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CF Bike as adventure bike?

Old 12-15-19, 06:57 PM
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UsedToBeFaster
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CF Bike as adventure bike?

So I purchased a NEW UNUSED CX Rayleigh rxc Pro 2014 carbon fiber frameset for cheap($400). It's a 900 gram frameset with a 400-gram enve fork.

Should I worry about riding it as an adventure bike is it designed to handle the shock and all that?

Last edited by UsedToBeFaster; 12-16-19 at 10:48 AM.
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Old 12-16-19, 07:09 AM
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Originally Posted by UsedToBeFaster
So I purchased a CX Rayleigh rxc Pro 2014 carbon fiber bike for cheap($400). It's a 900 gram frameset with a 400-gram enve fork.

Should I worry about writing it as an adventure bike is it designed to handle the shock and all that?
Write it like you stole it. Cheap used CF, better dirt than pavement!
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Old 12-16-19, 08:00 AM
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Sorry should have been clearer.

Bought Frameset new just to see what CF is like. Then decided why not turn it into an Adventure bike. But I see most adventure bikes are steel.

So is a performance CF CX frameset upto it?

The frameset is so damn light.

Originally Posted by shelbyfv
Write it like you stole it. Cheap used CF, better dirt than pavement!
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Old 12-16-19, 08:14 AM
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Lot of Aluminum as well. My C-Dale Topstone is one, has a huge amount of eyelets, 3 water bottle cages, rear rack, fenders, top tube bag. Designed to carry stuff.
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Old 12-16-19, 08:29 AM
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here is the link

https://community.raleighusa.com/bik...canti-frameset

As you can see its a race ready CX bike in CF.

I'm just a bit concerned that:

a) CF in general is not designed for the rigors of off-roading
b) This particular design is for CX racing which is through soft mud not rutting over hard tree roots, rocks etc.

The fork in particular worries me.

I do enjoy riding it as an endurance bike so don't want to wreck it.
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Old 12-16-19, 09:48 AM
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You seem very concerned. Dont use it if you are hesitant.
I will say that your description of CX is...perhaps not as accurate as you think. CX races can include significant tree roots, quick hard drops downhill, bunnyhopping, crashes, curb hops, and more.

But really- dont use it if you are concerned. Buy a drop bar monstercross frame, slap 50mm tires on it, and dont be concerned itll break.
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Old 12-16-19, 10:16 AM
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But are my concerns reasonable?

Thanks, but I just don't know enough about CX CF performance frames to know if they are reasonable.

I don't want to ruin a good frame it wasn't design for riding off-road. But if it was designed to handle the type of riding your describe, great, I'll use it.

Originally Posted by mstateglfr
You seem very concerned. Dont use it if you are hesitant.
I will say that your description of CX is...perhaps not as accurate as you think. CX races can include significant tree roots, quick hard drops downhill, bunnyhopping, crashes, curb hops, and more.

But really- dont use it if you are concerned. Buy a drop bar monstercross frame, slap 50mm tires on it, and dont be concerned itll break.
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Old 12-16-19, 10:47 AM
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Sorry. Its a frameset bought new from RandomBikeParts

I bought it new and built it up to use an endurance bike. But wanted to ride some gravel etc on it.



Originally Posted by shelbyfv
As you know, buying a used carbon bike is a crap shoot. If the frame/fork hasn't been damaged you should be able to ride it on anything you can negotiate. It may have limited tire clearance compared to current bikes which may moderate how rowdy you get with it.
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Old 12-16-19, 10:55 AM
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OK, you should be good to go!
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Old 12-16-19, 11:35 AM
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Carbon is able to handle off road use. There are hundreds of thousands of mt. bikers using carbon, you don’t typically read much about frames not up to the task.

That said they can be damaged, but so can any frame. I had a buddy on a new (last year) carbon Specialized mt. bike, had a stick get poked thru the downtube. He got the frame repaired at Calfee, good as new. It was actually easier to repair this in carbon then any frame damage that would have occurred on aluminum.
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Old 12-16-19, 12:06 PM
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Salsa Cutthroat Carbon - one of the more popular bikes in the wild. Works great. I do not have it but I ride regularly with a friend who has one. It is a great bike.
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Old 12-16-19, 12:11 PM
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There are also a lot of CF adventure/gravel bikes UP, Cutthroat, 3t to name a few. The disadvantage you have with that frame is limited tire size and limited attachment points/bottle bosses. Enve is one of the better brands for CF components. If the frames limitations don't bother you will have no problems with it as a gravel/adventure bike.
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Old 12-16-19, 01:53 PM
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Ill play devil's advocate and mention that just because carbon is used for MTBs doesnt mean this specific frame is up to the task of hard use. Im not saying the frame isnt able to sustain hard use, just that frames are made differently for intended use. A lot of responses are along the lines of 'carbon is a material for hard use bikes so you are OK'.
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Old 12-16-19, 11:00 PM
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Right. That was my 2nd Question

I'm pretty sure those mountain bike frames don't wear 900 grams. I do know that this is a performance CX frameset are they normally designed to handle off road stuff.

Originally Posted by mstateglfr
Ill play devil's advocate and mention that just because carbon is used for MTBs doesnt mean this specific frame is up to the task of hard use. Im not saying the frame isnt able to sustain hard use, just that frames are made differently for intended use. A lot of responses are along the lines of 'carbon is a material for hard use bikes so you are OK'.
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Old 12-22-19, 12:41 AM
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There is a massive difference between a carbon mtb frame and a cx/road one. Mtb frames are not that light. Take the Ibis ripmo for example which comes in carbon and aluminum. The carbon frame is not that much lighter than the metal version. Also mtb frames have different EN ratings on them for cross country vs enduro/downhill, etc.

Your Raleigh most likely is not rated for carrying a load since it's a pure cx race frame. So you going to have to be more specific when you say you want to use it for adventure use. So you just want to put big tires on it and tackle some dirt or actually go adventuring in it with some bike packing?
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Old 12-22-19, 08:37 AM
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The former

But i dont want to have to baby it. If there is a decent over rocks i want to take it. If there is a rutted road i want to rjse over it fast. No babying!

Originally Posted by gus6464
There is a massive difference between a carbon mtb frame and a cx/road one. Mtb frames are not that light. Take the Ibis ripmo for example which comes in carbon and aluminum. The carbon frame is not that much lighter than the metal version. Also mtb frames have different EN ratings on them for cross country vs enduro/downhill, etc.

Your Raleigh most likely is not rated for carrying a load since it's a pure cx race frame. So you going to have to be more specific when you say you want to use it for adventure use. So you just want to put big tires on it and tackle some dirt or actually go adventuring in it with some bike packing?
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Old 12-22-19, 04:28 PM
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Originally Posted by UsedToBeFaster
But i dont want to have to baby it. If there is a decent over rocks i want to take it. If there is a rutted road i want to rjse over it fast. No babying!
That's what it was designed for then. CX racing is dirt racing without the big gaps or jumps.
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Old 12-23-19, 08:22 AM
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Originally Posted by mstateglfr
Ill play devil's advocate and mention that just because carbon is used for MTBs doesnt mean this specific frame is up to the task of hard use. Im not saying the frame isnt able to sustain hard use, just that frames are made differently for intended use. A lot of responses are along the lines of 'carbon is a material for hard use bikes so you are OK'.
Good point. I was mostly stating that carbon is tough and the material is not something to be concerned about.

That said, it's also only $400. If something broke, it's not like needing to replace a $2500 Colnago frame. A Chinese replacement would likely work..
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Old 12-23-19, 01:45 PM
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The Ibis Ripmo is a enduro full suspension bike so not exactly a good example of a lightweight mountain bike frame. Look at some XC carbon hardtails instead like say a
https://www.unno.com/aora/
which is only 790 grams. There are plenty of super light XC carbon hardtails out there. I ride a unbranded (its a fuji) carbon CX bike as my road, gravel, and light trail bike and it hasn't killed me yet. I've done some really stupid crap on it too.
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Old 12-31-19, 02:36 PM
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A cx bike should be good enough for general trail riding as long as you're not hucking off of things or shooting down technical rock gardens. A race bike is also probably not designed to carry a lot of load (eg, bikepacking gear) but should be fine for day rides with minimal gear.
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