Aluminium vs Carbon?

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[Yang]

I recently (6 weeks ago) started to repair bike frames in my spare time and do both alu and carbon.

The tally so far:

1x Raleigh RC7000 roadbike frame (magnesium/allow) chain stay dammage by car accident

1 x cervelo carbon road bike(chain stay) dammaged in fall

1 x Specialized XC Pro MTB (alu chain stay) stres dammaged

1 x Specialized Roubi road bike(4 places) accident dammaged

 

So far I have repaired more alu frames than carbon though I know there are more request to repair carbon.

 

My receommendation is for you to buy the bike that rides best for you. To be frank these days it does not realy matter too much. The majority of bike frames (alu and carbon) are broken during accidents.

 

The new top of the range alu frames can be realy thin in some places for the cross country enduro type of bikes as the manufacturer compete for the weight weeny business that there is hardly much difference in my opinion between Carbon and alu strength wise.

 

Also if your not a super fast race snake then a bike of say 1kg more will not make a big difference to your position in a race. I do allot of mtb riding and have ridden all sorts of bikes.

 

If I was you I would stringly recommend you test ride as many bikes as possible. One of those "Ride before you Buy" organised by Bicycling is great. DONT WORRY ABOUT IT BEING CARBON OR ALU. Worry only about how well the bike rides and bike comfort. A properly dialed and set up 14kg Dualy suspension bike will get you to the finish line much faster than a 11kg badly dialed wrongly setup bike. So dont worry much about weiht and what its made of.

 

Concern yourself with ride quality and component quality more than frame raw materials.

 

Downhill bikes which SantaCruz are famous for should only be metal types in my opinion.

 

 

 If your concern is total break proof then in my opinion it does not matter  If its alu or carbon. The alu is so thin these days in some of the upper end bikes that they can crack just as easily.

 

It has become clear that the majority of broken frames are due to accidents rather than simply breaking due to "riding the bike too ard). We all like to think we are hard riders but at the end of the day most of the above bikes are upper end bikes that broke in accidents.

 

Santa Cruz is a reputable bike manufacturer and any bike  on this end give warrentees on their frames.

Personaly I cracked Silverback hard tail alu which cracked on the weld. The frame was replaced right away without question with a later year model after 2 years of riding. Well done Silverback!

 

Unless you buy used they almost all give warrenties' date=' unless accident dammaged.

 

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Great post- full of sensible stuff, so well done.

 

I guess at the end of the day it comes down to personal preference and the amount of money you can spend.

[firewalker]

i agree, thanks for taking the time for that advice iragr. my choice has been made on the ride quality of the carbon blur lt, i hadnt actually tested an alum frame, but was blown away by the carbon that i tried. there are i guess hundreds of other choices, i suppose you go with some instinct and a feeling and hope for the best. and i think i can be guranteed that my nerves and survival instinct will probably crack long before any frame!

[SwissVan]

Firewalker - I know what kind of choice you had to make and its not easy, i've been looking at a carbon specz for over a year now but was worried about the longevity of a carbon mtb frame (XC and marathon use not DH).

 

End of the day I opted for alu (Morewood Zula ). One thing that helped sway my mind ..... my old hardtail Alu Trek 8900 which I still have and use occasionaly, its a 2001 model and has seen plenty of action and has the scars to prove it (deep scratches and gashes on the frame mostly from falling onto rocks). Somehow something in me said a carbon frame would not take that kind of punishment.

 

Anyway like you say go with your instinct, thats what counts.

 

Anyway now that the Zula is in the post perhaps I can start saving for that carbon specz stumpy or epic

 

Enjoy your Blur its a great choice.