How much bike do I really need, a 6 month experiment?

[IanSmithCSE]

Good afternoon,

I have recently finished a 6 month experiment where I decided to question everything that I know about bikes and ride an entry level bike (aluminium frame with Claris) in the maker’s spec and see what conclusion I would come to at the end.

Now I have been told before that my posts are too long, but there is also this thread https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/dumbed-down-not-much-of-interest.284089/ so what should I do?

By need I mean the point where dropping a feature means that I am far less happy cycling rather than I could do it on a single speed non alloy steel bike but wouldn’t want to.

The 6 month duration was intended to allow me to become fully acclimatised to the basic bike and have no rests from any annoying issues by getting the best bike out and going for a blast and all is well again.

I also decided that I would not change the basic bike from the maker’s specs as this is what they thought the customer wanted and what someone buying for the first time would assume was “correct and there must be something wrong with me.”

The basic bike is a Norco Valance aluminium/Claris https://www.norco.com/bike-archives/2017/valence-a-claris/ (maker's old page, uk model had different tyres) and the best a Jamis Xenith Pro carbon/Ultegra Di2 https://road.cc/content/review/68753-jamis-xenith-pro a review.



About a year ago I broke my 531 steel framed bike which was mostly evenly spec’ed at around the Shimano 600 level and this represents what I considered as normal and should be seen as the basis for many comparisons.

Being used to 52/42 and 11-25 I found the basic bike to be an effective 1x7 as 50x28 is the same gear as 42x24.

This post is mainly intended to give a background for other posts which will detail specific aspects in an attempt to keep those posts focused but the results – TL;DR

You can still buy the wrong bike.

• Flat pedals without clips/clipless and 28mm “touring tyres” along with the “wrong” gears caused me to lose interest in riding.
• The bike came with platform/SPD but SPD and an odd shaped ankle after a few breaks are not compatible, no pedal retention was a real downer as I am used to toe clips/straps.
• I wouldn’t choose to ride a 1x7, but possibly a 1x8 and a 1x9 definitely.
• Claris STI front shifting is worse than downtube shifting
• I lost a lot of fitness as a result of the wide gear ratios and no retention.

The small gains of the Jamis are really worth it to me even though I don’t need them, but I definitely would continue enjoying the riding if I only had the Norco, as long as the tyres and cassette were changed.

An exception to the factory spec rule was that occasionally during the test period I would swap the Norco wheels out for the Sora/DP12, also moving the 11-32 cassette, over and every time I started to enjoy the ride again and at the end of the trial I put the RS10s on and it felt even better.

Wheels, Tyres and Gears, the wheel weights are wheels, tyres, tubes and cassette
Norco Own Branded - 700x28 Vittorria Randonneur, 8 speed 11-13-15-18-21-24-28-32, 3.54kg
Jamis Shimano RS10 – 700x23 Vittoria Rubino Pro, 10 Speed 11-12-13-14-15-17-19-21-23-25, 2.77kg
531 Sora/DP12 - 700x23 Halfords own brand, 8 speed 11-13-15-17-19-21-23-25, 3.61kg

A tyre called “Randonneur” would be expected to prioritise excellent mileage and puncture resistances which it does, bit for me it did so too much as the expense of being fun.

Bye

Ian

 

[SpokeyDokey]

Good afternoon,

I have recently finished a 6 month experiment where I decided to question everything that I know about bikes and ride an entry level bike (aluminium frame with Claris) in the maker’s spec and see what conclusion I would come to at the end.

Now I have been told before that my posts are too long, but there is also this thread https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/dumbed-down-not-much-of-interest.284089/ so what should I do?

By need I mean the point where dropping a feature means that I am far less happy cycling rather than I could do it on a single speed non alloy steel bike but wouldn’t want to.

The 6 month duration was intended to allow me to become fully acclimatised to the basic bike and have no rests from any annoying issues by getting the best bike out and going for a blast and all is well again.

I also decided that I would not change the basic bike from the maker’s specs as this is what they thought the customer wanted and what someone buying for the first time would assume was “correct and there must be something wrong with me.”

The basic bike is a Norco Valance aluminium/Claris https://www.norco.com/bike-archives/2017/valence-a-claris/ (maker's old page, uk model had different tyres) and the best a Jamis Xenith Pro carbon/Ultegra Di2 https://road.cc/content/review/68753-jamis-xenith-pro a review.

View attachment 636209

About a year ago I broke my 531 steel framed bike which was mostly evenly spec’ed at around the Shimano 600 level and this represents what I considered as normal and should be seen as the basis for many comparisons.

Being used to 52/42 and 11-25 I found the basic bike to be an effective 1x7 as 50x28 is the same gear as 42x24.

This post is mainly intended to give a background for other posts which will detail specific aspects in an attempt to keep those posts focused but the results – TL;DR

You can still buy the wrong bike.

• Flat pedals without clips/clipless and 28mm “touring tyres” along with the “wrong” gears caused me to lose interest in riding.
• The bike came with platform/SPD but SPD and an odd shaped ankle after a few breaks are not compatible, no pedal retention was a real downer as I am used to toe clips/straps.
• I wouldn’t choose to ride a 1x7, but possibly a 1x8 and a 1x9 definitely.
• Claris STI front shifting is worse than downtube shifting
• I lost a lot of fitness as a result of the wide gear ratios and no retention.

The small gains of the Jamis are really worth it to me even though I don’t need them, but I definitely would continue enjoying the riding if I only had the Norco, as long as the tyres and cassette were changed.

An exception to the factory spec rule was that occasionally during the test period I would swap the Norco wheels out for the Sora/DP12, also moving the 11-32 cassette, over and every time I started to enjoy the ride again and at the end of the trial I put the RS10s on and it felt even better.

Wheels, Tyres and Gears, the wheel weights are wheels, tyres, tubes and cassette
Norco Own Branded - 700x28 Vittorria Randonneur, 8 speed 11-13-15-18-21-24-28-32, 3.54kg
Jamis Shimano RS10 – 700x23 Vittoria Rubino Pro, 10 Speed 11-12-13-14-15-17-19-21-23-25, 2.77kg
531 Sora/DP12 - 700x23 Halfords own brand, 8 speed 11-13-15-17-19-21-23-25, 3.61kg

A tyre called “Randonneur” would be expected to prioritise excellent mileage and puncture resistances which it does, bit for me it did so too much as the expense of being fun.

Bye

Ian

Nothing wrong with your posts Ian - I rather like these longer reads. 👍

 

[biggs682]

@IanSmithCSE i like your detailed post's so keep them up .

Glad you have found a good reason to use the Jamis and being honest i am not surprised that there is a huge difference and i always wonder how many people would or could tell the difference without there mate or the internet telling them.

I still enjoy riding old steel bikes but i do keep trying more modern machinery .

 

[the snail]

Well the thread title is wrong. You don't need a more expensive bike, you just prefer it to the cheaper one. If you ride for pleasure, makes sense to use the bike that you like best.

 

[youngoldbloke]

I don't think you should be critical of the pedals supplied - surely anyone with even minimal cycling experience would expect to change them to suit their personal needs? Also, you will often find low quality heavy tyres fitted as original equipment even on more expensive bikes, again I'd expect to change them (as I would the saddle).

 

[Kingfisher101]

The pedals the bike comes with are usually just to get it home or for a quick test ride. I thought everyone automatically changed the pedals to their own and also the seat and even wheels/tyres etc.I agree with above.

 

[Cycleops]

Interesting post Ian. But can a tyre ever be fun?

 

[Scotchlovingcylist]

Enjoy a detailed thread so keep it up!

To expand on the claris shifters, my basic bike runs these and whilst they are night and day in terms of feel and quality compared to my 105 equipped bike, how did you find them so bad?
I've never used downshifters myself but find the claris works fine when set up properly and seems to stay that way and assume they must be better than downtubes even if just for convenience? I dont mind them to he honest and happily ride with them through winter/pottering rides/commute etc.

Wheelsets I agree with, you can tell the difference between cheaper sets when 'oofing' about and often consider this upgrade when debating new upgrades.

 

[Specialeyes]

Thanks for running the experiment @IanSmithCSE - I'll be interested in your overall conclusions. 6 months is a decent length of time to commit to such an exercise, and I don't think I could do it unless I had to.

I reached a point, probably when I turned 50 and with all the 'life stuff' that happens around that time, that I began thinking "life's too short to faff around with crap [insert hobby item]" as part of my thought process! In my case it would generally be bikes our acoustic guitars, but it's a handy device to justifty the purchase of pretty much anything mid-range or above. To clarify and to relate to another thread, I still seek out the 'value sweet-spot' and don't go all the way to the top of the range! (105, Ultegra, Martins and Atkins, not Dura Ace Di2 and Collings!)

 

[matticus]

I've never used downshifters myself but find the claris works fine when set up properly and seems to stay that way and assume they must be better than downtubes even if just for convenience?

How would you know how inconvenient something is, when you've never used it??

I've gone back to DTs on my commuter - they are just as convenient as the "brifters" on my other bikes (on which I've ridden 10,000 of miles). I might lose a fraction of a second in reaching down, but there are several advantages that compensate

 

[bonzobanana]

Enjoy a detailed thread so keep it up!

To expand on the claris shifters, my basic bike runs these and whilst they are night and day in terms of feel and quality compared to my 105 equipped bike, how did you find them so bad?
I've never used downshifters myself but find the claris works fine when set up properly and seems to stay that way and assume they must be better than downtubes even if just for convenience? I dont mind them to he honest and happily ride with them through winter/pottering rides/commute etc.

Wheelsets I agree with, you can tell the difference between cheaper sets when 'oofing' about and often consider this upgrade when debating new upgrades.

I think the fact it is stated Claris brifters are worse than downtube shifters makes the thread seem pointless that is so clearly not true and so you have to question the whole point of the thread. You would need someone with a more neutral mindset to make such a comparison between Claris and a high end bike. I like classic road bikes but I'm not going to defend downtube shifters at all and in fact even conventional mtb/hybrid shifters used on a gravel bike where you can access them easily on the flat of the handlebars are to me still far, far superior to downtube shifters. On my viscount road bike the shifters are moved to the stem but its still rubbish compared to brifters as non-indexed.

Why on earth wouldn't you change the pedals if you prefer clipless, no reason anyone buying a Claris road bike wouldn't do that if that is what they wanted.

When you read text that is clearly untrue then you know there is different agenda at work.

 

[matticus]

When you read text that is clearly untrue then you know there is different agenda at work.

Time to get off the fence dude.

 

[wiggydiggy]

Good afternoon,

<SNIP>

Ian

Nice write up and food for thought when changing bikes, the last bike I bought I'd swapped the racks, tyres, seat and pedals before doing a single mile on it, I've effectively paid for things I'm not using. I'd certainly consider running the next new bike stock for a time before changing anything.

 

[Scotchlovingcylist]

How would you know how inconvenient something is, when you've never used it??

I've gone back to DTs on my commuter - they are just as convenient as the "brifters" on my other bikes (on which I've ridden 10,000 of miles). I might lose a fraction of a second in reaching down, but there are several advantages that compensate

I've never wiped my backside with sandpaper either however I imagine it's more inconvenient than toilet paper. Just because I've never used something I can still spot flaws in things.

Correct I've never used them and have stated that I only assume they are better from a convenience point of view based on observation and judgement but, surely it's more convenient to have shifters on your bar where your hands are rather than reaching to a downtube which was the advice I was asking for.
What several other advantages are there then over brifters? Even at Claris level in your opinion.

 

[HobbesOnTour]

surely anyone with even minimal cycling experience would expect to change them to suit their personal needs?

I thought everyone automatically changed the pedals to their own and also the seat and even wheels/tyres

Not meaning to be picky or argumentative but I'd imagine a lot of people who buy a bike for the first time wouldn't think of such things.

Lots of people buy bikes and ride them without ever joining a forum like this.
Many do so online without the sales pitch to upgrade pedals etc. or buy in mass market superstores where there is little service. They want a bike. They buy a bike. They ride it.

I've never bought a new bike but something would strike me as odd if the salesperson effectively said that the pedals, saddle, wheels and tyres weren't fit for purpose.

I'm all for trying something out and finding out for myself what I'd like to change but not from the very start. If I'm a complete beginner is a lighter tyre such an advantage?