Materials

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

I have been reading that sometimes carbon can crack, espec. in an accident, whereas steel frames may be more repairable and last longer. I am sure different frame materials all have their pros and cons. I really can't speak from first hand experience yet, but I hope to ride my new Rivendell through the countryside here for MANY years, and I don't plan on racing, so steel was a nice choice for me.
If one is not racing, weight is less important and should be balanced with other factors. Are you planning to tour? (long distances with camping/backpacking type loads) Mostly level riding? Going to be competing/racing? Have to carry your bike upstairs a lot? etc...

There was a bike weight discussion recently on a Rivendell (steel) bike list...someone had said: "From my reading, more riders are worried about taking grams off their bikes instead of pounds off their bodies and not to interested in the ride itself."

Now, when I was first describing and then showing my beautiful new Rivendell Rambouillet to my bike riding older brother recently, he kept asking how much it weighed, talking about how much his bike weighs, how much titanium and carbon and steel bikes weigh, how maybe I should have gotten a lighter carbon bike....etc etc. Sheesh! He doesn't even race. I had to really REFRAIN from suggesting that if he GOT on his bike more often and lost even just 5 of the 50 extra pounds he needs to lose to avoid his sky-high cholesterol heart attack waiting to happen any day now, he wouldn't have to worry at all about how much his bike OR my bike weighs! All this obsession he had about one or two pounds of bike...and I had just wanted to talk about the BIKE!
Made me curious though, and later on I actually balanced on my bathroom scale holding up my bike and WEIGHED my new 54cm Rambouillet with relatively big 700x37c tires (including the small saddlebag full of flat-fixing tube, tools, blinkie, and cable/lock that I usually ride with)....total 27 pounds. Probably 25 lbs without saddlebag and tools. Not sure I have any actual use for that information though. Maybe I will think of one some day while I'm riding a country road past some beautiful sunny farm field with the wind in my face listening to the crickets.