0.02% aero lost, 236% cool gained
Tradition and innovation sit mostly comfortably alongside each other in Cycling. The bicycle itself is inherently a very simple machine, the basic design of which has remained the same for centuries; frame, two wheels, cranks, saddle, handlebars. It’s what has been done to these elements along the way that has shaped what the modern road bike (because mountain bikes are way out there and another realm altogether) now looks like.
To me, they look like crap.
The ‘advancements’ made through the use of carbon fibre have without doubt benefitted those who really need to benefit in incremental steps, and that is Pro riders. These guys and gals are paid to ride a bicycle as fast as they can and to get it across a line hundreds of kilometres away from where they started before hundreds of others, sometimes by the barest of margins. That’s not us. We ride because we love the freedom, the health benefits, all that bullshit that Bicycling magazine will give you 7 tips on how to do it. We don’t need aero-tubed frames and deep dish carbon wheels, but we want them. Sure, all this stuff makes our experience better, and I’m not suggesting we all ride around on K-Mart bikes, even though we’d still probably have some form of fun if we did. Even if you race, even A grade at club level, or have a crack at Nationals, the bike isn’t going to make you win. I’ll repeat; you’re not a Pro.
This whole ‘aero’ frame fad that has taken over the peloton is all well and good when the sport’s top prizes are at stake. When rolling around with your mates and having a coffee before and a beer after is the modus operandi, then why not do it with a modicum of style? Aero bikes are not stylish. Those oversized, flattened, sharp edged carbon members (I refuse to call them tubes) are just downright ugly. The curvy swooping lines and bent-six-ways stays are an abomination. And some of the stems popping up now look like tumours growing from Frankenstein’s neck. I don’t like them, in case you’re not picking up on that.
The more I look at the new crop of ’boutique’ builders working with steel, the more I realise how much of a blight these carbon race frames are. My eyes are attuned to the simplicity of round, straight tubes, with a sensible diameter, and if they’re held together with lugs, well that’s not a bad thing either. But even these simple things of beauty can be sullied by another modern invention, the sloping top tube. A lot of the bikes that appeared in my feeds from the recent NAHMBS featured quite radically sloping tt’s, and whenever a flat tt’ed bike popped up it was even more apparent that flat is where it’s at. And I’m not saying this because I own such a bike; in fact, there was a period after purchasing my Jaegher where I questioned whether I should have had some slope built in. But the more I witness the glut of ugly that is is the Pro peloton, I’m glad I listened to the denizens who lovingly handcrafted my beauty, and kept the tubes like they are meant to be: flat, round and straight.
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View Comments
@Teocalli
Like in 500 years or so vs 900 ? I suspect that the new mnfg tech/materials are pretty sound. Still the issue w/C looks to be the impacts.
@sthilzy
The light outside is fairly low, so the blue/purple color doesn't show too well
Here's another steel bike...
@wilburrox
Suspect it will be way before that judging by how quickly boats go soft. Of course there is a difference between going soft and falling apart completely but I suspect the stiffness/efficiency of carbon bikes will not be permanent. Of course as a rider you would not notice as the progression will be so gradual.
the horizontal top tube thing in 2016 is a bizzare design; it's is a hold over from the days of threaded headsets and quill stems. with modern threadless and integrated headtubes the front end generally ends up too low for a given frame size unless one of those bizarre, ugly looking extended headtubes is employed or the stem is flipped, plus if you are short in the leg its difficult to get stand over clearance on the frame size that would have your correct stack and reach geometry. horizontal tt's worked back in the day because the low headtube was offset by a taller headset stack and the long shaft of a quill stem.unless you race and can stand getting super low on frame that's a size to small with a 140mm stem then what's the point? sloping tt's are miles more practical, that's why everybody uses them.
@PT
I've seen enough cracked and broken cf frames to know it's not the material it's made of that counts, it's how well it's made. Carbon fibre is only as strong and fatigue proof as how it's put together, same as steel, aluminium or titanium.
@Buck Rogers
Yup, consider me also tired of fully black bikes. They're about as boring as most of the jerseys in the Pro ranks these days. It's like everyone quit their bands, gave up Pabst, and pawned their fixed gear bike to put a down payment on an all black road bikes. It's weird.
Brett - I'm part of a cycling club that rides Sunday mornings. Two members, one simple rule/name: No Sloping Top Tubes CC.
I only ride traditional geometry steel bikes on Sundays. I own a compact carbon bike, but the aesthetic do very little for me. As for my steel bikes, I often ride them to work just so I can place them within eyesight for the duration of the work day.
@Oli
That is a completely valid point. Construction and design count for a lot.
Custom built by Marinoni. I must say that I like the worked shape of the Columbus Spirit tubing though.
1975 Hill Cycle (out of Philadelphia) with 1982 Nuovo Record. Smooth ride.