Hi all, I just wanna ask your opinion. I am eyeing the Ridley Fenix and they are offering it in two materials - aluminum vs. carbon. The aluminum is about $650 cheaper than the carbon.
I already have a carbon TT bike that I use for racing and training and would like to get a roadie for training (the TT bike is tough on descents & high traffic roads) & racing draft-legal events. The Fenix carbon have good reviews, even used by the pros on races on rough roads.
So, can I ask, what do we really give up when choosing aluminum over carbon, given that the geometry is the same? Comfort is really not an issue for me but durability & stiffness (since Im a big guy) is a major plus.
Hi all, I just wanna ask your opinion. I am eyeing the Ridley Fenix and they are offering it in two materials - aluminum vs. carbon. The aluminum is about $650 cheaper than the carbon.
I already have a carbon TT bike that I use for racing and training and would like to get a roadie for training (the TT bike is tough on descents & high traffic roads) & racing draft-legal events. The Fenix carbon have good reviews, even used by the pros on races on rough roads.
So, can I ask, what do we really give up when choosing aluminum over carbon, given that the geometry is the same? Comfort is really not an issue for me but durability & stiffness (since Im a big guy) is a major plus.
The major advantages Carbon has over Al is ride comfort and weight. If comfort is not an issue, then you should go with the aluminium and save $650
If you’ll mostly train & group-ride on it, you can be perfectly fine with the aluminium version. FWIW, I ride a carbon tri bike and train on aluminium - I can just chuck it in the back of a bus, without worrying about hairline fractures. Should I wreck it, it’s cheap to replace…
Thanks for the feedbacks. Yes, I think the better choice would be the aluminum for cost-effectiveness and the ability to toss it around if needed. I always put the carbon bike inside the SUV for fear of getting bumped from behind but with the aluminum, I think it would be okey to rackmount it.
The only concern is durability and stiffness since my aluminum roadie before is flexy in a trainer but the carbon TT bike is not. I actually compared the pictures of the aluminum and carbon fenix in their website and the carbon seems to be beefier in the bottom bracket area. Would it be safe to assume that the difference in size is due to the material and that the stiffness are somewhat the same?
If your aluminum bike is flexi then it isn’t well built or was built to be flexi for added comfort I would guess. Most aluminum bikes I have ridden have been nice and stiff, which I like.
Can you take them for a test ride and really mash it up a hill to see for flex?
And chances are that you will end up with a carbon fork anyway, and some really good bar tape and that seems to grab much of the road shock, IME.
aluminum tends to dent but usually it doesn’t impact how it rides down the road. When they get old it seems like the soft rear dropouts wear and the wheel sits crooked in the dropouts but that’s after a lot of use. If the ride quality is annoying, try a 25c tire at a little lower pressure.
Everyone used to race on aluminum bikes not too long ago, they are just fine. I own a CF cross bike and enjoy how it rides and the lighter weight, but still ride a steel road bike which I also enjoy. More than anything I think the bottom bracket height, seat tube angle and chainstay length make a difference in how a bike rides, I really like the old “euro” slack geometry.
I race on a carbon P3 but have an aluminium road bike for training. I’ve occasionally thought about upgrading to carbon as I enter the odd bike race and hilly sportive, but I always come back to the fact that it’s main purpose is for training and why would I want my training to be any easier?
There is noting inherently given up by going aluminum. Aluminum could be lighter, stiffer, and more comfortable than the carbon version.
Just depends on how they built it.
Likely the only substantive difference (and not THAT substantive) is weight, unless they made some bad design decisions on the aluminum frame.
Hi all, I just wanna ask your opinion. I am eyeing the Ridley Fenix and they are offering it in two materials - aluminum vs. carbon. The aluminum is about $650 cheaper than the carbon.
I already have a carbon TT bike that I use for racing and training and would like to get a roadie for training (the TT bike is tough on descents & high traffic roads) & racing draft-legal events. The Fenix carbon have good reviews, even used by the pros on races on rough roads.
So, can I ask, what do we really give up when choosing aluminum over carbon, given that the geometry is the same? Comfort is really not an issue for me but durability & stiffness (since Im a big guy) is a major plus.
We can only think (and hope) that Ridley designed the aluminum to be at par with carbon, at least.
Anyway, it looks like the bike comes with an aluminum fork. Would this be an issue as far as durability is concerned? (In my bmx days, I fell head first twice because of the thin “taiwan” fork broke and it was common that time to just get the beefier “japan” steel fork. :-))) )