Carbon questions...

[SandGroper]

One for my roadie friends.

I'm thinking about getting a carbon road bike, mainly for riding to work and training for XC racing. I read that some earlier bikes have problems with the frame cracking or breaking in some places. Is this a problem any of you guys have come across? My brother broke a magnesium alloy road frame recently, totally different I know, but this is something in the back of my mind.

I'm looking at buying 2nd hand, is there anything in particular I should look out for with carbon? The machine I want to check out is a 2004 Trek Madone 5.9. Trek seem to have some confidence in their frames, giving them a lifetime warranty (I think?).

Any thoughts would be appreciated...

[Mr. Cleetus]

nah, I think in general you don't really need to worry about carbon frames more than anything else. Trek had some issues in the early days with their carbon frames and I know several people who had those replaced with lifetime warranties, but I don't know if they do that any more.

Any frame can break. I have seen broken Ti, steel, alu... Just have a close look at the frame for cracks to make sure it wasnt knackered in a crash. I wouldnt be worried about buying a second hand carbon frame.

[Dave Noisy]

You're *very* unlikely to break a Madone, short of running it over with a car.

Go for it! =)