“Condition 1” Language Is Weird

If you've purchased a performance road carbon bike from a large brand in the past few years, the frame is probably designed for “Condition 1” riding constraints, along with a number of warranty implications.

Text from the owner's manuals of many prestigious carbon bike suppliers describes the durability problems well. ^{[sp] [tr] [cd] [gi] [sc] [or] [kn] [md]}

Condition 1 verbatim text from those manuals:

"You must understand that:

"1) these types of bikes are intended to give an aggressive racer or competitive cyclist a performance advantage over a relatively short product life,

"2) a less aggressive rider will enjoy longer frame life,

"3) you are choosing light weight (shorter frame life) over more frame weight and a longer frame life,

"4) you are choosing light weight over more dent resistant or rugged frames that weigh more.

"These frames are likely to be damaged or broken in a crash. They are not designed to take abuse or be a rugged workhorse."

Would you buy a frame that had these usage constraints? Did you buy your high-end carbon bike with the expectation that these were some of the limitations of the bike?

What's the tradeoff of fragility?

Seven doesn't believe in building Condition 1 bike frames. Sure, a rider can maybe save 200 grams over a rough and tumble Seven frame in titanium or carbon-titanium. Fortunately, that 200 grams is virtually meaningless in real-world rider performance. Yes, cutting 200 grams will climb marginally faster. However, the bike descends more slowly, and, more importantly, does not handle nearly as well, thereby slowing the rider even more, or worse, causing a crash, as the pros do more and more each year.

Don't chase grams. Instead, chase PRs with a bike that removes obstacles to handling, control, and the true source of bike speed.

Footnotes:
∧  Condition 1 riding is described in the Specialized owner's manual
∧  Condition 1 riding is described in the Trek owner's manual
∧  Condition 1 riding is described in the Cannondale owner's manual
∧  Condition 1 riding is described in the Giant owner's manual
∧  Condition 1 riding is described in the Scott owner's manual
∧  Condition 1 riding is described in the Orbea owner's manual
∧  Condition 1 riding is described in the Kona owner's manual
∧  Condition 1 riding is described in the Mondraker owner's manual