Any bike experts in here?
 

Looking to get a mountain bike and not sure which frame to pick:

Carbon vs Aluminum

Generally, carbon frames shoot the price up 2x times. Is it justified?

Well any decent bike will cost you 1K plus so depends on your budget...

I generally avoid carbon materials for my MTB, for two reasons:

1. Durability
2. Price

The weight reduction is probably noticeable for a carbon frame, but the frame may snap if you make that unlucky crash. And once a carbon frame is broken you can't fix it. Also I'd feel stupid paying that much to loose weight on the bike, when I can loose weight on myself first.

If you're not a pro rider, you don't need to pay that much extra to get the top line stuff just to get a bike that's 3 kilos lighter.

Yeah, that's what I've been thinking. Kinda stupid to overpay two times just for a bit of weight reduction.

What Markul said.

yeah carbon is not for mtbs

yeah but they do make them, which made me confused

Im looking for a 29'er anyway, so it shouldn't be taking as much punishment as a mtb/downhill one.

Unless you're going hardcore mtb, a hybrid might be a great option

I have a Specialized Crosstrail Comp with dual disc brakes that kicks ass (my ass anyway)

Yeah they do make quite nice bikes.

I'm eyeing the Specialized Epic 29er

Carbon for Road Racers

Aluminum for Mountain Bikes

I love my rock lobster, they do a 29er

http://www.rocklobstercycles.com/xc_tig29.php

Perfect fit is about 1000% more important than material.

If you have the budget, however, titanium is the only way to go. Though name brand aluminum like Easton is very, very good.

Haven't seen any brands with titanium frames.

Was considering this one too http://www.trekbikes.com/us/en/bikes...mblefish_elite

They use some kind of hi-grade Aluminum.

That looks like a great bike :thumbsup

Here is a situation where you can justify having bought a carbon frame...

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net...65771108_n.jpg

More it is light and less it is steady: usually the problem for my current bicycle is not its weight but the fact that i can't drive if the inclination is too high.

Beware of the center of gravity of the bicycle, it needs to be as low as possible.

Just put this one on order:
http://www.specialized.com/us/en/bc/...ame=Mountai n

can't fuckign wait!

:banana:

specialized is pretty high end you can't go wrong with them.. I prefer trek myself.


weight differentials don't mean much unless you have zero weight to lose the way i see it.

There are some really nice Trek models, but they are hard to find. Turns out they only do custom orders for hi-end bikes (they don't just make them and hope they sell in some store).

Trek offered me an October delivery time and it would be a 2013 model. I said i wasn't going to wait that long.

cool trade... try first alu frames...