Littlebike

I am looking at these two bikes:
Lemond Sarthe (steel)
https://www.lemondbikes.com/bikes/roa...eel/sarthe.php

Lemond Buenos Aires (Carbon)
https://www.lemondbikes.com/bikes/roa...enos_aires.php

The bikes have identical equipment with the exception of headset and frame. The price difference is negligible relative to the cost of the bikes - I am getting taken care of because of some contracting I did.

Me:
About 250lbs and in the process of losing weight.
I anticipate riding between 100-200 miles a week, maybe more as I get healthy.
I will never never never race.
I do anticipate getting involved in casual multi day tours.

The gear head in me wants CARBON!!!!! But I fear I am being a gear head and not truly looking at the characteristics of the bikes.

My concerns:
Longevity of Carbon
Durability of Carbon

Your advice is truly appreciated - I hope to make a decision by the end of this week.

BTW, I have only ridden road for one season and just sold my old bike - a Cannondale R1000 that was just a little to large for me.

waterrockets 

No difference in durability if you take care of the frame. If you're prone to beating it up a bit, I'd recommend steel. Mine falls over every so often or has other bikes fall on it -- and I don't really care -- but it's steel.

Other than that, it won't really matter unless you do a lot of long climbs or like the feel of one over the other.

lvleph

The Carbon will be a bit lighter, maybe a bit stiffer, but the steel will be more durable. I prefer steel over carbon, because of durability. I do however, ride my only bike every day, and I ride it through the downtown area of the city I live in. I have a carbon and aluminum bike (mostly carbon). My last bike was a steel bike. I am actually looking into buying a steel bike again, because I just beat up on my bike too much.

8Lives

Ride them both if you can. The Buenos Aires is very nice, carbon is my choice (Zurich) but choose the one that feels best to you. I rode the Zurich back to back twice against a steel Serotta (amond a whole lot of other bikes), a higher end frame than the Sarthe. The Zurich was, for me, hands down better. My road tests were pretty long, mostly climbing and descending. If my riding was more on the flats it probably may have been a closer call.

biker128pedal

Take each for a ride.

bccycleguy

The Sarthe is a great bike, but buy the one that fits you the best.

mezza

Buy the one that you think will get you laid.

Littlebike

waterrockets:
I am insanely anal about bike maintenance - I have about 10 years of background being a bike mechanic - and though I can make a bike SING as a mechanic I know little about road bikes as all the shops I ever worked in were MTB specific.

I am in Illinois - land of no hills - so climbing is not an issue. Mostly I am concerned about durability from things like tiny nicks.

As a rider I am very smooth - I rode trials (riding over picnic tables, dropping 4-6 feet) for 5 years without ever bending a wheel or breaking a part. I recall a time when Carbon had an intended lifespan, eg: This frames lifespan is 5 years - or something to that effect.

Most likely I am concerned about a non issue but I wanted to get some feedback on it.

Littlebike

Clearly that would be the Sathe as my wife would prefer I save the money but on the upside, I just bought a new pair of shoes that my wife says, "may make me lose my panties". If I get the bike I will return to zero sum.

531Aussie

that's one thing bothers me about carbon: it's not idiot proof, so I'm sure if I had one I'd knock it over and smash something in no time

schnee

I'm 6'-3", 250, and ride a carbon mountain bike. I've endo'd in rock gardens, flopped ungracefully from technical climbs, and hit 30+mph on super-rough fire roads. Abuse that would have crumpled my previous aluminum frame has only caused scratches. It's strong stuff. My new roadie is carbon too, and I trust my 'big-boned' ass on it completely.

That said, go with your gut feel. Steel is a wonderful material, and has a feel that's every bit as nice as carbon in a slightly different way. The weight differential is minimal.

prendrefeu

Get both - find a steel/carbon mixed frame ;-)
Bianchi makes one - the Virata
SEVEN cycles makes one (at least, they used to, you local LBS can probably order from NOS and have it on the cheap to you)
Colnago, I think, made a model too.

I commute/ride-in-traffic about 50+ miles a day, avg on my Virata (and I'm racing cars, riding between cars, and passing by crazy LA drivers, often beating them for miles on end) and on other days, a pure-bred steel fixed conversion from the 80's. Steel is *wonderful* and a solid ride, but that carbon is a dream and is like floating over the roads. That's why I say go for both. You may be able to find one off of ebay, too... some people who aren't very experienced or who haven't felt the ride of a steel bike often stray away from those carbon/steel mixed frames - which makes them more available 'round eBay and the like. Good luck!

MONGO!

Carbon is tougher than people would have you believe.

Yes, it can fail but it can be repaired and pretty cheaply too.

Bottom line, ride both bikes, more than once, and buy the one you like.

orcanova

Carbon is more performance oriented, and steel has a really plush ride.

I have a cutom built steel bike with Campy Record that weighs about 20 lbs., and a carbon bike with Dura Ace that weighs 15 lbs.

Given your OP, I would go for a steel bike. Steel really is sweet and it will not hold you back in any way. The weight difference will not be a factor yet the comfort factor will be.

55/Rad

Flip a coin. With your background as a gearhead, you'll be getting the other one in less than a year.

sfrider 

Test ride them, I think you'll find they have completely different feel.

sfrider 

My experience is the complete opposite. As you pick up speed on less than perfect pavement with a steel bike it gets jittery and bouncy and you have to stand a lot to absorb minor breaks in the surface. A really good carbon bike will start out about the same at lower speeds, but as you pick up speed it smooths out and just floats over all the patchy stuff.

Dr_Robert

Ok, I have to know... what kind of shoes?

bigbossman 

+1

My CF bike is a smoother ride over long distances, especially on rougher roads. After 100 miles, I'm a lot less fatigued if I've been on the CF bike instead of the steel.

urodacus

me too, but then my carbon bike is 2.5kg lighter and has many more gears than my old steel one...

corsent

Frame material no doubt contributes to this; but so does frame design, and for that matter so do the size and pressure of your tires. My two bikes are steel, and one is fitted out with 23s on Ksyrium Elites, the other with 26s on traditional 32-spoke wheels. I've ridden both over the same sections of freshly milled pavement; I wobble and rattle like crazy on the 23s, while I negotiate it with ease (really!) on the 26s.

I have no extensive experience on CF frames. But for the infinitesimal value it's worth, I'll just remark that a test ride on my friend's Scott CR1 suggested little difference from my own bikes in vibration-damping, but a noticeable difference in responsiveness (the thing really jumps when you mash the pedals).

Campag4life

As a fellow gearhead who grew up riding and racing steel, there is but one choice and that is CF. If you think the ride of steel is good, a good CF frame is even better.

Leaky Gas

"My concerns:
Longevity of Carbon
Durability of Carbon"

...repairability of steel, life expectancy of steel, comfort of steel...

I'm a chronically addicted gearhead. I ride a carbon bike (with an integrated seatpost and cut-to-fit steerer, for pete's sake), and I'm advising chromoly.

When you drop some lbs, you can reward yourself with some sexy dinosaur remains then.

Good luck!

jberenyi

I'd go with Steel. Since I started hearing about carbon bikes having catostrophic failures I got scared and sold my Felt F2C so I could get a Ti bike. So far this year I know of two people on new bikes that had cracks in their top tube. One of those guys ended up in the hospital because his new carbon bike developed a crack in the top tube on a descent. The bike came apart at about 25-30 MPH downhill. Needless to say the surviving biker is not buying carbon bike again.

slowgo

The Lemond Spine frame gives you the best of both worlds-carbon and steel, all things considered-I love this bike. Don't know if its the geometry, or the carbon, or the steel, but I love it and it makes me want to ride farther and faster