Patrick, I suspect we can—and therefore probably shouldn't—go on and on. My bad.
To the data point, my employer and pal at Waterford Precision Cycles—Richard S—acknowledged he had never encountered a steel frame failure due to rust. Jock On Wed, Sep 25, 2024 at 3:42 PM Patrick Moore <bertin...@gmail.com> wrote: > > On Wed, Sep 25, 2024 at 4:14 PM John Dewey <johnrd...@gmail.com> wrote: >> >> ... As it is, I rather enjoy riding my 40 year-old Waterford Schwinn >> Paramount with the carbons. Somehow the bulky 23 pounder seems to find pace >> despite its 7-speed drivetrain and DT levers. Quite to my delight and >> astonishment, I'm occasionally asked to explain what they are and how they >> work. And because I'm mostly polite I don't smart off with some kind of >> wise-ass response. > > > I have to laugh when I hear that "serious" riders have never heard of dt > shifters. But then how many RBW-listers have heard of single-tube tires, or > the real "clincher" tire? > >> It is true that those $16,000 wonder bikes are entirely disposable. >> Cynically, they're probably designed to last about as long as many of their >> owners remain engaged before they move on to the next thing...whatever that >> might be. F1 drivers I suppose. > > > Is this true? Are top-end, pro-level (or perhaps top-end consumer "wannabee" > level) carbon fiber frames really good for only a few years before they > become unsafe? (We'll leave out of the equation the length of the owners' > interest.) > > I have no bias against carbon fiber as such; I assume crabon fibre' -- as > BSNYC likes to call it -- can be built sensibly into a durable, long-term > frame and still possess its specific advantages such as fine-tuning of ride > qualities and a better strength-to-weight ratio. Is my assumption correct or > false? > > Recently, on the CR list, a senior list member -- not only senior in age but > senior in experience; this man was the top designer for a or some big brand/s > back in the steel-is-real days, worked with pros, and he knows his stuff -- > scoffed at the idea that CR-period (up to 1986 I think) steel with CR-period > components could compete at pro levels with modern CF frames and modern > components. There's weight, but as to drivetrains, he said that nowadays > cadences are higher and riders generate more power this way, and that this > pedaling style requires much finer tuning of gearing, which modern > 11-12-13-speed drivetrains and "insta-shift" systems allow. And hydraulic > discs allow later-in-bend braking, while 15 lb bikes make climbing faster. > Now this is at pro levels of performance which have nothing to do with us > mere plodders, but if he is right, modern cf, disc brake, electric-shift, etc > etc bikes really do add performance at the highest levels of performance. > > [Aside: It is fun to watch pros in the early multispeed era: leaving out > differences in riding position, they twiddle at amazing cadences on the flats > and esp in the sprints -- modern riders often stand to sprint! -- but, on > steep cols they are grunting the pedals over at 30 rpm helped out by dramatic > body english and agonized facial expressions Worth Googling.] > > Me, I had a lovely ride just now on a Rivendell that makes current 2X1 > Roadunos look like technological excess: single 76" fixed gear (I have not > yet used the 19 t cog on the 17/19 Dingle) with single front single pivot > caliper brake; really the most delightful bike of the scores I've owned. I've > hedged my future -- 70 in 6 months -- with a couple of fixed 2-speed IGHs, > but so far, I have barely used them - fixed, single is just perfect. > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "RBW Owners Bunch" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/CALuTfgs%3DxDZ8hRDB-MqLx%3DksQyQkBw7cnmrgprB2S9y8RsqgFQ%40mail.gmail.com. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/CA%2BkTrE4QWtqNWpzhT%2BzBKwZAxHEsZQ6Q6XAeN%3DZNsg8DGrr6pg%40mail.gmail.com.
