Bought £1700 Carbon Bike - Now scared to use it.

[bagusbagus]

Got a mint (except few stoneships) Scott solace 30 flat bar road bike, came up locally for a good price.
I'm used to 15kg BSOs in past which I could trash & abuse ,leave barely locked for days and loan to other people without any worry.

How do I even ride this thing? It rides so good & smooth that I do not want to damage it, I planed to use it for hardpac paths & crappy tarmac potholed roads and mount kerbs with it like I'm used -stuff that doesn't bother much the cheap crap hybrid/hardtail bikes.

How fragile is carbon in real use? Can I even use it for such stuff?
It has currently got 25mm schwalbe marathon plus tyres so pretty tough and with decent grip,but still.. the thing barely weighs nothing and is just a road bike with flat bar- But I have no desire to ride on tarmac along with cars!
Am I going to mess it up If I start mounting kerbs with it (not at speed) ,dropping kerbs & going over small roots?
have no idea how durable the carbon frames/forks are ...

-Would installing wider tyres with slightly more volume be a good idea to make it more ''durable''? ( I have no idea if 30mm would fit, maybe 28mm will)


Also How do you even go to store and leave the bike outside? I'm not sure if I even trust the ''good u-locks'' being an owner of cordless angle grinder myself. The previous owner kept it in armed garage locked up to wall..I'm used to keeping bikes just outside wherever there's space.

[numtumfutunch]

I bought my first, and only, carbon bike 8y ago
It was a major splurge at a time when I had a bit of cash and also had an excuse to treat myself

Initially it was wrapped in cotton wool

These days its still my 'best' bike but Im not nearly so precious with it
Its been ridden through the worst of conditions, had countless stones flicked from the front wheel to the downtube and been put into countless vans and car boots with lessening degrees of care

Last week I was on a train and someone leaned their own bike against it which was just fine, when I first got the bike Id have garotted and disemboweled them

If you are really worried about how strong carbon is theres a nice vid of somebody trying to destroy a C frame with a sledgehammer somewhere on Youtube

Id never leave it out of my sight though and never store it outside

Enjoy your new ride

Cheers

[Your Dad]

Whatever you do, don't take it out in the rain. It's known fact that carbon frames melt in the rain.



On a serious note, it's just a bike. Ride it like you would any other bike.

[bakerstreet]

Your Dad said:

Whatever you do, don't take it out in the rain. It's known fact that carbon frames melt in the rain.



On a serious note, it's just a bike. Ride it like you would any other bike.

Pretty much this. My Fuji Transonic has been ridden in all conditions. My previous bike (Giant Defy) was also ridden year round. It's only now that I am re-building it as a winter bike and when I say re-building, I mean a small service and fitting guards

I do also have a cross bike, but to be honest that is still running standard wheels and its not that great on the road.

[Harpoon]

bagusbagus said:

Also How do you even go to store and leave the bike outside? I'm not sure if I even trust the ''good u-locks'' being an owner of cordless angle grinder myself. The previous owner kept it in armed garage locked up to wall..I'm used to keeping bikes just outside wherever there's space.

If somebody really wants to nick you bike and turns up with a portable grinder there's not a lot you can do, even with the best locks/chains.

Insure it (read the small print ie it might be not insured if you just leave the bike in the back garden unlocked!) and lock it to something with suitable locks eg Gold Sold Secure. If you want to put off casual scumbags, get a Torc anchor and Protector chain but you'll be spending £100+.

https://securityforbikes.com/security-chains.php

A much cheaper option D lock which is Gold rate is the Onguard Brute for £25

https://www.tredz.co.uk/.OnGuard-Brute-Standard-Sh...

[TwistingMyMelon]

Bigger tyres will help for sure, just make sure they fit and you have space for the extra width

[S100HP]

I've a carbon road bike and a carbon mountian bike. Both have taken abuse and are fine, and I'm a fatty. Ironically a steel Boardman I had was the only bike I've had that gave up and snapped the frame round the bottom bracket.

[Gren]

The carbon bit will be fine. It's tough stuff.

I'd be learning to bunny hop if I was constantly mounting kerbs with 25mm tyres and no suspension.

[klootzak]

I got my first carbon bike 12 years ago, and I babied it ridiculously for the first 18 months or so.

Since then it has been chucked down the road a few times and outlasted two wheels, two cassettes, one chainring and a left Dura-Ace shifter (not to mention a heap of tyres, brake pads and bar tape). It has a few chips and scrapes but still works just fine.

Don't worry about it too much. The glory of plastic bikes is that they shrug off most abuse and scrub up lovely with a bit of wax polish (or varnish and resin in the big chips).

k

[malks222]

I used to canoe a lot (slalom racing) and the abuse that my carbon boats/ paddles used to take, made me certain that I'd never break a carbon road bike through normal riding. obviously the design/ layup/ moulds are very different from bikes to canoes/paddles, but in my view bikes have a much stronger shape. you'll be fine.

[Scabutz]

There always seems to be a myth that carbon is really delicate. Its not. Sure it doesn't flex like metal so if enough force is put through it will crack but that force has to be huge.

It doesn't like taking knocks side on so its likely to get damaged if you crash. But most manf. have crash replacement policies.

[Roger Irrelevant]

Watch this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhabgvIIXik

...and worry no more.

[GOATever]

I was hit by a car in 2014, riding a full Carbon road bike. I thought that would be that, for the frame at least. I paid to get it ultrasounded, there was nothing wrong with it. To be fair I took the brunt of the impact, but even so. Carbon fibre can be 8 to 10 times stronger than high tensile steel (dependant on material composition and lay up techniques) so the Carbon bikes really can put up with a lot more than you’d credit.

[DJFish]

Also this:
https://youtu.be/w5eMMf11uhM

It’s mtb frames but the same ballpark.