Re: [CR]Simplex Plastic vs Carbon

(Example: Production Builders:Pogliaghi)

From: "jerrymoos" <jerrymoos@sbcglobal.net>
To: <REClassicBikes@aol.com>, <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
References: <79.22e36019.2d672bea@aol.com>
Subject: Re: [CR]Simplex Plastic vs Carbon
Date: Fri, 20 Feb 2004 11:22:20 -0600


I think one of the things that most list members dislike about modern equipment is that durability does not seem to be much of a consideration in its design. I don't think I've ever seen any carbon fibre component advertised a "durable". This word does not even seem to be in the vocabulary of the target market for these goods. If you can stand to page through Bicycling! without becoming nauseated, you'll see that young bike buyers are obsessed with "lifestyle", image and having the latest, lightest, coolest. No one seems to care if a part or even a frame lasts more than three seasons. Or at least that seems to be what the publishers and advertisers believe about their target audience. I suspect you are right that a lot of carbon parts will not prove any more durable than the Simplex Delrin, or if they do it will be by luck, not design. The current very thin-walled aluminum frames probably won't fare any better. There are a few current items, however, that I suspect may be quite durable. I'm impressed with the current Campy alloy crankarms, even in the lower lines and the alloy RD's look pretty solid - a little less sure about Shimano cranks, as reading the ads, some of them seem to have hollow sections. Also, the better Ti frames like Litespeed seem to be very durable. A guy I work with is an avid cyclist who buys the latest equipment. But he has a Litespeed frame which he has had probably 7 years or so, even though most of the components have probably been changed more than once. Of course he is in his late 40's, so he is probably less inclined than a younger rider might be to discard the frame simply because it is a bit out of fashion.

I'm not sure if Litespeed is deliberately designing their frames to be durable, or if this is just the incidental result of other design objectives. Same with current Campy. Of course there was a lot of design in the classic era focused on things other than durability also, like the drillium craze and the aero era, the Simplex Delrin and maybe even the ALAN and Vitus aluminum frames, though these are probably a lot more durable than current Al frames. But it seemed that then there was always a significant part of the market where dependability and durability were clear and important selling points. That does not seem to be the case today.

Regards,

Jerry Moos
Houston, TX


----- Original Message -----
From: REClassicBikes@aol.com
To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
Sent: Friday, February 20, 2004 3:22 AM
Subject: [CR]Simplex Plastic vs Carbon



> I was interested to read Jerry's thoughts on how when Simplex introduced
> plastic components, they were considered "cutting edge" but when they became wide
> spread we saw through to some of their weakness'. (that is not to say they did
> not have advantages too) Such as a short life. This was exacerbated by lower
> quality produced products flooding in to the market.
>
> I wonder if in 10 years time we will look back at the current wide spread use
> of carbon and see it in this way?
>
> I just built up some new frames for the team that I ride with to use. These
> were the first one piece carbon fork/steerers that I have fitted. I never
> usually weight bike components, as I view life as being too short already, but I
> was tempted to weight the forks. 365 grams with a full length un cut steerer
> tube. Then I read the headset / fork fitting instructions. At the end it added
> the foot note "replace fork after three years". The carbon seat pin came with
> the same limited life. I am glad I never bought them!
>
> I suppose I could try and make a living in a few years time by selling scores
> of replacement forks to riders who are becoming sick of buying new forks, but
> I know I would have to supply a new frame too.
>
> Regards
> Martin Coopland, Scotland, http://www.BatesBicycles.com