I read a comment online that the Carbon flexes quite a bit, just wanted to see if anyone else knew a bit more about it? And its a good buy for $250
by OtherwiseService8773
I read a comment online that the Carbon flexes quite a bit, just wanted to see if anyone else knew a bit more about it? And its a good buy for $250
by OtherwiseService8773
10 Comments
read about the bond issues with those frames. I don’t know bout that one in particular, but in general, the glued ones are known to fail in the joints, they come unglued.
I had a Trek 2500, aluminum lugs, carbon tubes, just like this one.
They flex. I eventually got worried about the glue joints between the lugs and the tubes, so I sold mine. That price is a maybe.
I think I’m in the minority here, but I actually enjoyed mine. It was comfortable and yes, quite flexy, something that only became noticeable when sprinting or climbing out of the saddle. I don’t recall ever racing this one, however. It was great for coffee rides and such. Key points: the bonding agent between the carbon tubes and aluminum lugs was also supposed to isolate each and prevent galvanic corrosion. This turned out to be largely unsuccessful so always check the joints for discoloration and bubbling. Stay away if you see this. They are also rather fragile. I broke two of them.
Ditto to all that has been already said. I spent some time on a similar frame – the Vitus Carbone 9. It was super flexy, which always made me worry about the lugs.
Old epoxy & carbon in an outdated weave… if you’re under 80lbs, it’ll be fine for actually riding until it very instantly isn’t.
Otherwise, it’s nothing more than an interesting piece of history of top shelf experimental racing technology intended to circumvent athletic shortcomings between top tier professional athletes… which, more interestingly, was made available for sale to the general public.
What would you pay for a really great oil painting of a bicycle? $250 + a few scraps of whatever wood is featured in your home to make a couple tire shelves and a pedal hook to mount it on the wall is nothing to some people.
It’s a decent parts-donor if you’ve got a rideable frameset to build up. I like that crankset & brake calipers. The wheels, if round & true, are fine for the price.
Just bare in mind that the frames are known for the glue coming apart…
https://www.reddit.com/r/bikewrench/s/noFdDdOvy2
I rode a 1989 all aluminum Vitus for 22 years. It looked very much like the bike you’re posting. The lugs never unglued and not being much of a sprinter I never experienced any unpleasant flexing. True, Vitus is (was?) a French company while Specialized is an American brand. Regardless, if you’re satisfied the bike will hold together and happy with its handling when you push hard on the pedals, $250 is a good buy.
I had one for awhile. My understanding is that the dark grey bottom brackets, as opposed to the lighter silver (matching the other lugs) use a stronger glue and are less likely to fail. I had mine about 10 years ago and it held together fine. I just didn’t like the ride, it felt dead to me.
Also, for l’eroica, don’t the bikes have to be pre-1987 or so?
if You are a collector that’s a great price I have the full alloy version in a cyclocross that’s my daily I love the ride but to be honest iv not ridden a new bike for comparison
These types of carbon/aluminum frames are at risk of coming unbonded. Keep that in mind. They can be rebonded w carpet glue of all things, but you need to be mindful that the tubes can come apart at any time. Be safe.
The guy who taught me ab CX racing races on a French bonded aluminum frame, and he’s the one who taught me ab the carpet glue trick. He did it to his bike at some point in the early 2000s.