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Old 09-01-21, 04:57 PM
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Trakhak
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In over 50 years of riding steel race bikes and, later, aluminum and carbon bikes, I've come to believe that the frame material counts for almost nothing in how a bike rides. My shorthand approach to buying road bikes for myself is to look for those with a head tube length of around 110 to 120 mm, a wheelbase very close to 97 cm, and a C-to-C top tube measurement of 55 cm. [Edit: of those dimensions, the wheelbase seems to be the main determinant of whether I'll enjoy how the bike rides.]

All my bikes with those dimensions---steel, aluminum, and carbon---feel effectively identical. As it happens, I prefer the torsional stiffness of an aluminum frame and the effect it has on the bike's handling, so my steel and carbon bikes get very little use, but most people aren't as picky as I am about that aspect of a bike's ride.

So you might want to consider using the Seven's dimensions as a template in your search for a carbon bike that would make you happy. If you have a chance to test ride some candidates with plausibly similar measurements, it would also make sense to measure the distances between all the contact points on the Seven first so that you can replicate them on the bike you're planning to test.

Last edited by Trakhak; 09-01-21 at 05:15 PM.
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