What the *#^% is up with modern road bicycles?

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Shortandcrisp

Über Member
Fully aware that this is gonna come across a an old fuddy duddy post, but here goes!
Been viewing durianrider on YouTube recently slating modern road bikes; bit over the top I thought, possibly trying to grab a few more subscribers by going out on a limb and appearing controversial.
Anyway, this afternoon I popped into a bike shop in Norwich selling high end road bikes amongst others. Hanging from the wall a £13000 Madone; on the ground a £9000 more affordable version. 🙃 A few years ago, I quite fancied a Madone when they were more reasonably priced, but, have to say, not only does this modern iteration look ugly as sin, when I picked up the cheaper bike it weighed an absolute tonne. Now I know aero is now supposedly king, but unless you’re averaging 25mph, or hurting down the side of mountains, and you’re flexible enough to maintain a perfect aero position, then I’m sure any such gains are very very marginal at best.
Think I’ll stick to my 11 year old Caad 10. 😀
 

DCLane

Found in the Yorkshire hills ...
And therein lies the problem. Road bikes are getting heavier and pricier, putting some people off buying.

You don't buy a new bike regularly and the industry struggles as a result.

I'd agree with the weight though; son no. 2's Ridley Noah Fast was too heavy for £7.5k retail. We've got it lightened by replacing the crankset, bottom bracket, saddle and wheels but it shouldn't have been the heavy lump it was. For info; it's aero, and very fast on the flat. Not fast uphill.

Ridley Noah Fast.JPG
 
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november4

Well-Known Member
Disc brakes adds a kilo, seems like going CF from aluminium takes it off again, roundabouts

I like these durianrider videos too
 

T4tomo

Guru
Fully aware that this is gonna come across a an old fuddy duddy post, but here goes!
yes
Disc brakes adds a kilo,
indeed, which doesn't matter in the pro peloton as the lightest frames, wheels and top groupsets means they have plenty of grammes to play with and still land on 6.8kg.

If you want a top-end bike with rim brakes, hang onto your old one as that the closest you can get.

if the UCI dropped the limit to say 5.8kg you'd see disc brakes back as an option again, particularly for the climbers etc.

Ridley Noah Fast was too heavy for £7.5k retail
its a chunky old frame, as are all the "aero" bikes, compare it to a top spec Bianchi Specialissima from 2019 when frames and wheel rims were more slender. - mind your sons's Z's will be just as light

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StuAff

Silencing his legs regularly
Location
Portsmouth
Like Keith Bontrager's maxim: 'Strong. Light. Cheap. Pick two'. Unlikely anyone's going to be building a production bike anywhere near the 2.7kg record holder, ever. In practice, and with enough money, you could get a bike like a Specialized Aethos- 5.9kg, even with discs (Storck built a 4.7kg rim brake bike a few years ago) and you could get that weight down a bit, still- IRL, would you even want something that weighs less for regular use? Rim brakes? Maybe. Skinnier tyres (23mm, say…narrower if you can find them)? If you don't have fatter tyres the frame can be lighter too…and surely you only need a frame to take your weight? Do you really need that many spokes on your wheels? What about your gearing. Do you really need those bigger sprockets? If you're running tubeless, do you need sealant?
For most people, most of the time- these are the wrong things entirely to worry about, and in terms of system weight (including the rider) we're firmly into marginal gains. You might think knocking a kilo off will make it much faster, the laws of physics say otherwise.
 

DogmaStu

Senior Member
Pure aero bikes make a noticeable difference on flat and slightly lumpy terrain in terms of watt savings - especially above 20mph. Obviously you need the engine to take advantage of those aero gains.

The Madone is one of only a few pure aero road bikes being made though - and the new one is not that heavy. I have the 2021 version which with Ultegra is around 8.5kg. It's a fast bike with 60mm wheels on the flat.

Pinarello, Specialized et al prefer a combination of aero and weight management and as such, their bikes can be 7kg and be only very marginally less aero than the Trek offering. My Dogma F matches my Madone on the flat - I've done freewheeling tests one after the other and sprint tests.

The Dogma is easier to climb with though, fewer watts needed to get up climbs 5% or more.

I recall racing in the 1980's, 1990's and knew many Pro's who went through several steel frames a season - without crashing, just stress on the steel. Nowadays they break far fewer good quality carbon frames and generally need a high-speed crash to break them.

GCN recently had a video where they said Pantani went through dozens of custom lightweights a season. Now carbon can be lighter but carry a Pro through an entire season.

Di2 means no more stretched cables affecting performance. Gear changes are instant, perfect. Fine-tuning is a push of a button.

Does everyone need £13k Pro-level bikes? Nope, far from it. Indeed, the sweet-spots are the less aggressive models that don't force an aero position from the rider by having a more relaxed geometry and groupsets like Shimano 105 or Ultegra / Sram Rival or Force. Above those models, it gets very marginal for the average cyclist.

Average Club cyclists don't need high-end bikes so complaining about the cost of them is a bit pointless. Often, threads like these come across as some trying to 'justify' not spending money on expensive bikes. No justification is necessary. A 10 year old £400 bike in good nick can be a joy to ride and serve the rider very well in Sportives, Club events etc.

The newer tech is nice, the lightweight aero bikes do save watts...but they come at a price most don't need to pay to get all they need from cycling.
 
Average Club cyclists don't need high-end bikes so complaining about the cost of them is a bit pointless. Often, threads like these come across as some trying to 'justify' not spending money on expensive bikes. No justification is necessary. A 10 year old £400 bike in good nick can be a joy to ride and serve the rider very well
Good point - and thankyou for bringing some sensible perspective!

(but I reserve the right to moan about having heavy disc brakes forced on us - and perhaps soon Di2/concealed cables? - purely because the current (largely arbitrary) UCI regs have moved the technology in certain directions, and dragged many amateur dollars/euros with them!)
 
I never understand this line of thinking - you can still get a 105 carbon equipped bike for a reasonable price.

I ride a Dolan DI2 - which is probably amongst the cheaper Di2 bikes - I couldn't justify spending 3 or 4 times that amount on a lighter more aero , fancy paint job bike. Sure they look fantastic - but for my limited cycling abilities I couldn't justify it. I don't think think Im missing out (Well not much anyway)

You but the best bike that you can afford / justify - There will always be one you hanker that it is out of budget - thats just how it is.

PXL_20220710_090428450.jpg
 
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cyberknight

As long as I breathe, I attack.
And therein lies the problem. Road bikes are getting heavier and pricier, putting some people off buying.

You don't buy a new bike regularly and the industry struggles as a result.

I'd agree with the weight though; son no. 2's Ridley Noah Fast was too heavy for £7.5k retail. We've got it lightened by replacing the crankset, bottom bracket, saddle and wheels but it shouldn't have been the heavy lump it was. For info; it's aero, and very fast on the flat. Not fast uphill.

View attachment 689938

i think therein lies the problem, everything is so optimized for aero at pro level speed even uphill old lumps like me wouldn't benefit massively in power saving and feel the weight on the incline.
Much has been said a bike thats a couple of kilos heavier is not that much slower on hills but you know about it if your output is "normal "

Case in point i went out on sunday on my old alloy bike with heavy wheels as i thought it was going to be a steady ride but it turned into a right heads down ass up ride and on the hills i certainly felt the extra weight .
 
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