Carbon vs Aluminium

Slass07
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Carbon vs Aluminium

Postby Slass07 » Sun Dec 20, 2015 10:57 am

So I am looking to upgrade my bike and I've pretty much settled on a Kona Jake the Snake.

It will be used mainly for commuting 25km with a mix of roads and gravel track. With the option of some weekend dirt.

The Jake the Snake comes in Aluminium or Carbon, both have pretty much the same specs with the difference being the frame material. Now for the difference in cost is it worth going for the Carbon over the Aluminium?

JTS Aluminium http://www.konaworld.com/jake_the_snake.cfm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

JTS CR Carbon http://www.konaworld.com/jake_the_snake_cr.cfm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Cheers in advance

Davobel
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Re: Carbon vs Aluminium

Postby Davobel » Sun Dec 20, 2015 8:22 pm

So the price difference is $3699 v. $2499? That's huge, IMO. I'd go alum for sure, for what you are going to use it for or really any reason. That's just too big a price difference, unless you want the CF and then I'd get what I wanted.

Slass07
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Re: Carbon vs Aluminium

Postby Slass07 » Mon Dec 21, 2015 11:55 pm

Simple yet effective advice. Thanks very much.

The Alluminium it is then.

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cyclotaur
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Re: Carbon vs Aluminium

Postby cyclotaur » Tue Dec 22, 2015 2:49 pm

Well that's disappointing ....was looking forward to several pages of argument and commentary re: CF vs Alu with retro grouch 'steal is real' thrown in and the whole lot being trumped by the Ti wonks.

Had the popcorn ready and all .... :lol:
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ColinOldnCranky
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Re: Carbon vs Aluminium

Postby ColinOldnCranky » Tue Dec 22, 2015 8:34 pm

cyclotaur wrote:Well that's disappointing ....was looking forward to several pages of argument and commentary re: CF vs Alu with retro grouch 'steal is real' thrown in and the whole lot being trumped by the Ti wonks.

Had the popcorn ready and all .... :lol:
Give us time...
:lol:
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softy
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Re: Carbon vs Aluminium

Postby softy » Tue Dec 22, 2015 10:33 pm

Carbon rides a bit smoother, whilst ally is more durable to the bangs and crashes.

basically Carbon is more fragile.

both good bikes, if you have good bike skills and can keep it upright, carbon is nice.

comes down to the cash, and how durable you require the bike to be.

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Mulger bill
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Re: Carbon vs Aluminium

Postby Mulger bill » Tue Dec 22, 2015 10:55 pm

ColinOldnCranky wrote:
cyclotaur wrote:Well that's disappointing ....was looking forward to several pages of argument and commentary re: CF vs Alu with retro grouch 'steal is real' thrown in and the whole lot being trumped by the Ti wonks.

Had the popcorn ready and all .... :lol:
Give us time...
:lol:
People are so unimaginative...
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Pravda
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Re: Carbon vs Aluminium

Postby Pravda » Tue Feb 09, 2016 12:44 pm

I've had an ally jake the snake since 2012. Raced, commuted and done group rides on it. Wicked bike and never regretted going ally (though i didn't have a choice then) if you race cx like i do its gonna get banged up anyway.
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AlexHuggs
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Re: Carbon vs Aluminium

Postby AlexHuggs » Tue Feb 09, 2016 3:26 pm

Mulger bill wrote:
ColinOldnCranky wrote:
cyclotaur wrote:Well that's disappointing ....was looking forward to several pages of argument and commentary re: CF vs Alu with retro grouch 'steal is real' thrown in and the whole lot being trumped by the Ti wonks.

Had the popcorn ready and all .... :lol:
Give us time...
:lol:
People are so unimaginative...
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Bamboo FTW! Do you know they build scaffolding with that stuff in Asia? I'm told it can withstand hurricanes.

So now we can argue about carbon, alloy, steel, titanium and bamboo.

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bychosis
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Re: Carbon vs Aluminium

Postby bychosis » Tue Feb 09, 2016 8:48 pm

Not bamboo: the original carbon fibre.
bychosis (bahy-koh-sis): A mental disorder of delusions indicating impaired contact with a reality of no bicycles.

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Howzat
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Re: Carbon vs Aluminium

Postby Howzat » Wed Feb 10, 2016 6:33 am

If they build bikes and scaffolding with bamboo in Asia, should a good old Aussie bike be made from 50mm galvanised steel pipe? You wouldn't hear any complaints about the stiffness of the frame, for one thing.

softy
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Re: Carbon vs Aluminium

Postby softy » Wed Feb 10, 2016 10:09 am

Bamboo is fine guys, but not cheap. The ops budget is already blown on the frame.

so back to the question. Ally is still a really good product for bike frames. Cannondale have a really good rep fo them and continue them into the higher price brackets.

Nothing wrong with a ally bike.

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m@
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Re: Carbon vs Aluminium

Postby m@ » Wed Feb 10, 2016 12:33 pm

cyclotaur wrote:Well that's disappointing ....was looking forward to several pages of argument and commentary re: CF vs Alu with retro grouch 'steal is real' thrown in and the whole lot being trumped by the Ti wonks.

Had the popcorn ready and all .... :lol:
When did Kona sell out and start making bikes out of aluminium? :o
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