Who’s riding AL frame bikes these days?
07-23-19, 04:37 PM
#26
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Gasp, my cross/gravel bike is a canti Trek Crockett in alum.
I think some people confuse cheap greenway aluminum bikes with a real nice one and assume they must have carbon.
I think some people confuse cheap greenway aluminum bikes with a real nice one and assume they must have carbon.
07-23-19, 04:58 PM
#27
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The CAAD 13 looks like Cannondale decided to braze on disc brake tabs on a GT GTS road frame.
07-23-19, 05:26 PM
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I went from a rimbrake carbon Tarmac Expert to a disc brake Emonda ALR frame+custom build. I couldn't be happier and the ride quality is essentially the same (it helps when you also run carbon wheels, seatpost, handlebar, and stem).
Frankly, I couldn't recommend alloy more.
Frankly, I couldn't recommend alloy more.
07-23-19, 08:43 PM
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My daily ride is still a Chehalis made Klein Quantum Race. I still haven't found a frame I like better. I upgraded to a bit newer ultegra group, and put some carbon clinchers on it.
07-24-19, 12:23 AM
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jfranci3, I am aware that the allez sprint is an extremely stiff bike. Hydroforming doesn't make an aluminum bike feel like a carbon bike. The allez sprint uses hydroformed tubes. Yes, the seatpost is from a Venge, and not designed with compliance in mind. It's a race bike designed for perfect roads. I like it. It serves its purpose well. It handles quite well. The only time I dislike it is when I'm not on ideal pavement. That's where I'm hoping my tubeless wheel setup helps out a bit.
07-24-19, 09:44 AM
#31
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I enjoyed riding my 2011 Secteur, made of hydroformed tubing. It had a carbon fork and seat post. Those items, plus lower tire pressure made for a pretty comfy ride, as I recall. In my experience, it was comparable to the carbon Roubaix of that era, just heavier. I think it would be great to have a lightweight AL frame for climbing. I have a Cannondale R900 that's pretty light, but it's butt ugly maroon paint is a put-off. I really should weigh it sometime.
07-24-19, 02:42 PM
#32
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jfranci3, I am aware that the allez sprint is an extremely stiff bike. Hydroforming doesn't make an aluminum bike feel like a carbon bike. The allez sprint uses hydroformed tubes. Yes, the seatpost is from a Venge, and not designed with compliance in mind. It's a race bike designed for perfect roads. I like it. It serves its purpose well. It handles quite well. The only time I dislike it is when I'm not on ideal pavement. That's where I'm hoping my tubeless wheel setup helps out a bit.
Putting a fat rear tire and some flexy aero bars on your Allez Sprint will take the edge off and make it faster.
07-24-19, 03:35 PM
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You can also make a terrible riding carbon bike, it's call the Venge. My Trek CX bike had a terrible ride on road tires, and it had hydroformed tubes too - a seat post and bar change fixed it.
Putting a fat rear tire and some flexy aero bars on your Allez Sprint will take the edge off and make it faster.
Putting a fat rear tire and some flexy aero bars on your Allez Sprint will take the edge off and make it faster.
I just spoon'd on my new UST wheels/tires. I added a Specialized carbon handle bar as well. I noticed a very slight difference in vibration at the bars. I have yet to ride on the tubeless tire setup, but I will report back when I do. I expect the tires to make the largest diffference- as I can, and will, run lower pressures. What carbon bars do you speak of that are designed with compliance in mind? I think it's just an inherent quality of carbon to resonate at a different frequency than aluminum and that's why there is a very slight, but noticeable, difference between the two.
07-25-19, 10:52 PM
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Holy cow...I had no idea a set of cf tubeless rims could have such an effect. I've only been riding 6 months now, but going from Roval slx24 w/gp4ks2 to Mavic Cosmic Carbon UST w/Yksion Pro is like night and day difference. It solved all the aspects of my bike being too firm over rough chip seal. It's even better over smooth pavement. It's like I'm in love with the bike, and I never was before.
The bearings roll smoother with less rolling resistance. It even corners better. There's less tire squat thru a corner. I'm running max suggested pressure (87psi/19mm internal width). What an epiphany tubeless tires are! I'm completely sold.
The bearings roll smoother with less rolling resistance. It even corners better. There's less tire squat thru a corner. I'm running max suggested pressure (87psi/19mm internal width). What an epiphany tubeless tires are! I'm completely sold.
07-27-19, 08:47 AM
#35
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I own 2 CAAD10 105s 56cm
07-27-19, 06:33 PM
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Holy cow...I had no idea a set of cf tubeless rims could have such an effect. I've only been riding 6 months now, but going from Roval slx24 w/gp4ks2 to Mavic Cosmic Carbon UST w/Yksion Pro is like night and day difference. It solved all the aspects of my bike being too firm over rough chip seal. It's even better over smooth pavement. It's like I'm in love with the bike, and I never was before.
The bearings roll smoother with less rolling resistance. It even corners better. There's less tire squat thru a corner. I'm running max suggested pressure (87psi/19mm internal width). What an epiphany tubeless tires are! I'm completely sold.
The bearings roll smoother with less rolling resistance. It even corners better. There's less tire squat thru a corner. I'm running max suggested pressure (87psi/19mm internal width). What an epiphany tubeless tires are! I'm completely sold.
07-27-19, 08:29 PM
#37
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Got two, love them both
The old Crit racer is faster on short steep hills but the SIX 5 is better for longer rides. 
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08-05-19, 03:24 PM
#38
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I just did the Seattle to Portland Ride on a rented aluminum Fuji Sportif 2.1 instead of shipping my carbon Trek Domane SL6 from Maryland to the West Coast - first time I've ridden an aluminum bike, as my previous bikes were all steel.
Hard to do a direct comparison - the Domane has shock absorbing material on the seat post and head tube and I run 32mm tires while the rental was 28mm. The Domane also has thicker bar tape with padding under the hand areas. But with the tires pumped up to the same 80 psi I run on the Domane, it was a noticeably harsher ride. I'm not sure how much the Fuji weighed, and the wheels didn't come close to matching the Vision 40s on my Domane, but it was also more effort to get going on the Fuji from a dead stop.
All in all, I'm glad I paid the extra for a carbon bike but I probably would have loved the Fuji coming directly from years of riding those steel bikes!
Hard to do a direct comparison - the Domane has shock absorbing material on the seat post and head tube and I run 32mm tires while the rental was 28mm. The Domane also has thicker bar tape with padding under the hand areas. But with the tires pumped up to the same 80 psi I run on the Domane, it was a noticeably harsher ride. I'm not sure how much the Fuji weighed, and the wheels didn't come close to matching the Vision 40s on my Domane, but it was also more effort to get going on the Fuji from a dead stop.
All in all, I'm glad I paid the extra for a carbon bike but I probably would have loved the Fuji coming directly from years of riding those steel bikes!
08-07-19, 04:07 AM
#39
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08-07-19, 04:26 AM
#40
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I should have looked to the left at your profile...I have the same bike, no disk....WISH I would have gone the disk route, but next time.....I do like my Domane Though..I picked up a leftover 17 sl6 pro for like $2400, brand new. I could have got and 18 sl5 disk for about the same price. Looking back, the 18 105 components are just as good as the 17 ultegra...live and learn!
08-11-19, 07:03 AM
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I have both. Whilst both are comfortable, the carbon bike's much stiffer. Better out of the saddle on climbs and when taking off. I'f an overweight mamil like me can tell the difference, i'd say there's merit.
Which one i prefer depends on the day. Giant's a very nice and fast ride, but the Focus has a lot of character.
Which one i prefer depends on the day. Giant's a very nice and fast ride, but the Focus has a lot of character.
08-11-19, 07:51 AM
#42
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Im fairly certain lots of ride impressions contributed to Al vs Carbon is as much cheap tyres and wheels as it is the frame itself. Changing to decent tyres makes a lot of difference and so does tyre width and pressure.
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08-11-19, 09:11 AM
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Rode my wife's flat bar AL hybrid today. Quite comfortable on the rough spots and expansion joints, even with no suspension other than 25c tires at 80 psi.
12-07-20, 08:55 PM
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12-08-20, 09:43 AM
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I've ridden carbon framesets for the last 12 years, with a Caad10 thrown into the mix for a very short time. I always thought I'd ride nothing but carbon framesets but that all changed this past summer. I bought a SBC 7005 frameset as my budget friendly N+1 and was very impressed with the overall feel and ride of the bike. It surpassed everything I knew about how an aluminum frameset's ride characteristics would be. A couple weeks later, I bought their 6061 all-road and after a couple rides on that build, I decided to make it my primary bike and ended up selling the Storck. With these aluminum builds and my first Ti build just about done, I don't see myself building up another carbon frameset.
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