Old 12-30-19, 05:42 PM
  #17  
canklecat
Me duelen las nalgas
 
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Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: Texas
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Bikes: Centurion Ironman, Trek 5900, Univega Via Carisma, Globe Carmel

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I'd like to see the Diamonback road bike designs of around 2014 continue or evolve. They did some nifty stuff in a reasonably priced bike. A friend gave me a Diamondback Podium 5 carbon fiber frame that was too small for him. Might be a tad small for me -- looks like a 54cm or 55cm and I usually ride 56-58, but I can make it work with a longer stem.

I didn't have time to inspect the frame for a few months so it sat in a corner. But recently I began inspecting it to be sure the fork, steerer, etc., were all good and noticed the internal cable routing. At first I was dreading building that bike back up but it turns out Diamondback designed the frame to make it as easy as possible to re-cable the internal routing. No need for magnets, vacuums, twisty-cable-snagger doodads, etc. Fresh cable routed right through, no hassles, no drama or cussing.

I don't have much else to compare with. My only other carbon fiber road bike is a '93 Trek 5900, which is just a conventional diamond frame in a carbon fiber sorta-monocoque design (rides pretty much like my steel road bike, but lighter and a bit stiffer), so any more recent carbon frame seems like a rocketship to me. But Diamondback seems to have resolved some of the usual pesky stuff with clever engineering in a reasonably priced frame that appears to be excellent quality. I don't have access to diagnostic imaging (I think a friend does at work where they build carbon fiber aircraft bits and bobs), so I'll just have to assume it's good on the inside too. I haven't read any negative reports of a pattern of problems with Diamondback Podium frames. I think the only complaint I've read is about the FSA headset, but that's easily replaced and I don't see a problem with it myself.
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