Well I don't want to start a carbon hating thread in here. However, I've noticed that my current bike is a little flexible when I stand on the pedals. I've noted several times that over big bumps it flexes significantly and just thought this was a good thing. Anyway, today I stood there with the brakes on and leant on one pedal a bit. We noted that not only does the carbon crank bend, but the whole frame does an impression of a fish. I can see the whole thing bending and people looking from the front claim to see it twist alarmingly. Now I'm not going to panic, about this as...
A) I am not concerned that it will cause a failure.
B) It may have been doing it all along - and I've never noticed before.
C) It may be completely normal for this to happen in a static (and not realistic) test like this.
So, my concerns about this is that it must be affecting my power transfer. How much does it matter? Who knows. This week I'll be conducting experiments with my riding buddies to see if in fact it is normal. I'll report back and if it appears it's just my bike and no one elses I might do a separate thread on it. For the record, it's a large framed 2010 Giant Defy with just under 20k on it. I'm about 76kg and clearly do a bit of riding but aint no A-grader.
I'm going to see what this week brings ... go see a few bike shops and talk to some people. My friends are pleading with me to just order one to save them their misery.