Help me choose another road bike ?

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Shut Up Legs

Down Under Member
I'm in the market for another road bike.

Why
While I've had many enjoyable years doing well over 100,000km on the Vivente World Randonneur touring bike I use for commuting, this year I've been using my Specialized Roubaix Expert SL4 (2013 model) road bike for commuting. This is mainly because I got fed up with various aspects of the touring bike, such as
- weight
- canti brakes harder to adjust than the Ultegra road brakes on my road bike
- ditto the triple crankset derailleurs compared to the double on my road bike

About the only advantage the tourer has over the road bike is that I have mudguards on the former, but recently I've even found a rear mudguard that fits perfectly on the road bike and works really well. So, since I've gone off using the tourer, I decided to start looking for a second road bike, so I can use one while the other is being repaired.

I noticed that the Bike Force store in Docklands (Melbourne) has various European bike brands available, such as: Wilier, Colnago, Pinarello and Bianchi. I haven't yet looked at the brands available in other stores around Melbourne yet. I rode a Wilier Triestina endurance road bike in June in the French Alps, and found it to be a very nice bike.

What
My main preferences for a road bike to use as commuting and leisure are
- light weight
- comfortable (i.e. endurance geometry)
- easy to fit mudguards on front and rear
- Shimano Ultegra (mechanical) groupset (with rim brakes)

I haven't yet decided on the budget, so let's keep that option open for now.

Opinions?
I'd be interested in your opinions on the different brands, and their pros and cons. I'm not interested in buying online (I'm a bit old-fashioned there, I know), as I prefer to be able to take a bike back to the store from which I bought it, if someone major goes wrong with it.

Regards & thanks,

--- Victor.
 

RegG

Über Member
Location
Nottingham
Hi..... I ride a Bianchi Infinito CV (a 2017 model) which came with Ultegra mechanical (later upgraded to Di2). This is a really comfortable bike to ride, is reasonably lightweight, and gets a lot of admirers when I'm out for a ride! I would be able to fit clip on type mudguards if necessary. The CV version has the Countervail technology (hence the CV designation) which is said to remove a lot of road buzz helping to make the ride more comfortable - I personally think it works! This bike is available in the UK with either disc or rim brakes - not sure about Oz though. The Infinito is one of Bianchi's endurance range and other models are available with this geometry.

Take a look at the Bianchi website.

Good luck with your search!
 

Cycleops

Legendary Member
Location
Accra, Ghana
Much of it is of course personal preference but I'd urge to to go with disc brakes brakes rather than rim. They provide consistent all weather stopping, no rim wear and require little or no adjustment. Most models come with them as standard now as well.
Good luck.
 

Sharky

Guru
Location
Kent
Compare the details.
- Gear ratios - will they suit your terrain
- wheel set - how much to buy separately - are you getting low or high end wheels? Cheaper wheels are not necessarily a stopper, as upgrading wheels later is one of the easiest upgrade you can do.
- saddle - is this what you currently use, too wide/too narrow? Would you need to replace it fairly soon?
- handle bars - deep drop or compact - your preference?
- tyres - are you getting good quality?
- overall weight

Good luck, nice to be in a position to go looking for the N+1
 
OP
OP
Shut Up Legs

Shut Up Legs

Down Under Member
Compare the details.
- Gear ratios - will they suit your terrain
- wheel set - how much to buy separately - are you getting low or high end wheels? Cheaper wheels are not necessarily a stopper, as upgrading wheels later is one of the easiest upgrade you can do.
- saddle - is this what you currently use, too wide/too narrow? Would you need to replace it fairly soon?
- handle bars - deep drop or compact - your preference?
- tyres - are you getting good quality?
- overall weight

Good luck, nice to be in a position to go looking for the N+1
For gears I'd be looking at some compact setup like 50/34 vs 11..28 (or 32 if the rear derailleur supports it), because my commute (and recreational) rides involve heaps of hills, some steep. I'd use a saddle identical to the one I currently use on my existing road bike (or another one I keep for my European cycling trips), so that's not a factor in what bike I buy (or at least, I'm assuming that whatever bike I buy will have a standard mounting point for a saddle). Ditto tyres and pedals. For handlebars (having just spent a few minutes educating myself on the options, via https://www.cyclingweekly.com/group-tests/bike-handlebars-345953), I think compact ones would be good for me. Overall weight: as low as my budget will support (within reason, of course: I'm not going to spend large amounts of money for a minor weight decrease, so a bit of common sense will apply).
 
OP
OP
Shut Up Legs

Shut Up Legs

Down Under Member
As for disc vs rim brakes, perhaps it's just that I've never used the former, but I'm sceptical of their benefits. I've done my homework on this, reading numerous articles comparing disc and rim brakes, and their respective pros and cons, and I still can't decide if disc brakes are worth using.
 

ianrauk

Tattooed Beat Messiah
Location
Rides Ti2
As for disc vs rim brakes, perhaps it's just that I've never used the former, but I'm sceptical of their benefits. I've done my homework on this, reading numerous articles comparing disc and rim brakes, and their respective pros and cons, and I still can't decide if disc brakes are worth using.

The reasons I go for disc brakes are as follows
No rim wear (I used to go through a pair of rims every 18 months on my all weather commuter/tourer)
Disc Brake pads last a year where I was going through rim brake pads every 2 or 3 months
The brakes (Mechanical BB7) are easy to maintain, change pads and adjust)
No black muck all over the rims after wet rides.
The weight between disc and rim brakes are negligible.

My lightweight 'weekend' bike however. A Van Nick, has rim brakes and I'm in no rush to change those.
 
OP
OP
Shut Up Legs

Shut Up Legs

Down Under Member
What do you all think of this bike? There's one of them at a bike store near where I live, so I inspected it and briefly test rode it today:
https://www.trekbikes.com/au/en_AU/...kpoint/checkpoint-sl/checkpoint-sl-6/p/22634/

It should take mudguards, which is good for commuting. It is also claimed to support up to 45mm tyres. I don't know whether the brakes are good ones or not? As I mentioned, I know next to stuff-all about disc brakes. The brakes are Shimano R8070 hydraulic.
I picked the bike up in the store, and the bike (with 56cm frame) felt like it weighed about 8kg, and seemed about the right size for me also.

I'm in no hurry to buy it, though, because I don't want to rush into this, but I like this bike.

Regards,

--- Victor.
 
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vickster

Legendary Member
Does it come in another colour? :whistle:

The spec says close to 9kg (+ pedals), still light though

Weight
56cm - 8.94 kg / 19.7 lbs
 
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DRM

Guru
Location
West Yorks
For me, I would be looking at disc brakes,
Bosses on the frame to fit mudguards/panniers, compact chain set with around a 30 or 32 tooth cassette, and most importantly how much discount in the end of season sale is available, don’t discount the own brands of the likes of Wiggle in the more bang for your buck stakes, but I doubt they would deliver to Australia.
 

vickster

Legendary Member
For me, I would be looking at disc brakes,
Bosses on the frame to fit mudguards/panniers, compact chain set with around a 30 or 32 tooth cassette, and most importantly how much discount in the end of season sale is available, don’t discount the own brands of the likes of Wiggle in the more bang for your buck stakes, but I doubt they would deliver to Australia.
He does say he’s not interested in buying online :smile:

Discount may also not be a requirement. The linked Trek is around £2.6k at current XR (Although U.K. RRP £3.4k). Is that around the max budget?

Might be worth waiting for discounts (if there isn’t one yet) as that’s the 2019 and the 2020 should be out imminently
 
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DRM

Guru
Location
West Yorks
I only mentioned that as an example of more bike for less money, the important part is discount, particularly as the 2020 model bikes are starting to make an appearance dealers want rid of this years models, why spend £2600 when you can buy it next month for £1800
 
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