron bikes. I am sure I would also love a plastic one, but the price keeps me away from them.

BillyD

Yes, I have. In fact I never started. Too much anxiety. Too much hand-wringing. Too many inspections. And for what? I'm not racing, I don't need the alleged superior performance. Spare me the worrying and vigilance.

Not that I mean to disparage anyone else's bikes and choices. If you're happy I'm happy. I'm not bashing carbon, simply describing the reasons for my choices. As I always say: "To Each His Own".

MZilliox

Carbon? who needs carbon when you have steel stuff like this out there: more chops for less moneys? and plastic is nasty

Zanky Panky by Matt.zilliox, on Flickr

Hiro11

Things I personally don't like about carbon frames:
1. Threaded BBs are rare on carbon frames
2. You have to be very careful with clamping forces on carbon frames. Even attaching a water bottle cage should be done with care.
3. I don't care about a pound of frame weight.
4. I'd rather have rocks pinging off of steel or Ti than plastic.
5. I like the sounds a metal frame makes (ping!) more than the sounds a carbon frame makes (clunk)

I think modern carbon is very safe, I have no concerns there.

redfooj

Good looking bike, notwithstanding all the "nasty plastic" bits on it.

Seattle Forrest

Nasty fork you have there.

LAJ

I broke my carbon fiber bike in a crit, fixed it, and have no issue taking it down a hill at 50+. I wouldn't have been able to fix the seatstay had it been aluminum or steel. That said, I love my old 92 Schwinn PDG aluminum bike. It rides like a truck, and just feels good. Unfortunately, 7 speed dt shifters aren't Di2, and it's just a good jra bike. My 82 Puch does OK as a commuter, as fenders fit nicely on it. I took it on a 300K once, and just wanted to stick an icepick in my temple. Noodley ol thing that it is, just made it tough to go up and down those rollers. I'll keep my old stuff around just so I know where I used to be, and where I am now.

woodcraft

Nasty looking fork, there...

MZilliox

And the wheels, seatpost, and the entire group for the most part, haha. but she rides like steel and stink, not like carbon. totally tongue in cheek lads, all bikes are great, i just have an affinity for ones made of steel accentuated by plastics