This bike costs £8599.99. Is it worth it?

[smokeysmoo]

Might do, if a) I could afford to, and b) they did it in alu

 

[GrasB]

It's a 2011 Team Carbon... this was my whole point. It was £1k and in performance terms, especially the frame, it won't be that much worse than the £6k frame.

Will buying a £6k bike knock 5-10% off my time trial performance or make me win the club hill climb? No.

Your question will buying a 6k bike make you 5-10% faster. Answer possibly... depends where you start from.

The only way that little field study would have any meaning is if it were you riding the various frames, outputting the same power on the same course with adequate rest between rides and similar weather conditions.

Or if you systematically test things & measure the variables accurately enough. Put it this way, on a still day I can tell which gear my fixed gear bike has on it not from the cadence/wheel speed but from power/speed ratio!

 

[black'n'yellow]

Your question will buying a 6k bike make you 5-10% faster. Answer possibly...

It won't - it really won't. If it did, I would buy one tomorrow.

 

[GrasB]

It won't - it really won't. If it did, I would buy one tomorrow.

I have data that says otherwise. Thing is though I'm starting with an early 80 round-tube TT bike & comparing it to a frame which violates the UCI aero proportions rule.

 

[black'n'yellow]

I have data that says otherwise. Thing is though I'm starting with an early 80 round-tube TT bike & comparing it to a frame which violates the UCI aero proportions rule.

ok - but your post implied that spending £6k would make me faster...

 

[GrasB]

ok - but your post implied that spending £6k would make me faster...

Again depends where you're starting from. A £2k frame will almost certainly be faster than a £200 frame, that's not really in question. The interesting bit is how much faster. If you take my cheap as chips Ribble frame it's got externally routed cables, with traditional brazings cable routing can't be that clean because the brazings aren't well aligned, the welds aren't the cleanest, the wheel fairing isn't in the right place etc. While each feature only has a little bit of drag it all adds up. Slowly but surely & suddenly you've lost 10w. Small things can also make disproportional gains. Getting your aerobar position spot on can deliver massive gains if you're starting from the wrong position & that will be dependent on all kinds of things you may not thing like the length of your cranks!

What would be interesting is to compare my Ribble TT frame with a Planet-X Stealth Pro or Exocet (2) & against a Cervelo P3.

 

[StuAff]

If you want to willy wave then you spend your £8600 on one of these. Hey, if you're going to do aero you might as well do it properly.

Out of production now (the Evo-K's the only model they're making at the moment)....

 

[lejogger]

Well lejogger, i would say that you are just an arrogant sofab, never mind how good you may be


This thread is very disappointing to a relative newcomer to the forum, I didn't realise it was full of so many people with their heads up their arses and with massive chips on their shoulders

So someone can afford to buy a nice new bike, but they're overweight or (in my case) coming back from a major back op, so they have to buy a cheap bike because the inverted snobs out there think they should only get a nice bike when they can justify it by their performance?

So news for you all out there, you aren't good enough for th bikes you have either unless you can go up a 10% climb at 27kmh like contador did today

I'm really sorry if you've misinterpreted what my posts were trying to say. If you read my posts in full I would hope that the jist that there is no reason at all to buy expensive kit if you want a performance gain, BUT if you can afford to spend a certain amount then there should be nothing to stop you. Go for it!!!! Read my post #24 on page 2. I'm fully advocating spending whatever you want to on a bike if it makes you happy. My attitude is very much one that encompasses cycling in any format for all who want to try it.
I was just saying that if you're looking to spend more ONLY to get faster then you may be disappointed. A cheaper bike (like mine) will perform almost as well, if not as well as one costing a lot more. You don't HAVE to spend money but if I could, I most certainly would.

In relative terms my road bike is cheap. That's a fact. But I feel I still perform to a fairly decent level on it. I would hate to think I've come across as arrogant. My times really don't justify that. I have clubmates who are national and world title holders so whatever I do is always going to be very small fry. My head isn't up my arse. I appreciate how much of a novice I am in cycle racing terms. I don't have a chip on my shoulder either. I'm new to ths game also and am happy with whatever results I get.

 

[lejogger]

Oh and one other thing, lejogger, why do you have ping golf clubs, why not buy cheap ones from Argos until you're a scratch golfer?

Again, don't take this the wrong way. My point is that they're 15 years old and technology has advanced a long way in that time. If I could afford to I'd be playing with top of the range equipment. I can't, so I make do, but I shouldn't use the fact that they're old to justify any lack of performance. I swing the club. I am responsible for the direction it goes. I have nothing at all against anyone who buys new equipment because they can afford to and they like it. I would if I could, and I probably will do soon. BUT buying new kit only because you think it will make you play better is false economy. If you hit a bad shot with any club that costs any amount of money, then it's your fault. It's not the club's fault I hit it out of bounds. I shouldn't be buying new clubs to correct errors that are to do only with how I play the game.

 

[fenlandpsychocyclist]

Well as far as i'm concerned the person who buys an £8000+ road bike will find a decent speed increase .... of everyone he rides with.
Be honest, if you're riding in a group and one of the members is on something worth ££££'s you're all going to "show him" its a waste
of money.
I was out yesterday on my £200 coyote everglades with my friend on his £1000 carrera (new from halfords).
Nice bike, shame his bikes "engine" couldn't keep up with my bikes "engine".

 

[black'n'yellow]

Nice bike, shame his bikes "engine" couldn't keep up with my bikes "engine".

Works both ways, unfortunately. Many years ago, a young lad pitched up to a local evening 10 that I was riding. He was about 15, and riding a very nice Merlin titanium - pretty much the ultimate bike back then. We all wanted to beat him, but he kicked everyone's arse and broke the course record in the process. He currently rides for Garmin...

 

[uphillstruggler]

It's worth it if a: you can afford it and b: it would make you happy.

It would seem to be the market value for an object of desire.

I wouldn't buy it even if I could afford to spend that on a bike, basically as I ride to enjoy and not to compete in races etc.

I don't think I would see it as Willy waving either.

 

[MacB]

Well as far as i'm concerned the person who buys an £8000+ road bike will find a decent speed increase .... of everyone he rides with.
Be honest, if you're riding in a group and one of the members is on something worth ££££'s you're all going to "show him" its a waste
of money.
I was out yesterday on my £200 coyote everglades with my friend on his £1000 carrera (new from halfords).
Nice bike, shame his bikes "engine" couldn't keep up with my bikes "engine".

but that only really says anything about you and nothing about the expensive bike or the purchaser of said bike

 

[fossyant]

Here on lies the lesson in bike riding.

The engine is you. Work on it

(FFS I could do with dropping a fair few KG's - but me, not the bike).

Some right snobbery going on - FFS. Sportive lot I think !

I'd love a £10k bike.. BUT I have got a very nice top of the range 22 year old bike that was made for me, I specced the kit, I still source OEM new stuff from the States when sprockets need replacing - still cheaper than the new stuff.

I've ridden a few sportives - you either get very friendly, or folk really take it as a race, when it's not, and they take stupid risks. I've seen some mega bikes, commented to the rider it's nice to see one, got better responses back about my old iron though (it's a nice old iron though).

I tend to be a keeper of my bikes - I've always seen lots of folk swap and change. Me, happy with my kit, yes it's now 'vintage' but it still works.

I really would go for a new 'super bike' but, it wouldn't get used any more than the 'other road bikes I still don't ride enough'.

I ride every day on a fixed road bike (not a fixie I will add), have two road bikes sat in the garage that don't move, and an MTB that is usually on kid tag-a-long duty. I ride my fixed road bike all the time - the other 'better' bikes don't really get a look in.

As for folk that say old bikes slow you down - they don't My 'old' steel bikes are 9kg's - I don't think a lighter 6.8kg bike will make any difference.

But having nice kit and looking after it has rewards. I run 22 year old Dura Ace and 600/Ultegra. It works perfectly.

Look after your stuff.

 

[Accy cyclist]

i'd have two of these instead. one in yellow and one in Celeste (or whatever Yeti call it) yum.

Knob!