tjspiel

If race cars were affordable, street legal, and you could legally drive 200+ mph on your commute, you can bet some people would be commuting in race cars.

That is the beauty of bike commuting for some of us. We can go all out if we feel like it. Other people are happier not working up a sweat and tooling along at 12 mph. Nothing wrong with either approach. I really don't understand the need some people have to decide for others what is an appropriate commuter bike and what isn't. Pick a bike that suits your needs and your style. Don't worry about what others ride.

I have 3 different bikes I use for commuting. Two are road bikes. One of them is 10 years old and the other is 30. Barring an accident, I expect both of them to last as long as I'm interested in riding. Durability doesn't mean a bike has to weight 70+ lbs.

In fact my oldest brother still has his 70's racing bike. It had actual sew-ups. Didn't get his license until he was in his 30's and rode that bike everywhere. Still commutes on it, though he's had another bike for awhile now that he also uses. I don't know when he'll retire but he'll be 65 in a few years. That one bike has lasted him over 40 years, - more than his entire working career. In terms of durability I don't know that you can ask for much more from a commuter bike.

wolfchild

I highly doubt that any CF bike would last as long as a steel frame...CF is disposable and only provides a short temporary service before it needs to be thrown out in the junk yard. Few dings and scratches would be enough to ruin a CF frame.

Kindaslow

Yeah, that is why most MTB frames these days are CF, because, unlike road riding, MTBing has virtually no risk of scratching or dinging a frame and MTBing puts very little stress on the frame.

tjspiel

My 10 year old road bike has a CF fork and I have a 25 year old CF mast for my windsurfer. I don't baby either of them and have no reason to believe they won't last several more decades. CF is more susceptible to certain kinds of damage than steel and less susceptible to others. If you take reasonable care of it, it will last a very long time.

tjspiel

I just walked down to the nearest bike shop to pick up a spoke. Right next to it is a popular bakery that's pretty busy on Saturday mornings. Locked to the rack was an old Trek 2200. Had to be at least 20 years old. This was an early CF bike that had CF tubes bonded to aluminum joints. Obviously the owner wasn't too concerned about it getting dinged up or he/she wouldn't have left it there.

At the shop itself I was looking at bikes while I was waiting for them to find the right sized spoke. I saw a Salsa Warbird and holy crap is that one beefy carbon framed bike. It's their racing gravel bike. I'm guessing the owners of bikes like that don't worry too much about dings and scratches either.

CliffordK

I've still got my old Colnago I bought used in 82, and it probably was from the late 60's. Lots of miles and wear on it. I did manage to do something to completely destroy the paint. Sun? Salt? I'm still debating on giving it a full strip/repaint.

I built up a Colnago C-40 frame from the mid to late 90's. I've only been riding the bike for a couple of months, but so far I'm extremely happy with it. I can't say it would have ridden any different 15 or 20 years ago. But there is no reason for me to believe it won't last for quite some time into the future.

I am a little worried about things like cable housings that used to last for decades, and now are considered short-term wear items.

There are, in fact, quite a few CF MTB frames and components. Nobody likes to ride a 50 pound bike up hills that would make roadies weep. And, as far as I can tell, the CF MTB parts are TOUGH.

Kindaslow

The only parts that have ever worried me on my MTB as my CF rims and CF seat post. Yet, the rims have seen hundreds of black diamond runs and are still true and looking great. My issue with the seat post is what might happen if it broke.

fietsbob

Can you Bring it in and park it in your Cubicle?

Colorado Kid

The one thing I'm concerned about is Chinese C.F. It has a bad reputation in the business of not being the same quality as other brands or companies. As the list has said, if you crack or chip carbon fiber (even a tiniest amount) it's all over. You've bought yourself a new frame. There are several companies out there who claim they can repair carbon fiber, but every well known manufacturer says it would automatically void the warranty if you try it.

Kindaslow

So, people buy low quality stuff and it works out poorly. Pretty good chance the same low level of steel, aluminum or titanium would have issues, too.

By the way, I have 3CF bikes, 2 aluminum, and 1 steel. So, my issue isn't about defending CF as much as it is about saying some of this information is of poor quality.

gsa103

Sort of. Manufacturers will tell you the frame is toast because they won't take liability for someone else's repair work. The manufacturers will sometimes repair frames damaged during assembly, and the repair work is only discovered when the frame is stripped for re-painting.

Carbon fiber is significantly more repairable than aluminum and even light-weight steel. Aluminum is nearly impossible to repair because welding would ruin the heat treating of the thin-walled tubing.

There's a Santa Cruz video where they try to break a frame by hammering the downtube against a concrete block with no effect.

noisebeam

I commuted on two steel frames and now a CF SuperSix for 5 years. Both steel frames cracked at the BB and could not be fixed, but that is not typical.
Best thing about CF is I no longer burn my inner thigh on the TT when waiting at a light. I have a scar from my black steel commuter.

jfowler85

Do you have a specific concern? I've been commuting on a carbon devici and all has been good. Unless you throw your bike around or lock up on extremely crowded racks (Isla Vista comes to mind...) then I wouldn't worry about the bike taking abuse.

tjspiel

I'd be worried if there was chunk missing from your frame or fork after leaving it in a rack but that's pretty unlikely. I have CF a tennis racket that's got plenty of nicks and scratches on it from contact with concrete. I'm not concerned about it breaking. A bike in rack is not likely to experience much more in the way of abuse.

People who play a lot of tennis (like college level or above) will replace their rackets every couple of years (or less if they're a little obsessive about it) because the rackets will start to feel "soft", but not because they're worried about them breaking. A lot of that is probably imagination but it comes after thousands of hits and many re-stringings which puts a lot of load on the frame. Bike frames don't haven to endure that kind of stuff.

gregf83 

I also had a steel Colnago crack at the BB. Perhaps not that uncommon. Phoned around every shop in the city and couldn't find anyone to weld it back together. I didn't care about painting it and just wanted the frame to mount on a trainer. I think the BB area on CF bikes is much sturdier and less likely to fail.

Frankenbike77

No real concern. Always wanted CF, always wanted to make a DIY bike. Just wanted to make sure I didn't regret before spending money.
When researching it is so easy to exaggerate material pros/cons in your mind, and lose perspective of performance in practical applications. Too easy to make mountains of molehills. Community feedback helps keep things realistic.

Agreed. And I do like to work up a sweat when commuting. Don't feel a SS/3-speed cruiser would give me the same experience as a CF race bike, or even my current 52:12 mid-weight (30lbs) commuter

noisebeam

unrepairable:

Frankenbike77

So, based on what I've seen here, and read elsewhere, let me know if this seems accurate about CF:
PROS
Durability - arguably better or worse, depending on perspective, but essentially a non-issue
Weight - Great, but of dubious value
Looks - Cool as hell
Price - comparable to Aluminum, better then Ti

CONS
Theft - big issue! (I commute direct to work and home 99% of the time. Office parking lot has no foot traffic, in a controlled area, near an airstrip)
Repair - conflicting thoughts on this. At any rate, unlikely regardless of material, and expensive to fix regardless of material
The Chinese Issue - will do more research, but my suspicion is that most vendors from China are simply OEM producers of parts for bike manufacturers. My belief is that if you select the right vendor, you'll be fine. Some people get a little hysterical over goods from China.

Am I missing anything?

ptempel

I'd probably keep a separate utility bike for most of that stuff and maybe do those errands after the commute or on the weekends. But it sounds like you have a busier lifestyle than I do. Here's the stuff I carry:

Work clothes, tools, keys, spare tubes, mini pump, wallet, phone.

That's it. I leave the computer (laptop) at home. Also have a desktop at work. No lunch. Prolly should try to bring something (have room in backpack). Leave the lock on the bike rack at work. Let the wife do the grocery shopping. She's full-time mom with the kid in daycare from 8:30am to 3pm.

andyprough

You and I have some fairly sharply contrasting views on life.

EDIT: I didn't see your edit. Small kids - I'm sure you are in a hurry to get home. Mine are grown and off on their own. Makes a big difference. Glad to see you are finding a way to get some mileage - sounds like a reasonable plan.

blakcloud

Nice link to someone who commutes long distance in Vancouver Canada with a carbon fibre bike and rims and Campy Super Record.

satrain18

Dutch upright bikes tend to be very heavy.

DiabloScott

What brings you here, satrain18 ?

joinacult

Steel! I’ve never had any issues with my steel bikes.

GraemeB

A trusty Cro mo salsa works for me!