Well, I've narrowed it down to about seven bikes.

What bike?

  • DEFY ADVANCED 1

    Votes: 4 11.4%
  • TREK DOMANE SL5 / SL6

    Votes: 8 22.9%
  • ENIGMA EVADE

    Votes: 4 11.4%
  • Roubaix Comp

    Votes: 8 22.9%
  • Diverge Sport

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • GOLD STC DISC ULTEGRA

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • WHYTE WESSEX

    Votes: 3 8.6%
  • GENESIS Equilibrium DISC

    Votes: 8 22.9%
  • ORRO GOLD STC DISC ULTEGRA

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    35
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SpokeyDokey

67, & my GP says I will officially be old at 70!
Moderator
Rode these two today.

View attachment 503738

I can now rule out the Enigma, it was nothing special for the price, riding the SL5 was a much better ride.

I’m also going to rule out the Genesis and Whyte ‘cos I can’t find one to ride.

And the Enigma doesn't even have proper brakes. :ohmy:

The Trek looks lovely and will ride well - I have the (humbler) ALR5 Disc and it's a v.nice piece of kit.
 
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EltonFrog

EltonFrog

Legendary Member
I know the square root of naff all about high end road bikes, but I think it's a pity the Enigma is out of the equation.

Classic, under stated, titanium bike which will never go out of fashion, and will look better as it acquires patina from use.

Of the rest, I like the look of the Domane and the Roubaix because they have some unique design features as opposed to being an identikit carbon bike which could be made by anybody.

The enigma is out of the question because despite all the hype about how smooth Ti bikes are supposed to be to ride this was nothing special. I don't know about the Rubaix, haven't closely looked at one yet, but the design features of the Trek are appealing, there's some clever tech which is fun, I don't know if its useful, but its fun.
Test rides are your answer

That is what I am doing.
And the Enigma doesn't even have proper brakes. :ohmy:

Well, it does and I found out today that they are very stoppy indeed, I nearly had an off through not paying attention.
 
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EltonFrog

EltonFrog

Legendary Member
In the rain?
It wasn't raining today, and I refuse to get hung up about disc brakes, just because they stop the wheels doesn't mean they stop the bike, I've been riding bikes for 55 years with rim brakes and I haven't had any bother with them yet, even on chrome wheels. I have two bikes with disc brakes on one of them they're fine the other they squeal like a despoiled banshee.
 

Fab Foodie

hanging-on in quiet desperation ...
Location
Kirton, Devon.
I didn’t know that, did it last year in fact, and the year that a TV company was there doing some filming for summat.

I find it ironic that a town that hosts a popular cycling festival has probably the worst feckin’ road surfaces in the whole of Oxfordshire.
Good man....I’m one of the founders :-)
Roads surfaces are dreadful. Down in Kent now and roads are notably better....
 

froze

Über Member
I immediately ruled out the Trek SL6 due to being real expensive vs others with Ultegra components, and Trek is not the quality company it once was, everything is mass produced in China or Taiwan in the same factory as dozens of other brands where quality control has taken a back seat and it shows with Treks these days. I next eliminated the GENESIS Equilibrium DISC because it would be the heaviest of all the bikes, but I'm sure it would be a nice riding bike but for the money you're spending I think in the long run you would have wished to had bought a lighter bike.

So that leaves 6 bikes all of which are carbon and one is titanium. Ok, I'm a bit bias here, I own a Lynskey TI bike and it's the best riding frame I've ever been on; I'm also bias against CF bikes, I don't think they are suitable for the long term, but I'm weird that way, but a TI frame can't get gouged, it won't crack in two, you don't have to worry about making sure everything is torqued exactly correct or you could crush the CF which will result in catastrophic damage to CF, TI is just far simpler to maintain. So I voted for the Engima.

The only question mark I have concerning the Engima is the fork, I know nothing about that brand of fork, is it a generic Chinese made fork that Engima slapped their name on? and what is the rider weight limit of the fork? I couldn't find out answers to either of the questions on the internet, you would have to email them if you want to know. When I bought my Lynskey bike I had the same sort of issue with their Lynskey branded CF fork, they wouldn't tell me who made it nor did they know the rider weight limit, so I opted out of their fork and went with the Enve 2.0 fork because it had a 340 pound rider weight limit while most CF forks are between 200 and 224 pound limit. While I only weigh 175 I wanted a fork that was way over engineered for my weight thinking it would stand up to rough roads for a very long time, so far that's been true. In that same over engineered thinking I also opted for a Cane Creek 110 headset because that headset is the only one of it's kind design to give the CF steerer tube more support. Between the beefier CF Enve 2.0 fork and the beefier headset that whole steering section should be bomb proof. Not sure if Engima will give you the option to swap parts like Lynskey did. This fork issue would be the same issue with any CF fork on any of the bikes you listed, but it's also possible I maybe a bit more concerned about this than necessary...but I've seen forks fail, my bike shops I do business with have seen them fail, and it's something I've decided I didn't want happening while on a ride if I could all but eliminate it, which I feel I have done that.
 

vickster

Legendary Member
@ianrauk has a PX Ti, not sure which model
 

Heigue'r

Veteran
I would not let a press fit bottom bracket put me off buying a bike..Ive a 2016 tcr advanced.
14,000 miles
On 3rd chainring
Probably 4th or 5th cassette
6 or 7 chains
God knows how many brake blocks
On its 4th set of wheels(previous 3 worn out,possibly need disc commuter)
Original creak free shimano press fit bottom bracket still going strong
 

figbat

Slippery scientist
I tend to agree - my previous Cannondale Synapse had a BB30 which I did replace once due to roughness but no noises. My current Fuji road bike has a BB86 which is also silent. My criminally-abused Cube carbon-fibre hardtail has a press-fit BB and is also creak-free (the one time I did pick up a creak and suspect the BB it turned out to be a loose rear wheel skewer).
 
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EltonFrog

EltonFrog

Legendary Member
Thanks for all the replies and input, which has been carefully considered and digested, that said I’m getting pretty fed up with the whole process of looking, coupled with the inconvenience of not having any broadband for six day, I’m currently of a mind not to bother buying a replacement bike and just making do with what I’ve got.
 
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