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Carbolite 103 vs Tange (?)

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Carbolite 103 vs Tange (?)

Old 09-23-21, 01:51 PM
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cyrano138
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Carbolite 103 vs Tange (?)

I realize there was an old thread on carbolite 103, wherein a number of people poo-pooed it and a number of people defended it. People seem to get annoyed when you resurrect an old thread, but people also get annoyed sometimes when you ask a question without searching for a previous thread on the topic, so I just wanted to get out ahead of those responses. I decided to make a new one instead of resurrecting the old one since the topic is a little more specific. Just curious to hear what people's thoughts are on this.

Having said that, I had an 80s peugeot (sp?) that I fixed up for my wife. It's carbolite 103. I found a late 80s yokohama legend and bought that, thinking I could fix her up a lighter frame (it was also a more appropriate size). I found a thread on here about the yokohamas which are tange tubing (not too familiar with it) with some folks who had one saying it was light and a very nice ride. That's pretty much why I grabbed it. I thought, hey it's an upgrade from the carbolite frame she's riding, which is a bit heavy (although about the same as several other bikes I have or have had like my '78 raleigh supercourse and 86 schwinn letour).

So long story short, they weigh about the same as far as I could tell by picking them up. So, glass half empty guy would say, damnit this yokohama is heavy even though the steel is supposed to be nicer. Glass half full guy says hey this carbolite 103 is just as light as this tange bike!

I realize there are other qualities that make a frame nice, and to be honest I haven't ridden the yokohama yet, but i've never really been able to tell the difference between the 70s and 80s steel road bikes. I'm not saying there is none, just that it takes an ass more capable of detecting differences in ride quality than mine.
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Old 09-23-21, 03:09 PM
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Do you mean a Yokota Legend? If so, it was an upper entry level model, which is the same as a lot of the Peugeot Carbolite 103 models,so I wouldn't expect a really big difference. There are a lot of things that could account for the small perceived weight difference. First, frame weight usually constitutes only about 20% of the total weight of the bicycle. Then, there is the tubeset itself. Tange made a wide range of tubesets. The lower end sets were comaprable to Carbolite 103 but the difference between their lowest and highest sets was only about 2 lbs. Given the tubesets that typically same on the Legend, I'd expect the difference in frame weight to about a 1 lb. If the Peugeot is even slightly smaller, that can make a difference. Then there are the components themselves. During the Carbolite era, the French components used by Peugeot tended to be lighter than their Japanese counterparts so they could be erasing some of the tubeset weight savings. In order for us to view this in the proper context, you should provide a good set of photos for each bicycle. Make sure you include a photo of the Tange tubing decal.

Last edited by T-Mar; 09-23-21 at 03:15 PM.
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Old 09-23-21, 03:56 PM
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Originally Posted by T-Mar
Do you mean a Yokota Legend? If so, it was an upper entry level model, which is the same as a lot of the Peugeot Carbolite 103 models,so I wouldn't expect a really big difference. There are a lot of things that could account for the small perceived weight difference. First, frame weight usually constitutes only about 20% of the total weight of the bicycle. Then, there is the tubeset itself. Tange made a wide range of tubesets. The lower end sets were comaprable to Carbolite 103 but the difference between their lowest and highest sets was only about 2 lbs. Given the tubesets that typically same on the Legend, I'd expect the difference in frame weight to about a 1 lb. If the Peugeot is even slightly smaller, that can make a difference. Then there are the components themselves. During the Carbolite era, the French components used by Peugeot tended to be lighter than their Japanese counterparts so they could be erasing some of the tubeset weight savings. In order for us to view this in the proper context, you should provide a good set of photos for each bicycle. Make sure you include a photo of the Tange tubing decal.

The yakota (or yokota if you're particular about it) was basically stock, I think with sport lx set and one original wheel. It's completely disassembled now, but I'll take some pictures when I get it back together. The peugeot is almost completely switched out. original frame (not fork), seatpost, bars, and brake levers. That's it. I'll grab some photos of that shortly.
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Old 09-23-21, 04:15 PM
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Originally Posted by T-Mar
Do you mean a Yokota Legend? If so, it was an upper entry level model, which is the same as a lot of the Peugeot Carbolite 103 models,so I wouldn't expect a really big difference. There are a lot of things that could account for the small perceived weight difference. First, frame weight usually constitutes only about 20% of the total weight of the bicycle. Then, there is the tubeset itself. Tange made a wide range of tubesets. The lower end sets were comaprable to Carbolite 103 but the difference between their lowest and highest sets was only about 2 lbs. Given the tubesets that typically same on the Legend, I'd expect the difference in frame weight to about a 1 lb. If the Peugeot is even slightly smaller, that can make a difference. Then there are the components themselves. During the Carbolite era, the French components used by Peugeot tended to be lighter than their Japanese counterparts so they could be erasing some of the tubeset weight savings. In order for us to view this in the proper context, you should provide a good set of photos for each bicycle. Make sure you include a photo of the Tange tubing decal.
Here's a few photos at least.




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