Bought £1700 Carbon Bike - Now scared to use it.

Not sure you've bought the right bike tbh. Buy yourself an old steelie of the internet for the pot hot holes and crappy tarmac and save yourself the head mash. At the end of the day turning the pedals over on a crappy bike on a crappy path, as oppose a good bike on a crappy path, makes very little difference to anything at all..

I use a 20 year old cheap as chips Raleigh Pioneer for such paths around me (and there are many) and a Cannondale Caad 8 for the roads.

Sounds like you bought the wrong type of bike for what you have planned for it, to be honest.

Maybe a hardtail might be better.

Carbon is ridiculously strong and not at all fragile. If you manage to break a carbon frame, you'll probably break yourself in the process (unless you do something really stupid).

My carbon frame used to be pristine and I'd touch up stonechips with laquer the moment I saw them. Then I fell off on a patch of ice and ground my groupset along the floor. Then my father in law used my top tube as a saw horse. Then I put it on a bike rack and it scuffed the top tube even more.

Now I don't give a toss anymore. The only thing I've kept up with is helicoper tape on cable rub points and on the chainstay. It's quite nice not being bothered anymore, I don't ride it any less.

Baby, I know...

The first cut is the deepest...

I'm always less stressed after the first bit of damage occurs. Doesn't mean I care less, just less precious about keeping it pristine. Helps if you see damage as a momento of an interesting story or experience. I have some scratches on my motorcycle fairing that I am quite proud of and a dent in the boot of my car that reminds me of a great family holiday. The shifters on my otherwise perfect road bike show some damage from a pretty big off during a race. Miraculously the only damage considering the scars to my mouldy old carcass.

Just ride it and add some character as it acquires a history of use.

Don't leave it outside.

Enjoy it, brake it, (if you can) rince repeat.  Just smile.

Lots of sense talked above, carbon frames are robust unless point loads are applied. But be careful on kerbs with those 25mm tyres at 80 psi! After many years of mtb I switched to road a few years back, and second time out tried to take a kerb at an oblique angle which the mtb wouldn't have even noticed. The result was painful, for me and the bike.

I've just sold a 27 year old bike with carbon frame and forks - still in great rideable condition.

I've dropped it while stationary and while cornering, and ridden many thousands of miles on all sorts of surfaces. The rear derailleur, skewers, brake levers and bars take the hit.

Carbon is most vulnerable to point impacts, so leaning the top tube against a sharp edge is to be avoided for example, and take care not to bash those thin tubes with a heavy D-lock or padlock.

Carbon-framed bikes are pretty tough.

Consider hanging it indoors using plastic-covered hooks screwed into a ceiling joist !

I do my best to keep my best bike best but it's a pointless battle. At some point you'll drop it or it will slide against a wall or post as you lock it up, or you'll break a derailleur hanger or get chain slap marks on the chainstay (this one is particularly like if you're bumping up kerbs - if it worries you get a chainstay protector for a few quid.

Helicopter tape is a good option for protecting the usual contact points on the frame.

As to hammering around on it the frame and forks will be fine. You might knock the wheels out of true a bit - learn to true them yourself before investing in stronger wheels. Keep the pressures up to avoid pinch flats.

Durability? Not a problem - you know they make mountain bikes out of carbon don't you?

Security - another matter. Any chance you could get a wall hanger put up, so you can just mount it on a wall inside (a bit like art that you can ride!). Although I do realise this might be an issue if in rented accommodation (but sometimes a word with the owners and a promise to fill in and paint over the holes might get results). If you are to pick a wall hanger, make sure it has clearance for the length of handlebar - most will accommodate drop handlebars, but some won't be far enough away from the wall for some flat bars.

Durability is absolutely top level. I have a high end cannondale frame and I ride it on 23 / 25mm tyres over gravel roads, our local crit has a couple of drop offs off a curb in it, I bunny hop railway lines and 5 years on it is 100%. 

I don't live in England, but almost never leave my bike unattended. It does however live in a shelter outside, unlocked and fully accessible. But tha'ts just NZ for you. 

Don't worry about durability. Don't worry about knocks and scuffs - they will happen at some point. Do worry about theft.

I wouldn't bother changing the tyres until your Marathons have worn out.  Then you can fit something lighter and wider and get that "rides so good and smooth" feeling all over again.

You'll be fine.

CF frames are as strong as other materials for typical cycling; the only issue is when they take knocks/impacts from other objects e.g. trees, cars, hammers. If you crash into trees often enough, then you'll likely crack the frame.

You also need to be careful about over-tightening things like the seatpost as that's an easy way to damage the frame, so either use a torsion guage/wrench or go very gentle (tighten until you hear the frame crack and then back off just before that happens).

A good lock will work as a deterrent, but won't stand a chance against someone determined to nick a bike, so exercise caution about where you leave it locked up and for how long.

Most important of all is to remember to have fun riding it.

Carbon composite bicycle frames are incredibly tough. Add in the vibration absorption qualities of the composite material (varies according to manufacturers' layup design choices), especially if you use a carbon handlebar, & you're riding a way stronger & appropriate bike than one would think. 

Just today I went for a rough ride on what would be closer to rocks, grit & stones than gravel; the bike kept up fine.

The pic attached shows the "smoothest" part of my ride today. Of course I had to pick my line, avoid large holes & slippery gravel on the edge of high slopes, but "underbiking" is fun.  

On hindsight it didn't feel like underbiking at all. 

Watch 'Road Bike Party' on youtube-  Carbon road bikes can put up with a suprising amount of punishment!  And how about Paris-Roubaix...

Riding up and down kerbs may put the wheels out of true in the end if you don't handle the bike properly, but they can be adjusted back.

Bikes of any kind are meant to be ridden and ridden with gusto, there are plenty guys bigger than me who have ridden CF frames on 24/20 wheels and not given a fig about hypothetical outcomes.

I've come down from my 107kg max but even then I rode a coke can thin Principia RS6 and Rex Pro, coming down roads at 40/45mph and hitting horrible ruts can shake you about a lot and yes sometimes you might bust a spoke if you're unlucky (often rim just goes out a bit) but breaking the frame through normal use, that'd be pretty rare.

The Scott frames are pretty robust, the HM frames are quite light for their type though the HMX version is even lighter/stiffer.

ATEOTD, appreciate the ride, stop thinking too much about fragility but obviously when you put the bike somewhere don't just throw it about like a £50 BSO, you want to preserve its looks, so think about locks and how you can prevent the frame from being cosmetically damaged because of silly things like that.

Not sure Scott made a caliper/rim brake flat bar version but you should be able to fit 30mm tyres under a deep drop brake caliper easily, if it's the disc version then wider tyres would be easy enough. 

I gotta get me an armed garage

Wow, you really didn’t think this through did you? 

No, don’t leave it locked up outside and don’t park it in the street unless you’re happy to get the paintwork and so on trashed (at least in London or any major city).

As to the actual riding, carbon should be tough enough (most high end mountain bikes are carbon I think and they get abused plenty). Yeah you might wanna fit some wide tyres on it though, not sure what your bike will take.

Else sell it and buy something more fit for purpose ie a mountain bike or similar if you’re never riding on the road?