Thinking of getting a new ride .... carbon edition

As the name of the shop in Minneapolis says, Cars-R-Coffins.

Although this thread will not get as much interest if it were about the above, let’s keep it about those magnificant 2-wheel wonders known as bicycles.

I happened into an unexpected side job that will land me a sizeable sum of easy money. I’ve been good all year so I’ll do what any good American should do, I’m gonna blow it on some crap I don’t need. Just to prove I don’t need it, at this time I have 3 vintage steel road bikes (I am likey to sell one of them soon), 1 vintage steel commuter, 1 modern stainless steel road bike and 1 modern aluminum commuter. In the past, I had an aluminum road bike with carbon stays.

What’s missing? I’m glad you noticed. I am lacking an all carbon wonder bike. Even though it is sooooo 2008, I really dig the flat black bikes,

Cinelli Estrada





De Rosa King

Any other suggestions? I prefer to buy used as it saves a few bucks but I am not opposed to drooling over any 2011 models. Let’s keep them all carbon and for the road, mountain bikes do nothing for me and a carbon commuter would just be silly. On a side note, I prefer Campy but I am interested in trying SRAM and carbon wheels are likely, in a 38-50mm profile.

Always been a fan of Indy Fab personally. And the XS is on my dream bike list. Owner of the shop I work at from time to time has one (too small sadly) and loves it. Lugged Ti/Carbon. Sucker will set you back though.

BH G5 is pretty hot in that Spanish carbon sort of way.

CRC indeed…

CRC? Chain Reaction Cycles out of the UK?

Never thought about Spanish bikes. I should do more digging …

Cars-R-Coffins

I will back up the Spanish bikes. I would kill for an Orbea Orca, but I will live with my Onix. I enjoyed the ride much better than the Spec Tarmac. And I believe it was the 2009 that was matte black carbon
orca_tde_2009.jpg

Orbea. Definately a classic. I forgot about those, I haven’t seen one on the road in a long time.

Nurb - Cars-R-Coffins, duh. :blush:

Discuss bikes instead of doing CAD? Sure!

If I was going to shop for a carbon bike, I’d familiarize myself first with the different methods of manufacture, then some of the main manufacturers, and then get into a specific brand’s offerings and claims.

The IF XS, some of the Seven Cycles, Calfee, Parlee, and some Colnagos and BMCs use a lugged/tube construction. The main tubes of the IF, Seven, and Calfee bikes are filament-wound tubes, in the IFs case wrapped with the carbon weave. This is a very different method than the monocoque ‘shaped’ tubes, in that monocoque frames are laid-up with sheets of fiber and then pressed in a mold. I think the majority of the carbon bike market is done this way. Trek does it this way, as do the Orbeas shown above, ditto Specialized, Cervelo, Cannondale, Raleigh, Ridley, Bianchi, etc etc.

The user-facing difference between all these, techno-molding-jargon aside, is that you will get the BEST FIT on a lugged/tube bike. This is because should you choose to spend your dollars wisely, you will go with a custom builder who can size your ride correctly. Some people can buy ‘off-the-rack’ and have a molded carbon bike fit them fine; however the majority of carbon race bikes were designed for athletic, flexible racers. Check out your local bike path to see the real-world results of everyday riders on race bikes: knees splayed out, 2" of headset spacers, neck and bum pain, etc. Check out http://cascadebicyclestudio.com/.

Strictly design-speaking, the graphics on bikes have a huge impact, and some of my favorites are Argon 18:

The BMC bikes:

and some of the Bianchis:
** removed **

If you like the flat black look, check out this Ridley Excalibur Flandrien:

…just saw this new Scott CR1 SL, which has a cool carbon/gray finish, and is designed for ‘weekend warriors’ as opposed to Ricardo Ricco’s…and only $4200 with Chorus 11 at Competitive Cyclist!

Ooooooo That Scott is super hot. Also love the BMC stuff. I can attest to their excellent quality (we used to carry them…)

I’ve been riding an Excalibur (previous generation) for the past several years and have been thrilled with it. It gets ridden 3-5 days/week (to work and back at a minimum) and is stiff and much better at speed than the OCLV Trek it replaced. It’s Ridley’s budget/comfort model and suits me well- the BMC’s, while sexy, have a reputation for being abusive. At 140lb, I just can’t wring compliance out of them. The same goes for Giant (who make many Colnagos, among others)- their bikes are really well put together but can be a bit much on the gravel roads some of our bigger rides hit. And, they’re reasonably priced and very handsome in person… A buddy has a matte black one with dark gray decals and full DA that is plain sexy.

mb

Don’t waste your time with 11 speed Campy. It shifts like garbage compared to SRAM. I haven’t personally tried Chorus, but I’ve tried Super Record 11 and it was horrible. I felt so bad for the guy who bought it (well, not really because he only wanted it to look good…)

while it (Look KG381i) was definitely one of the best road bikes i’ve ever had, i’m not rushing back to carbon. In the longterm I’ve been happier with nice steel bikes–and i think my next geared road bike will be ti. My buddy Sean makes nice ones…

Think outside the tubular world and trust in the truss. Only 2.6lbs of frame for a 56cm,

via: http://www.delta7bikes.com/ascend-road-bike.htm

I really like the Orbea from an aesthetic stand point. I ride an horribly heavy bike from Canadian Tire that I bought used for $80. I think I don’t even need to use my lock, it’s so ugly.

That’s a good-looking frame. I have dropouts like that on my cross bike (also ti). Who’s your buddy?

Further up the price ladder is the Ridley Helium. Integrated seat tube, super light ‘dentist’ bike. I think this is last year’s paint scheme - black/carbon/naked:

Wow. I know almost nothing about bicycles, but there are some seriously sexy craftsmanship in this thread. I think the only thing i’ve not been drooling over so far is the de rosa graphics.

A friend recently worked on this one. Dont know if Nishiki stands up to anything posted here yet, but I like the colorscheme.




And heres the partyspoiler. Im sure there is some Carbon fiber in this thing somewhere…

Sean Chaney of Vertigo Cycles. He does a fair amount of craftsmanship heavy details (both functional and cosmetic)–but that image was a pretty straight forward design.

bngi – where did that “party spoiler” come from? reminds me of a Honda DH bike that was much discussed a few years back when they had a team a few years back.

it was amazing to see an internal gearbox on bike…

Some of my favorites.


Picture 5.png

Got to back up NURB with the shout-out to IF. You can’t got wrong with them. Custom built and painted. Depending on how labor intensive the paint design is it’s covered in the price. Or you can go way custom like I did and pay some more.

They build a variety of bikes including one off concept bikes. On top of that they are great guys and girls, very down to earth. And like many small builders, they are doing what they love, got to have respect for that.

-Peter

I’m loving that Scott. I’ll need to search their site a bit deeper.

I also took a look at some Wiliers, I have always liked watching Cunego ride. This one is particularly nice with the curved chain stays integrated into the seat stays. Reminds me of a old-school Mongoose BMX.




Nurb, why the hate for SR? I ride Centaur now and I find it nearly as good as the 9-speed DA I had. I am also thinking about buying a friend’s '09 SR group for this new frame. He is giving me a great deal at about 1/3 of retail. The weight weenie in me just can’t say no.