[Jhansb01]

I currently have a santa Cruz 5010 in aluminum and ride alot in the Frederick watershed, Andy Guest patk in VA, Greenbrier, Patapsco and such. The terrain is a bit of everything from rocks to smooth dirt trails. Im looking at possibly picking up a another bike and was windering if anyone rides a carbon full auspension in these areas and how it holds up. My main concern is taking a rock to the carbon frame in a rocky area such as the watershed. Anyone ride a carbon in this area or have thoughts on this?

 

[Cerberus75]

I ride aluminum. Almost all my rides are in The Shed. My Wife and some of the people I ride with ride carbon bikes. I like to ride like I don't care if I wreck. I have carbon everything else on my bike, but I have spares, I don't have a spare frame.

 

[Cotharyus]

I make it to those areas occasionally, as well as Harrisonburg/GW, Pisgah, DuPont, North Ga, and of course, middle Tennessee. Until my current bike, all my recent bikes were aluminum except my single speed which is steel. I've taken plenty of rocks to the new carbon frame over the past two years, and while it's lost a little paint, there is certainly no compromise to the integrity of the frame, while my last AL frame has a couple dents in it, but still, I wouldn't say they compromise the frame, otherwise my son wouldn't still be riding it. To be fair, I bought the carbon frame because the only way I could get the component spec I wanted was to get the carbon frame. It wasn't like I went out to buy a carbon bike. That said, I wouldn't have any qualms with buying another one, as long as it was a company I had confidence in not getting a crap frame from. I honestly don't think it breaks or is damaged any easier than anything else they make frames out of.

 

[DrDon]

I use to ride in the Shed a lot. I’ve broken alloy and carbon frames. My alloy SS gave up it’s ghost and I fell on my Following in the Shed. I’m heavy and ride heavy handed at times. Carbon has advanced tremendously over the past few years and manufacturers have finally moved away from stupid low frame weights. My current bike is a Switchblade with a 38 that probably weighs around 31lbs. It’s fun to ride and is the only bike I never worried about breaking. I do feel alloy offers a much better bang for the buck. The only big drawback I experienced is that alloy frames can be limited as far as tire and mud clearance which helps in the Shed.

Trance X 29 2 (2021) | Men Trail bike | Giant Bicycles United States

Engineered to help you ride faster and smoother on the toughest trails, this all-new 29er has a lightweight, strong and stiff aluminum chassis with 29er-specific geometry and a plush ride thanks to its advanced new susp...

www.giant-bicycles.com

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[Zguitar71]

I don’t ride that area, I live in Montana, but I do ride very rocky trails all the time with a carbon frame. Right now I’m on a Specialized Butcher upfront and it throws rocks at the frame all the time, some bigger than I thought possible. I have a clear guard on the down tube and so far no issues with the frame hits. Some of the hits sound terrible but no real damage. I don’t care if the paint is messed up, that is just part of riding. I worry a bit about a crash at speed on rocks, that might be the killer of a carbon frame. That might also be more detrimental to my body too and probably way way way more costly than a frame.

 

[FredCoMTB]

I ride aluminum. Almost all my rides are in The Shed. My Wife and some of the people I ride with ride carbon bikes. I like to ride like I don't care if I wreck. I have carbon everything else on my bike, but I have spares, I don't have a spare frame.

Yep I think I'd constantly worry on carbon. Hoping for a couple more years on this bike, but all but positive I'll stick to aluminum. A wreck or two this year might have done it landing in rocks... but in fairness I've never ridden a carbon frame so I don't know.

I HAVE snapped an aluminum frame like 15 years ago so I don't think I'm all that gentle anyway.

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[Cerberus75]

I use to ride in the Shed a lot. I’ve broken alloy and carbon frames. My alloy SS gave up it’s ghost and I fell on my Following in the Shed. I’m heavy and ride heavy handed at times. Carbon has advanced tremendously over the past few years and manufacturers have finally moved away from stupid low frame weights. My current bike is a Switchblade with a 38 that probably weighs around 31lbs. It’s fun to ride and is the only bike I never worried about breaking. I do feel alloy offers a much better bang for the buck. The only big drawback I experienced is that alloy frames can be limited as far as tire and mud clearance which helps in the Shed.

Trance X 29 2 (2021) | Men Trail bike | Giant Bicycles United States

Engineered to help you ride faster and smoother on the toughest trails, this all-new 29er has a lightweight, strong and stiff aluminum chassis with 29er-specific geometry and a plush ride thanks to its advanced new susp...

www.giant-bicycles.com

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

Yep I think I'd constantly worry on carbon. Hoping for a couple more years on this bike, but all but positive I'll stick to aluminum. A wreck or two this year might have done it landing in rocks... but in fairness I've never ridden a carbon frame so I don't know.

I HAVE snapped an aluminum frame like 15 years ago so I don't think I'm all that gentle anyway.

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Yup, for me it's if I break my frame, I'd order another one or buy used, carbon is a grand more normally. I'm more comfortable buying used in alloy. Granted Pivot has a great warranty, and was close to getting a Switchblade. But the brand I prefer just released a bike so I'm sticking with what I know.