Carbon fiber is great. It’s light, it’s strong. But it’s not very durable. A gouge, dent, or scratch can make it… well… fail catastrophically, basically. And often spectacularly, with blood and death and stuff!!
Even the manufacturer of a carbon fiber fork intended for road riders says “Scoring or scratching the carbon fiber steerer tube could cause it to fail, resulting in serious bodily injury or possibly death.” If you’re riding down mountains and off 10’ drops regularly, you ARE occasionally going to crash. And the likelihood of your crash involving rocks, trees, or both is pretty high. If you’re riding on roads or doing cross country mountain biking then carbon fiber’s great, all lightweight and such. But using 'em for downhill is just stupid. You’re going down a mountain! You don’t even need everything to be light!
Thirded. One night I was out with a friend of mine in DC and we returned to our parking spot to find her car had been stolen … an '84 Buick. We assumed the thiefs made a quick (and correct) judgement that this one wasn’t likely to have a car alarm.
Haven’t had my bike stolen yet (knock wood), but that’s probably because I’m too scared to ride it after 7 a.m. in this city.
Fourthed. Shortly after moving to the ALWAYS lovely craphole that is Atlanta (10 more months–I hope), my wife’s bike was stolen. Off of our 2nd floor balcony. Silly us, we figured that slogging it up a flight of stairs, into the apt., and out to the balcony would be enough protection. Why, oh why, did we not get three or four Kryptonite locks and make sure!!!
What’s great about this is, the bike was a cheapo from Sears, from the mid to late 80’s. New, it cost less than $100. It was a floor model, so my father-in-law (who worked at Sears at the time) got it free, or almost so, when they dropped the model. It was my wife’s brother’s bike first, and then handed down to her. So, the bike theives climbed to our balcony, risking life and limb (ok, just limbs, it’s not a huge drop to the ground) to steal a totally worthless bike. Still sucked, though.
Funniest part is, when we reported the theft of the bike to the police, we got an officer at our apt. in about 30 minutes. When our CAR was stolen, though, it was ‘We’ll let you know if it turns up’ after we gave them the VIN and License number.
I’ve had two $1000 Treks “redistributed” in the 5 years I’ve lived in the Atlanta area. One was taken from my locked and alarmed house during a series of crackhead breakins. The sequel was my own damn fault, but it was only parked out in my carport for a few hours, damnit.
People invariably say, “Well no wonder. Why do you spend so much on your bike?” Which, IMHO, resonates with the “She wore a short skirt and a low-cut blouse. She asked for it.” argument. :rolleyes:
My bikes were my primary mode of transport most of the time I had them. They were a commute/health/enjoyment investment, with no liscencing, fees, taxes, registration, smog-certification, gas fillups, insurance, pollution, traffic congestion, etc…and I’m the one making extravagant/illogical choices?:dubious:
Carports are open - usually just a roof and maybe a back wall, unlike a garage which has four walls, a door, etc. More popular in warmer climates, where protection from rain, etc is more of a concern than protection (for the driver, usually) from snow, ice, extreme cold, etc.
As to the question why spend so much money on a bike … Well, it really depends on how much time you spend on it. During the summer I spend 10-12 hours a week on the bike; far more time than I spend in the car. I spent about $35,000 on my car and about $2500 on my bike. Comparing money spent to time spent for each vehicle, I think I got a great deal.
When I was a kid, we lived in a small apartment complex, nice people, friendly, etc. My dad (who didn’t live with me, and I rarely saw) bought me a brand new bike - cherry red, banana seat, streamers on the handle bars. It was the best bike ever. Being that we lived in a fairly decent area, it didn’t occur to the 7 year old me (or my folks, for that matter) to lock it up, and a month after my birthday, it was stolen.
Taking pity on my broken heart, a neighbor lady gave me the ten-speed she had recently bought but never used. Obviously I had learned my lesson, and locked up the bike (there was no room to store it inside). Three months later, it also was stolen. :eek:
Not to be daunted, my stepfather and I searched around and found a battered, well worn ten speed at a yard sale. I think they sold it to us for a buck. That one lasted for 3 years before it was eventually stolen. :mad:
Then we moved, and had a garage, and never had a problem again. Of course, I never got a new bike again - the one my daddy had bought for me was the only brand new one I ever owned.
