Big Bloke VS Carbon Fibre?!

[TommyGunn]

Just wondering if any of you larger cycling lads are riding full carbon fibre or carbon fibre/aluminium moncouque bikes, and if so, how do they hold up?

I am a big bloke (190cm/102kg - 12.5%body fat ex pro rugby player) and have heard stories in my group of carbon fibre being a "no go" for people my size. Currently I am riding a Cannondale R2000 with full DA but am thinking of going with either a new Cannondale 6-13 or Willer Carbon.

Any suggestions? i don't want to blow all my hard earned to have my bike crack within a month, allthough i will change the wheels to a stronger set of Mavics rather than ride on Ksyriums.

Will this wheel change (to the stronger set) make my upgrade really not worth the bucks?

Any advice please!!

____________________
He who never rides is always fresh..

 

[gubaguba]

I'm not sure if this is still offered today but my Trek has a lifetime guarantee. Don't know what other bike makers offer but it was a selling point for me to get on an early carbon frame. I abuse it daily and weigh in at 210 Lbs and am 6'4". I often ride it loaded with all sorts of stuff. My next frame will be carbon as well if I can scrape up the cash.

 

[dhk]

I'm not sure if this is still offered today but my Trek has a lifetime guarantee. Don't know what other bike makers offer but it was a selling point for me to get on an early carbon frame. I abuse it daily and weigh in at 210 Lbs and am 6'4". I often ride it loaded with all sorts of stuff. My next frame will be carbon as well if I can scrape up the cash.

Trek certainly makes a durable CF frame. But if you read your lifetime guarantee, you'll find it covers defects in materials and workmanship; normal wearout or fatigue damage is not included. In other words, if you hammer the frame for 30,000-50,000 hard miles and it fails due to fatigue, Trek isn't under any obligation to replace it.

This fatigue exclusion applies to the other major manufacturer guarantee's I've read as well. It's a reasonable positiion for the companies of course.....they aren't in business to give away free replacement frames to racers for life.

 

[meehs]

my gut-feel is that a good quality carbon frame would be just as durable (or perhaps even more durable) than the aluminum R2000 C'Dale that you're riding now.

 

[DeanC]

I sent mail to the Trek folks asking them if the 5000-series bikes would stand up to my 250lb frame. The answer I got back was that the frame would be fine but that I'd really want to upgrade the wheels to something beefier. They said if I stuck to the stock Bontragers that I could expect about 50% the wheel life that a lighter rider would get.

Dean

 

[TommyGunn]

Cannondale offer the same warranty as Trek, but i am still wary of getting the 6-13 as it is not monocoque, therefore has inherent weaknesses at the joins. As for the wheels, i have heard the Bontrager X-lites have a few durablity problems with "bigger lads" - moreso than the Kysriums (broken spokes etc)

In my test ride of the Willer CF, it obviously felt much stiffer than my R2000, but when you weigh as much as i do, many in my group believe if a waste of money to get a CF bike to save a few kilos when you weigh over 100 yourself!

Maybe i should just stay with aliminium? Has anyone laboured over this problem before?

Thanks for all your feedback!

 

[boudreaux]

I'm not sure if this is still offered today but my Trek has a lifetime guarantee. Don't know what other bike makers offer but it was a selling point for me to get on an early carbon frame. I abuse it daily and weigh in at 210 Lbs and am 6'4". I often ride it loaded with all sorts of stuff. My next frame will be carbon as well if I can scrape up the cash.

The warranty covers defects in materials and workmanaship, not abuse by the obeese.

 

[boudreaux]

Cannondale offer the same warranty as Trek, but i am still wary of getting the 6-13 as it is not monocoque, therefore has inherent weaknesses at the joins. As for the wheels, i have heard the Bontrager X-lites have a few durablity problems with "bigger lads" - moreso than the Kysriums (broken spokes etc)

In my test ride of the Willer CF, it obviously felt much stiffer than my R2000, but when you weigh as much as i do, many in my group believe if a waste of money to get a CF bike to save a few kilos when you weigh over 100 yourself!

Maybe i should just stay with aliminium? Has anyone laboured over this problem before?

Thanks for all your feedback!

Why do big heavy guys obsess over crazy light stuff and them worry about durability?? This should be a no brainer. Cdales warrany does not cover failure from fatigue,and neither does Treks.It's workmanship and materials. Try reading it.

 

[dhk]

Why do big heavy guys obsess over crazy light stuff and them worry about durability?? This should be a no brainer. Cdales warrany does not cover failure from fatigue,and neither does Treks.It's workmanship and materials. Try reading it.

From Cannondales website: http://www.cannondale.com/policies/bike_warr_policy.html

I like the fact that Cannondale is upfront about the fact that their frames don't last forever. Believe they build some of the most durable frames around, but they know they can and will be broken. I applaud them for being honest about their warranty and the fatigue issue. Seems to me other manufacturers and their dealers are happy to allow the myth of a "lifetime" 1500 g frame to float around out there.

Here's a discussion of the weight/durability tradeoff I thought was pretty interesting:
http://www.cadencecycling.com/docs/bike-howto.PDF

 

[hashde]

My advice is to stay away from carbon all together. I have never broken a carbon frame because I won't buy one, but I have broken 5 (yes, 5) Zipp Team Clydesdale 404's. Carbon just does not handle bumps well. I'm a 5'11 Gold's Gym refugee/Triathlete. These are the wheels Zipp rates for people up to 300lbs. At least they have good customer service.

 

[Jaguar27]

Just wondering if any of you larger cycling lads are riding full carbon fibre or carbon fibre/aluminium moncouque bikes, and if so, how do they hold up?

I am a big bloke (190cm/102kg - 12.5%body fat ex pro rugby player) and have heard stories in my group of carbon fibre being a "no go" for people my size. Currently I am riding a Cannondale R2000 with full DA but am thinking of going with either a new Cannondale 6-13 or Willer Carbon.

Any suggestions? i don't want to blow all my hard earned to have my bike crack within a month, allthough i will change the wheels to a stronger set of Mavics rather than ride on Ksyriums.

Will this wheel change (to the stronger set) make my upgrade really not worth the bucks?

Any advice please!!

____________________
He who never rides is always fresh..

Funny you should ask...I'm going to buy a Kestrel (full Carbon) within a couple of weeks so I called the Kestrel HQ and asked them a few questions today...one question was weight limit...The Guy I spoke to was more than helpfull and told me it was 300Lbs, they had a 280 Lb Customer and he'd had no problems at all....

I'm 200Lbs and had the same concerns as you...sorry, I can't speak for the Brands you were asking about...

Incidentaly, it's really refreshing to call a Bike Company and chat about their products, the Guy (I can't remember his name) was more than willing to spend some time with me...he earned a Customer...

 

[gubaguba]

My advice is to stay away from carbon all together. I have never broken a carbon frame because I won't buy one, but I have broken 5 (yes, 5) Zipp Team Clydesdale 404's. Carbon just does not handle bumps well. I'm a 5'11 Gold's Gym refugee/Triathlete. These are the wheels Zipp rates for people up to 300lbs. At least they have good customer service.

Interesting.. with this logic I might add don't by anything aluminum as it bends as do my aluminum rim wheels. Don't buy steel as it will rust as those steel rims I had in 1970 did. I once had a carbon fishing rod break. I don't use it to compare bike frames though because its is not one. Sorry to hear you broke 5 wheels, are you on the sixth one now or did you move to another wheel.

 

[meehs]

My advice is to stay away from carbon all together. I have never broken a carbon frame because I won't buy one, but I have broken 5 (yes, 5) Zipp Team Clydesdale 404's. Carbon just does not handle bumps well. I'm a 5'11 Gold's Gym refugee/Triathlete. These are the wheels Zipp rates for people up to 300lbs. At least they have good customer service.

I wouldn't compare the durability of carbon wheels to that of a carbon frame. We're talking about two completely separate issues here. Did Zipp keep giving you warranty replacements for your Zipp 404's? I guess they must've or you probably wouldn't have continued using them. That's pretty damn good customer service in my opinion!

 

[boudreaux]

My advice is to stay away from carbon all together. I have never broken a carbon frame because I won't buy one, but I have broken 5 (yes, 5) Zipp Team Clydesdale 404's. Carbon just does not handle bumps well.

That's just BS.

 

[tamman2000]

The warranty covers defects in materials and workmanaship, not abuse by the obeese.

ya know, 210 and 6'4" is not obese...

Or is Magnus Backstedt fat?

 

[boudreaux]

ya know, 210 and 6'4" is not obese...

Or is Magnus Backstedt fat?

Sorry, I know there is a better work,but I couldn't spell it. Besides, abuse by the obeese just sounds right.

 

[tamman2000]

Cannondale offer the same warranty as Trek, but i am still wary of getting the 6-13 as it is not monocoque, therefore has inherent weaknesses at the joins.

All locations where a structural member is not straight have stress consentrations which create weakness, even in monocoque frames. But they are engineered to overcome these weeknesses. The same is true of multi-piece frames, there is inherant weakness at the joint, but the joint is engineered to overcome this (thicker tube near the joints, large areas of adheasion...).

Don't let the fact that the frame is not one piece convince you that it isn't durable, if it is properly designed and constructed it will be just as strong as a monocoque (perhaps not as light all things being equal, but they never are equal...).

 

[meehs]

Sorry, I know there is a better work,but I couldn't spell it. Besides, abuse by the obeese just sounds right.

Here: b - i - g

 

[boudreaux]

Cannondale offer the same warranty as Trek, but i am still wary of getting the 6-13 as it is not monocoque, therefore has inherent weaknesses at the joins.

Trek OCLV isn't ether.It's tubes and lugs glued together.

 

[RC2]

Here: b - i - g

l - a - r - g - e
t - a - l - l