Official Road Cycling Thread

[///M Power-Belgium]

Originally Posted by Mr Tonka

Nice, post pics of your rides.

Check out the video on this page , the video is posted by the American "Ethan Fann" => http://www.zita.be/nieuws/bizar/4049...9dd5913eaa7534

[Mr Tonka]

Originally Posted by ///M Power-Belgium

Check out the video on this page , the video is posted by the American "Ethan Fann" => http://www.zita.be/nieuws/bizar/4049...9dd5913eaa7534

I don't want to.

[dc503]

Originally Posted by itrsteve

Thanks! Yeah, had my eye on it for far too long. I ditched my Bianchi Oltre XR2 for it. Also upgraded to Di2.

So many great investments and my poorest year for actually riding it. Oh well.

It's certainly a neat looking frame and the Tarmac itself is just a fantastic bike, period. There's always next year...to ride, for me to buy another Tarmac

Originally Posted by Mr Tonka

I don't want to.

Yeaaaash, yeah that was tough to watch. We've all been probably too close to that very thing happening already.

[itrsteve]

Originally Posted by dc503

It's certainly a neat looking frame and the Tarmac itself is just a fantastic bike, period. There's always next year...to ride, for me to buy another Tarmac

I love them... I had a 2014 S-works Tarmac and absolutely loved it. It did everything great, I did massive hill climb events, crits, 200k's, etc and it did all of them with the comfort and performance you'd expect.

My biggest mistake was going with that race frame Bianchi, it make me hate cycling.

I was actually at the UCI worlds in Richmond and a few hours before Sagan won I saw somebody commuting around on that frame, I offered to buy it off him on the spot but he turned it down, fortunately I was able to source one months later.

Other topic: It's winter time, is anybody else on Zwift?

[Mr Tonka]

Originally Posted by itrsteve

I love them... I had a 2014 S-works Tarmac and absolutely loved it. It did everything great, I did massive hill climb events, crits, 200k's, etc and it did all of them with the comfort and performance you'd expect.

My biggest mistake was going with that race frame Bianchi, it make me hate cycling.

I was actually at the UCI worlds in Richmond and a few hours before Sagan won I saw somebody commuting around on that frame, I offered to buy it off him on the spot but he turned it down, fortunately I was able to source one months later.

Other topic: It's winter time, is anybody else on Zwift?

[dc503]

Originally Posted by itrsteve

I love them... I had a 2014 S-works Tarmac and absolutely loved it. It did everything great, I did massive hill climb events, crits, 200k's, etc and it did all of them with the comfort and performance you'd expect.

My biggest mistake was going with that race frame Bianchi, it make me hate cycling.

I was actually at the UCI worlds in Richmond and a few hours before Sagan won I saw somebody commuting around on that frame, I offered to buy it off him on the spot but he turned it down, fortunately I was able to source one months later.

Other topic: It's winter time, is anybody else on Zwift?

That's funny, glad you were able to find another. I've only seen one for sale in person at a shop in NY.

There were plenty of things I would like to have taken home with me from UCI Richmond. That was such a great event, awesome experience.

I'm resisting Zwift (+ smart trainer), already getting my sub 32 degree base rides in and slugging it out on a basic trainer when necessary

[itrsteve]

Originally Posted by dc503

I'm resisting Zwift (+ smart trainer), already getting my sub 32 degree base rides in and slugging it out on a basic trainer when necessary

As much as I hate the idea of riding indoors, interval training gets your FTP up big time. The winter of 2014 I had a Kurt Kinetic and TrainerRoad and did the normal amount of suffering but I was able to come out swinging when the race season started. Unfortunately it got warm and the road rides came out and my numbers were on a slow decline.

Last winter, I did zwift + kickr and holy crap, that's a whole different experience. It's honestly as enjoyable as I feel riding a trainer could be. Not to mention the time saved figuring out which combination of cold weather gear you're going to use that day. If you have a way to demo it, I highly suggest trying it out... You'll be impressed.

[dc503]

Originally Posted by itrsteve

As much as I hate the idea of riding indoors, interval training gets your FTP up big time. The winter of 2014 I had a Kurt Kinetic and TrainerRoad and did the normal amount of suffering but I was able to come out swinging when the race season started. Unfortunately it got warm and the road rides came out and my numbers were on a slow decline.

Last winter, I did zwift + kickr and holy crap, that's a whole different experience. It's honestly as enjoyable as I feel riding a trainer could be. Not to mention the time saved figuring out which combination of cold weather gear you're going to use that day. If you have a way to demo it, I highly suggest trying it out... You'll be impressed.

It's true, the harsh winters often times breed the strongest seasons for a lot of people. The idea of doing 2-3 hour z2 rides on a trainer though, phew. I did jump on zwift for the first time last night (on my dumb trainer), so you got me. It was definitely a change from total boredom.

[Mr Tonka]

Originally Posted by Alpine F31

Indeed. Believe me, I swallowed hard when I wrote that check. Now that I've had the bike for some months and 4000 miles, I can honestly say I would do it again. It's very special. Good luck with whatever you decide on. It's hard to buy a bad bike these days.

I'm looking into Cipollini NK1k frame set as well. The regional rep lives down the street from my office and is good friends with my LBS pal. Hoping to get to test ride one in a few weeks.

Apparently one of the few remaining 100% hand made in Italy bikes. (not that it maters much anymore)

[Alpine F31]

Originally Posted by Mr Tonka

I'm looking into Cipollini NK1k frame set as well.

LOVE that. The one thing that confuses me about Cipollini is I never see them in the pro peloton. Who races them?

[dc503]

Originally Posted by Alpine F31

LOVE that. The one thing that confuses me about Cipollini is I never see them in the pro peloton. Who races them?

Yeah, only a few teams at the Pro Continental ranks use em now I believe. I could have swore a UCI World team was on them within the last 2 years but for the life of me I can't remember.

In kinda related news in that it's the pro peloton, it looks like Specialized is encouraging their riders to talk about disc haha. Tom Boonen speaking glowingly of a ViAS Dis - "Best bike I ever had,unbelievable performance!" I wonder if the disc trials finally lead to regular use of disc in the non-classics finally?

[Alpine F31]

Originally Posted by dc503

I wonder if the disc trials finally lead to regular use of disc in the non-classics finally?

Man I hope so. Does't the disc vs. rim brake debate remind you of when carbon frames first came on the scene? Many purists bemoaned them as dangerous, disposable, plastic junk. "Steel is real" they said, and maybe it is. But you're not going to find one steel frame in the pro peloton. Soon, it will be the same for rim brakes.

I've owned my disc (disk as Pinarello calls it) equipped bike for just short of a year now and I can tell you, there are ZERO downsides to it. The slight weight penalty is more than made up for by the performance. If I wanted the lightest bike in the World, I wouldn't have bought a Dogma which is kind of a pig. But boy oh boy is it FAST.

[dc503]

Originally Posted by Alpine F31

Man I hope so. Does't the disc vs. rim brake debate remind you of when carbon frames first came on the scene? Many purists bemoaned them as dangerous, disposable, plastic junk. "Steel is real" they said, and maybe it is. But you're not going to find one steel frame in the pro peloton. Soon, it will be the same for rim brakes.

I've owned my disc (disk as Pinarello calls it) equipped bike for just short of a year now and I can tell you, there are ZERO downsides to it. The slight weight penalty is more than made up for by the performance. If I wanted the lightest bike in the World, I wouldn't have bought a Dogma which is kind of a pig. But boy oh boy is it FAST.

Oh, it absolutely does. I've never had a disc road bike, but it's ultimately what I want moving forward. It's not apples to apples, but my CX bike is hydraulic disc and I absolutely love it.

[Alpine F31]

Originally Posted by dc503

Oh, it absolutely does. I've never had a disc road bike, but it's ultimately what I want moving forward. It's not apples to apples, but my CX bike is hydraulic disc and I absolutely love it.

Riding my CX bike on the street is what really made me curious. I'm super glad I did it. And my CX bike had mechanical discs. The hydraulic system is MILES better!

[leo95se]

This looks like a fun thread.
Without starting a war, anyone have bike advice? I'm on a cannondale synapse 10 speed now and want to upgrade. Without riding anything (yet), I've been impressed with the cube bikes as far as bang for the buck, but don't really have much context on what to look at. Who has what to say?

[Mr Tonka]

Originally Posted by Alpine F31

LOVE that. The one thing that confuses me about Cipollini is I never see them in the pro peloton. Who races them?

I haven't got a clue. I just started looking at them at the suggestion of my friend. He put me in touch with the rep, Pietro Caucchioli who is also the Pres of ALE bike wear and has designed his own carbon bike line, Divo. Guess this guy has sone some stages in Giro de Italia and some other major race(s).

Unfortunately, he's just flew home to Italy and won't be back, to even look at the Cipollini in person until mid Jan. Won't have a test ride bike until April. He has 2 Divo bike frames that would fit me, one is a personally used bike and the other is an unused bike. Both have campy components on them. He didn't give me a price yet on the Divo bikes, but i think he's going to want more than i'm willing to pay for a small boutique bike brand. Cipollini is more expensive than the F8. And there is another factor newly involved as well.....

This is also to serve as sort of a shout out to BMC for great customer service. My bike has been great, i've owned it for one year now and put more than 5000 miles on it this past year. One small issue that has persisted is that the rear wheel looked like it was cocked over to the left, making the tire close enough to some times rub the chain stay. When i would loosen the skewer the wheel would center, tighten it down and 30 min later, it would have moved back to the crooked position.

My LBS took pics of the drop outs and called BMC. Within 10 min, they agreed to replace my frame at no charge to me. But, it would be white and not available to ship until Feb. I asked my LBS buddy to ask them what kind of a credit would they give me towards a SLR01 frame set. They came back and offered $2000 off of the new SLR01. They also offered a SLR02 to replace my GF02, at no charge. So i should have a new SLR02 frame and fork to pick up tomorrow or Tuesday.

They aren't requiring the old GF02 frame to be sent back and my LBS might let me keep it as a rainy day bike or a trainer bike. Clearly would never be able to sell it or call in another warranty on it.

Back to the F8, Cipollini, Divo, etc... I think that i probably couldn't go wrong with any of those bikes buying them sight unseen/fit. Actually, i did get to see and handle the Divo frame sets in person last week. Quality look phenomenal and the LBS guys gave them plenty of praise. But... i think i would be better off going with an F8 if i'm going to buy something without a test ride. Helping this decision, my friend who is a Pinerello dealer can actually get me a substantial discount off of MSRP.

Long story short, the tentative plan is to get the SLR02 frame this week and list it for sale. Keep my GF02 as a spare/rainy day bike while getting an F8 and making it my primary bike. I'd like to go disc brakes, but i just recently acquired a set of ENVE wheels with ChrisKing hubs and SRAM eTap group set. Neither of which are set up for or are currently capable of running disc brakes.


This is the color scheme i'm leaning towards.

[dc503]

Originally Posted by leo95se

This looks like a fun thread.
Without starting a war, anyone have bike advice? I'm on a cannondale synapse 10 speed now and want to upgrade. Without riding anything (yet), I've been impressed with the cube bikes as far as bang for the buck, but don't really have much context on what to look at. Who has what to say?

This is the toughest question to answer. What kinda riding do you want to accomplish?

[leo95se]

Originally Posted by dc503

This is the toughest question to answer. What kinda riding do you want to accomplish?

I know it's a crappy question. I ride for fun now, average 20-30 miles a ride. Looking for a faster bike. I am worried about comfort. Not sure an aggressor frame will fare well, since I've never ridden one. I'd like to get more competitive, even if starting with charity rides. I have no idea of my capability since I just goof around for fitness purposes.

[Mr Tonka]

Originally Posted by leo95se

I know it's a crappy question. I ride for fun now, average 20-30 miles a ride. Looking for a faster bike. I am worried about comfort. Not sure an aggressor frame will fare well, since I've never ridden one. I'd like to get more competitive, even if starting with charity rides. I have no idea of my capability since I just goof around for fitness purposes.

What size frame do you ride?

I'm going through the same thing, well, kind of. I started riding and bought my first road bike a year ago. I went to a shop i trusted (a friend works there) and told him i wanted a comfort bike to build up to long(ish) rides of 60-80 miles. He put me on a BMC Granfondo. It's super comfortable and coming from full suspension mountain bikes, i believed it was was super stiff and super responsive. As noted above, i'm going to be at about 5300 miles for the year. I've had plenty of 60 to 70 mile days, a century mixed in there as well as a week topping 364 miles and 24k feet of climbing. All of it in great comfort.

During that year i added a power meter, carbon bars, carbon zero setback seat post, electronic shifters and carbon aero wheels. The only thing on the bike that came with it is are the cranks and rings. For me, it's time to get a more aggressive bike. I've put a lot of thought/reading/talking into which frame would balance responsiveness, stiffness, styling and comfort.

From those i've talked to and from what i've read, most high quality carbon, aggressive bikes these days are going to offer an acceptable level of comfort, especially for 20 -30 mile rides.

As you likely know, bikes are split into Endurance, Standard and Aero road bikes. In terms of most to least comfort, it runs in that order as well. That's not to say that some aero road bikes won't deliver comfort. Again, especially for a 25 mile ride.

I ask what size you are because i'm going to be getting a brand new BMS SLR02 in Black and there is a good possibility that i'm going to put my barely used 2016 Ultegra group set on it and sell it. My LBS is a BMC dealer and while i haven't ridden a SLR02, my wife has a TMR02 (aero road bike) and i would have no issues riding that for 60-70 miles. The SLR02 is most certainly more compliant than the TMR02 though.

The GF02 that i've ridden for the past year is no slouch. But i've recently decided to sponsor a local race team though my company and i'm thinking of getting more involved in some low level racing. Which is why i'm looking for something more snappy than an Endurance bike.

Hope some of this is helpful.

For reference:

Endurance GF02


Wife's Aero TMR02


SLR02 that i'll be picking up this week.

[dc503]

Originally Posted by leo95se

I know it's a crappy question. I ride for fun now, average 20-30 miles a ride. Looking for a faster bike. I am worried about comfort. Not sure an aggressor frame will fare well, since I've never ridden one. I'd like to get more competitive, even if starting with charity rides. I have no idea of my capability since I just goof around for fitness purposes.

Originally Posted by Mr Tonka

What size frame do you ride?

I'm going through the same thing, well, kind of. I started riding and bought my first road bike a year ago. I went to a shop i trusted (a friend works there) and told him i wanted a comfort bike to build up to long(ish) rides of 60-80 miles. He put me on a BMC Granfondo. It's super comfortable and coming from full suspension mountain bikes, i believed it was was super stiff and super responsive. As noted above, i'm going to be at about 5300 miles for the year. I've had plenty of 60 to 70 mile days, a century mixed in there as well as a week topping 364 miles and 24k feet of climbing. All of it in great comfort.

During that year i added a power meter, carbon bars, carbon zero setback seat post, electronic shifters and carbon aero wheels. The only thing on the bike that came with it is are the cranks and rings. For me, it's time to get a more aggressive bike. I've put a lot of thought/reading/talking into which frame would balance responsiveness, stiffness, styling and comfort.

From those i've talked to and from what i've read, most high quality carbon, aggressive bikes these days are going to offer an acceptable level of comfort, especially for 20 -30 mile rides.

As you likely know, bikes are split into Endurance, Standard and Aero road bikes. In terms of most to least comfort, it runs in that order as well. That's not to say that some aero road bikes won't deliver comfort. Again, especially for a 25 mile ride.

I ask what size you are because i'm going to be getting a brand new BMS SLR02 in Black and there is a good possibility that i'm going to put my barely used 2016 Ultegra group set on it and sell it. My LBS is a BMC dealer and while i haven't ridden a SLR02, my wife has a TMR02 (aero road bike) and i would have no issues riding that for 60-70 miles. The SLR02 is most certainly more compliant than the TMR02 though.

The GF02 that i've ridden for the past year is no slouch. But i've recently decided to sponsor a local race team though my company and i'm thinking of getting more involved in some low level racing. Which is why i'm looking for something more snappy than an Endurance bike.

Hope some of this is helpful.

That pretty much opens up the can of worms of infinite options that I wasn't ready to open! It's tough because there are so many directions, but that's what's pretty neat about the industry now. You can get 'endurance/comfort' bikes that can be set up pretty aggressively - new gen Cannondale Synapse's, Specialized Roubaix's, BMC GF01's, etc. Then there are bikes like Trek Madone/Emonda's which are race bred carbon frames, but can be had in slackened head tube heights for less aggressive fits. As Mr. Tonka said, I find that any of the new nicer carbon frames ride well (race or aero race), you won't be caught out by comfort on one if fit correctly. If anything, the quicker handling would be more impacting if you ask me.

Since it looks like you are committed to ride and already enjoy it, I don't think you have to worry about spending too much without even knowing if you like it. This is just me, but I always have a few guidelines.

1 - Buy a bike that has a quality support reputation or can be supported by a local shop/mechanic in case of warranty issues. Nothing is worse than being stuck with a trillion dollar X but have to argue over the phone to get it replaced - see Mr Tonka's example of support with his LBS and BMC, which was awesome

2 - This is obviously such a nutjob cyclist thing to say, but buy more than you think you need so you don't go nuclear upgrading it later - again see Mr Tonka's meteoric rise up the defcon level with his BMC

3 - Duh, get fit on the damn thing. If you can't even get comfortable on it, of course you're going to hate it. All the touch points, get them dialed in.

Moral of the story might be, go to your LBS and see what catches your eye. You'll likely find a pretty awesome bike that will work.

[Mr Tonka]

Originally Posted by dc503

That pretty much opens up the can of worms of infinite options that I wasn't ready to open! It's tough because there are so many directions, but that's what's pretty neat about the industry now. You can get 'endurance/comfort' bikes that can be set up pretty aggressively - new gen Cannondale Synapse's, Specialized Roubaix's, BMC GF01's, etc. Then there are bikes like Trek Madone/Emonda's which are race bred carbon frames, but can be had in slackened head tube heights for less aggressive fits. As Mr. Tonka said, I find that any of the new nicer carbon frames ride well (race or aero race), you won't be caught out by comfort on one if fit correctly. If anything, the quicker handling would be more impacting if you ask me.

Since it looks like you are committed to ride and already enjoy it, I don't think you have to worry about spending too much without even knowing if you like it. This is just me, but I always have a few guidelines.

1 - Buy a bike that has a quality support reputation or can be supported by a local shop/mechanic in case of warranty issues. Nothing is worse than being stuck with a trillion dollar X but have to argue over the phone to get it replaced - see Mr Tonka's example of support with his LBS and BMC, which was awesome

2 - This is obviously such a nutjob cyclist thing to say, but buy more than you think you need so you don't go nuclear upgrading it later - again see Mr Tonka's meteoric rise up the defcon level with his BMC

3 - Duh, get fit on the damn thing. If you can't even get comfortable on it, of course you're going to hate it. All the touch points, get them dialed in.

Moral of the story might be, go to your LBS and see what catches your eye. You'll likely find a pretty awesome bike that will work.

All good stuff, the part about fit especially. I often take fit for granted because a personal friend is the RETUL fitter at my LBS. Heck, i drop by when i change a saddle just to make sure i didn't muck anything up.

You can't underestimate a good bike fit.

[leo95se]

Great replies fellas!
I agree and am leaning toward a race frame. Worst case I'll get myself to stretch more
I don't want to look to upgrade, and know a min will be ultegra components (though those cube bikes include dura ace for less than the big names like cannondale), and possibly disc brakes since I think they will be the norm in 2-3 years.

I ride a 50-51 cm frame. Depends on fit obviously. Short legs and long torso. I've ridden my friends woman caad12 52cm and it was terrible. I felt like I was launching over the top of the bars.

I guess my answer is to shop around and ride. That bmc is sexy! Haven't seen many locally. (Ct)