Hi John,
Sorry for the delayed response - been a very hectic week this one. Just to let you know, I did test some bikes last weekend in York, including the Genesis Eq Disc 10. For you and anyone else who're interested here are my thoughts. I should make it clear that the following are the ramblings of a novice as I'd never rode a road or CX bike before last Saturday.
Well, first stop was at Cycle Heaven in York (which I would highly recommend to anyone in the area for stock and friendliness and professionalism of staff). The Genesis Eq10 was waiting for me and looks every bit as good in the flesh as in the catalogue. After getting measured up and working out that the 54cm frame was just right for me, I took it out for a 20min spin long the side of the Ouse and up around York racecourse. Main observations:
- steel frame+carbon fork gave a very smooth ride over the rough tarmac track, inc. some potholes
- Tiagra groupset was very smooth, and a revelation in comparison to my clunky old MTB shimano set-up. Went up and down thru the whole range a few times and it never missed a beat.
- Brakes were very responsive without being over-keen. They inspired instant confidence and again were a world away from what I'm used to.
- It's quick off the mark and feel great bombing into corners on the drops. Yet the ride position on the hoods is very comfortable and I could easily envisage a full day in the saddle. This came as a pleasant surprise as I was expecting the jump from MTB to road bike to be a bit harsh.
- The bike looks amazing resting against a fence in the sunshine with a river behind it!
Back at the shop I couldn't stop grinning. My brother then took it out for a spin too and his thoughts were much like mine. Except that he loved it even more than me. So much so that he started to panic that he had done the wrong thing in ordering a CAADX 105.
After this we cycled across the city to
Evans where I tested a CAADX Sora (only CAADX they had in my size) and a 'Dale Super6 (only road bike they had in my size with 105 groupset).
Although the CAADX is listed as being only marginally lighter than the Genesis, it did feel immediately less hefty (not that the Genesis feels esp weighty) on picking it up. On taking it outside the first thing I noticed was how much slower out of the blocks it is than the Genesis. The second thing I noticed was that it had 2 flat tyres! So back into the shop for a pump up...staff were suitably apologetic. Then back out...it felt much sprightlier with the correct tyre pressures, prob as quick as the Genesis despite thicker tyres. Actually, the bike felt like it could be really, and I mean REALLY good fun to ride, all day across all kinds of terrain. However, I was immediately aware that the Sora was noisier and clunkier than the Tiagra on the Genesis. And the whole thing just didn't feel as well put together - reflector hanging off front wheel, regular missing of gears, some unidentifiable reverb coming up through the seat post at speed. And then, bombing into a corner at a good 25mph-ish, the front wheel caught on my toe-clip and had me flying off into the grass verge. Felt a right plonker (despite being a novice of drop-bar bikes I count myself as a good rider and cycle every day, at speed, and rarely have any offs). After dusting myself off and checking the bike for damage (none thankfully) I realised that it was actually physically impossible to pedal and turn the front wheel more than a certain number of degrees at the same time without the toeclips jamming into the wheel. A problem which would only be made much worse by the addition of mudguards. When I pointed this out in the shop they were surprised and bemused. After some discussion and calling 2 more assistants over they came to the consensus that the pedals must not be the ones supplied with the bike and that the toe-clips in question were too long for this model. I'll take their word for that, but it didn't help me to fall in love with the CAADX that's for sure, nor did it give me much confidence in the Evans set-up having this experience on top of the flat-tyre issue.
Next up I took out the Super6. My first thought was "bloody hell, how do people ride these all day?!" The ride position was much more aggressive and the saddle felt straight out of an 80s Yellow Pages ad. Anyway, I was only trying it for the groupset. Which proved to be a big disappointment. My bro has shown me some of his threads on here discussing 105 vs Tiagra and it seems some people rate the 105 as significantly better and others say if blindfolded they couldn't tell the difference in the two. Well if blindfolded I would easily have been able to tell the difference in the Tiagra on the Genesis and the 105 here. The Tiagra would be the one that changed sweet as a nut everytime; the 105 would be the one that missed gears on the top 3 cogs of the cassette with regularity. I can only assume that this is a set-up issue, rather than the more expensive bit of kit being inferior? Given the fiasco with the CAADX, maybe this was just another example of Evans not setting up the bike properly, so the gears weren't properly calibrated.
So as much as this is meant to be a review of different bikes, I think the day turned out to be a review of different buying experiences. I'm not knocking Evans - the staff seemed knowledgable and helpful, and maybe I just caught them on a bad day. They were incredibly busy so they're obv doing something right. But for me the quality of bike set-up at Cycle Heaven, not to mention their aftersales service (as many free services and tune-ups as you like for a year) was streets ahead.
Having tested all the same bikes as me, my brother was now even more convinced that he'd done the wrong thing in ordering the CAADX. So we rushed back to Cycle Heaven, they let him have another spin out to confirm his thoughts despite it getting dark (again, shows how keen they are to provide a good service). He came back grinning like a Cheshire Cat, rang his LBS and cancelled the CAADX there and then and paid a £100 deposit to take the Eq10.
The lad in the shop confirmed it will take 32mm winter tyres, comes with stronger CX wheels that will take a battering on rough roads better than most 'road' wheels, will take guards and a rack, has a lifetime frame guarantee as is easily upgradable to Ultegra/SRAM in the future.
So my bro is currently one very happy bunny, waiting for his Cyclescheme voucher to come through so that he can return to York to pick it up and ride it the 40miles home!
For myself, there were too many issues with the CAADX (perhaps more Evans fault than Cannondales) for me to feel confident ordering one. And I loved the Genesis but won't be able to keep my MTB or buy another bike for a long time due to space issues, so I really need to be looking at a CX I think. Though if my brother hadn't gone for the Eq10 quite so early I'd probably have come home, thought it over and decided to get that and swap out the tyres. Maybe I still will do that, it just pains me to think of riding the same bike as him!
Sorry if anyone has dropped off reading that lot! The search goes on for me, but thanks for your help. Can see now that riding a machine is by far the best way to assess if a bike meets one's needs, so looks like booking more test rides and visiting more cities is in store. Cheers.
And if anyone is considering a versatile road bike then I would highly recommend the Equilibrium Disc range, and know my bro would too.