feedback on rose carbon bikes needed

Konkers

Folks, seriously thinking of buying this but want some feedback from people who own a carbon rose bike. Spec and price are excellent.

http://www.roseversand.com/article/rose-carbon-pro-sl-2000-compact-532213/aid:583040

Will be using it for sportives and training (no racing). Over the nicer months (March to Oct) I could do about 150 or 200K's per week. Comfort and durability are important. It will be my first carbon bike. Have read all threads that mention "Rose Bike" and very few of you who own a rose baike have provided a review.

Are they too stiff for what I will use it for?

My current bike is a 5/6 year lapierre S-tech 200 (entry level aluminium frame with carbon forks). I'd be sore after a long spin.

Any advice on fit would be helpful also.........

fat bloke

Is that really full carbon and 105 for 1300 quid???

Good deal!

Konkers

yeah yeah. SSSHHHHH!:D

codie

I very nearly took the plunge with a RS model last year.Researched as much as I could have and yes any reviews say they are really stiff and have the geometry of a race bike.Head tube is fairly low.Maybe for sportives and long spins it might not be ideal .If you are sore with your Lapierre good chance You could be fairly sore but then it all depends at what kind of level you are at and what kind of shape you are in .As far as size you dont give your height or anything.

AtomMcC

Hi there.
I took the same plunge June last year and bought myself a Rose carbon bike. I'd previously owned a 20 year old steel framed racer so it was a massive step up in terms of performance and comfort.
See my review here: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056637822
I really liked their prices and the fact that you could configure the bike to your taste.
Size wise, I had the same concern as you. I used the Competitive Cyclist bike fit Calculator and the bike fit like a glove. See link below:
http://www.competitivecyclist.com/za/CCY?PAGE=FIT_CALCULATOR_INTRO
Quality wise, I had an initial concern about the rear derailleur hanger but Rose's response was great and they sorted it out for me.
Delivery wise, they gave me an expected lead time which was basically the time the assembly started so you'd need to add a week for assembly and another week for delivery. What they told me at the time of purchase was pretty spot on.
Bottom line is that they make great bikes. I've used mine for local summer league racing and it performed very well. I also completed Tour of Meath, Tour of Waterford and Ring of Kerry cycles and it was not uncomfortable.
The frame I have is the Xeon which is a little different to the Carbon Pro. However I do know a guy who owns one and he loves it.
Hope this helps. If you need anything specific, let me know.

Konkers

AtomMcC wrote: »

Hi there.
I took the same plunge June last year and bought myself a Rose carbon bike. I'd previously owned a 20 year old steel framed racer so it was a massive step up in terms of performance and comfort.
See my review here: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056637822
I really liked their prices and the fact that you could configure the bike to your taste.
Size wise, I had the same concern as you. I used the Competitive Cyclist bike fit Calculator and the bike fit like a glove. See link below:
http://www.competitivecyclist.com/za/CCY?PAGE=FIT_CALCULATOR_INTRO
Quality wise, I had an initial concern about the rear derailleur hanger but Rose's response was great and they sorted it out for me.
Delivery wise, they gave me an expected lead time which was basically the time the assembly started so you'd need to add a week for assembly and another week for delivery. What they told me at the time of purchase was pretty spot on.
Bottom line is that they make great bikes. I've used mine for local summer league racing and it performed very well. I also completed Tour of Meath, Tour of Waterford and Ring of Kerry cycles and it was not uncomfortable.
The frame I have is the Xeon which is a little different to the Carbon Pro. However I do know a guy who owns one and he loves it.
Hope this helps. If you need anything specific, let me know.

Hi AtomMcC, thanks for reply. I'm pretty sure anything carbon will be more comfortable than my current bike. Reviews are all good. So you are 5'7 and you went for the 55. What inseam are you in cm. I'm 6foot plus or minus a cm and my inseam is 87cm so I am right on the boarder line between a 55 and a 57. My current bike has a 56.5 top tube (horizontal) and a 110 mm stem and a 42cm handle bar (centre left to centre right at the hoods). Based on your experience what would you recommend to me. In a canyon I'm coming out with a 58.

Could you pm me your number for a chat?

AtomMcC

Hi Konkers,
My inseam measurement is 82.5cm. The recommended seat tube (centre to centre) from competitive cyclist was 53-54cm. Rose bikes recommendation was 55cm. I went for the 55 but ordered a slightly shorter stem just in case.
PM sent

Paul Kiernan

It is a good deal, isn't it? Full 105 including crankset and brakes, Ksyrium wheels and GP4000s tyres. Considering you could pay twice that for a Trek and still get some crap components.

Plastik

Great spec bikes though a little lacking on the blingradar! I'll be pulling the trigger on a new bike later in the year and the Xeon CRS has phenomenal spec for price. From memory, 2.6k for full SRAM force on a 6.8kg frame with good wheels/tyres/finishing kit. Supposed to be very stiff.

Icyseanfitz

even has a set of mavics at that price :O some deal

happytramp

Plastik wrote: »

Great spec bikes though a little lacking on the blingradar! I'll be pulling the trigger on a new bike later in the year and the Xeon CRS has phenomenal spec for price. From memory, 2.6k for full SRAM force on a 6.8kg frame with good wheels/tyres/finishing kit. Supposed to be very stiff.

A friend of mine got this one (4400 model I believe). It's a fantastic machine.

Icyseanfitz

holy crap i like the look of this

Brian?

Never ridden one but they do get great reviews. I think comfort is all about fit and time on the bike.

If you do decide to go for one, I'd spend an extra 200 on full Ultegra. This is some price;

http://www.roseversand.com/article/rose-carbon-pro-sl-3000-compact-529368/aid:574983

Considering the groupset is about 700 on it's ow.

Icyseanfitz

amazing prices really, shows how much we are getting ripped off by the bigger lads who charge 2k for a frame alone

FrankGrimes

Am very interested to see the existing reviews and how this thread develops. I'm toying with the idea of getting a new bike for racing and, having not been in the market for 3/4 years, I've been quite surprised at how little 3k gets you in most places.

My ideal bike would be a frame that is plenty stiff and reasonably aerodynamic for racing and climbing but yet light enough for long climbs (e.g. those Felt frames look great for aero and stiffness but at a glance they just look like they've got extra mass as a result) while also being reasonably comfortable for long sportives (less of a priority, could use my existing bike for that). It would also have Di2, Dura Ace or Ultegra (doesn't seem to be any major difference?), carbon handlebars, and high quality components. I have wheels that I need (use Dura Ace C24s for most things - fantastic wheels) so amn't really pushed on wheels but I guess you have to buy them if buying a bike, could always sell them on.

I was beginning to think that hoping to get all of that for 3.5, max 4k was starting to look foolish, but with Rose it looks like it might well be doable. I've emailed them asking for a description of the differences between their different frames (e.g. there seem to be 5 different Xeon frames) and also as I got an error with the configurator. If you can get all the above with the added bonus of configuring the components (e.g. I'll likely need a shorter stem), that just makes it an even better deal.

Only real downside is that the frame colours look pretty basic, not enough bling for that kinda money, but I could live with that I guess! Will post back if I get the lowdown on the differences in the frames from them. Doubt I'd be ordering in the next month anyway.

mossym

how would people rate these versus canyon? much of a muchness?

Konkers

Think I'll fire away with this. Only thing is I cannot see where/how to configure the discounted model when putting the order through. Tried ringing earlier but their helpline was closed for the weekend. So I had to e-mail them. Will be Monday before I get a response. Very excited about this.


It's ok to say that........yeah?:pac:

AtomMcC

@ Konkers. Good luck with the purchase. Hopefully you hear back that you can configure it ok. I think everyone should be excited when they purchase their dream machine.

In terms of "bling" I had the same feelings. Would a relatively unknown brand be considered bland? All I can say is that everyone I spoke to had nothing but positive compliments about the looks of the bike.
The frame is as stiff as a poker so it's very responsive at climbing and sprinting. I've had it up to 58kph in local league race sprints, no doubt limited by the pilot.
I used the bike to get a silver medal in the Louth hill climb championships, with heavy cosmic carbones so it certainly is good at climbing. I'll have to wait to see how it holds up in open racing later in the year.
I don't mean to be singing my own praises here, I'm complimenting the fantastic engineering of the Rose bikes.
See photo below of Rose bike in action. Bling enough for me ...

route66

FrankGrimes wrote: »

Am very interested to see the existing reviews and how this thread develops. I'm toying with the idea of getting a new bike for racing and, having not been in the market for 3/4 years, I've been quite surprised at how little 3k gets you in most places.

My ideal bike would be a frame that is plenty stiff and reasonably aerodynamic for racing and climbing but yet light enough for long climbs (e.g. those Felt frames look great for aero and stiffness but at a glance they just look like they've got extra mass as a result) while also being reasonably comfortable for long sportives (less of a priority, could use my existing bike for that). It would also have Di2, Dura Ace or Ultegra (doesn't seem to be any major difference?), carbon handlebars, and high quality components. I have wheels that I need (use Dura Ace C24s for most things - fantastic wheels) so amn't really pushed on wheels but I guess you have to buy them if buying a bike, could always sell them on.

I was beginning to think that hoping to get all of that for 3.5, max 4k was starting to look foolish, but with Rose it looks like it might well be doable. I've emailed them asking for a description of the differences between their different frames (e.g. there seem to be 5 different Xeon frames) and also as I got an error with the configurator. If you can get all the above with the added bonus of configuring the components (e.g. I'll likely need a shorter stem), that just makes it an even better deal.

Only real downside is that the frame colours look pretty basic, not enough bling for that kinda money, but I could live with that I guess! Will post back if I get the lowdown on the differences in the frames from them. Doubt I'd be ordering in the next month anyway.

The catalogue details the differences between the various frames. Rose has a catalogue for just the bikes in their 2013 range. Their current main catalogue lists the 2012 range.

You can order it up (free) or have a look online: link. Road bike coverage starts on page 88

FrankGrimes

route66 wrote: »

The catalogue details the differences between the various frames. Rose has a catalogue for just the bikes in their 2013 range. Their current main catalogue lists the 2012 range.

You can order it up (free) or have a look online: link. Road bike coverage starts on page 88

Thanks for that, it does look like a very comprehensive range of frames. The differences between the ranges aren't that clearly called out, but I think I can see the main differences now, particularly the differences in grade of carbon with some being T30/T40 and some being T50/T60. Not sure if there's a big or small difference between the two grades, all seems to get good reviews.

I'm probably overlooking something but at the moment I can't seem to see the link for the configurator. Would be interested in playing around with different spec setups once I get that working.

Some of their lower end frames seem to come with nicer paint jobs than the higher end ones, which is a pity, though I think I saw it mentioned somewhere that the extra layers of paint add a few grams and maybe they want to pitch the higher end frames as being as light as possible.

AIR-AUSSIE

How do you get to the configure your own bike part of the website? Can't find it anymore

route66

FrankGrimes wrote: »

Thanks for that, it does look like a very comprehensive range of frames. The differences between the ranges aren't that clearly called out, but I think I can see the main differences now, particularly the differences in grade of carbon with some being T30/T40 and some being T50/T60. Not sure if there's a big or small difference between the two grades, all seems to get good reviews.

I'm probably overlooking something but at the moment I can't seem to see the link for the configurator. Would be interested in playing around with different spec setups once I get that working.

Some of their lower end frames seem to come with nicer paint jobs than the higher end ones, which is a pity, though I think I saw it mentioned somewhere that the extra layers of paint add a few grams and maybe they want to pitch the higher end frames as being as light as possible.

It looks like Rose aren't quite there yet with their 2013 range - indeed, the configurator as it existed before is no more. Instead, when you go into a particular bike page, there appears to be a facility to configure it - the usual tyres, wheels, etc - but when clicked, nothing happens. Hopefully they will get their act together, but in the meantime if you really want one, you could always email/call them.

mossym

some of the components can be configured, it seems there are some boxes with a magnifiying glass that do nothing. others have the wrench type icon, which do allow you to configure them. if you click on the link icyseanfitz posted above you can see what i mean

xbox gamer

AIR-AUSSIE wrote: »

How do you get to the configure your own bike part of the website? Can't find it anymore

I'm a bit disappointed that they've changed the system around a bit but you can still configure, just not as easy as before.

Go to Services at the top of the page, click My Bike (on left hand side) and there should be a box half way down the page that says My Bike (under the search function). A new configuration page should open after clicking this and a dream bike can be made

AIR-AUSSIE

I found it. There is a notice in German on the configurator that they are updating it at the moment. Probably updating it with the 2013 line.

mossym

think i might pull the plug on the 2012 crs-3100 this evening. was looking at the canyons but the rose seems to offer better gear for the price, and can't find anything that says the frames are very different.

only question now is what size, i ride a 58 felt at the moment, so need to measure and see if I'm a 57 or 59 in rose

xbox gamer

AIR-AUSSIE wrote: »

I found it. There is a notice in German on the configurator that they are updating it at the moment. Probably updating it with the 2013 line.

If you click on any of the bikes underneath, it opens a new page where you can configure the bike components for the bike itself.

route66

mossym wrote: »

some of the components can be configured, it seems there are some boxes with a magnifiying glass that do nothing. others have the wrench type icon, which do allow you to configure them. if you click on the link icyseanfitz posted above you can see what i mean

Disregard below - there is a new way (see above)

I dont think so. The "spanner" just allows you to select the groupset - double, standard, triple, etc - all other entries have the magnifying glass. When I click on these, I just get a blank "window" with nothing in it. Looks like a bug to me.

I thought it might be a browser thing but I've tried it on Firefox, Chrome and IE, both inside and outside a firewall - they are all the same.

On the old configurator, I could for example click on a particular area and - with options listed in alphabetic or price order - select what I wanted. For example, I recall there was an extensive list of options for wheels, saddles and posts, tyres, gearing, handlebars, etc, etc.

Kinda surprised the site is as it is - it's can't just be me who has spent some time using the configurator to arrive at my dream bike

route66

xbox gamer wrote: »

I'm a bit disappointed that they've changed the system around a bit but you can still configure, just not as easy as before.

Go to Services at the top of the page, click My Bike (on left hand side) and there should be a box half way down the page that says My Bike (under the search function). A new configuration page should open after clicking this and a dream bike can be made

Good find!

I can get it to work, but it's a bit clunky. Very much a Work-In-Progress at the moment I think

AtomMcC

I seen the same issue with the configurator last year. When clicked, it said "updating in progress" or something like that. Hopefully they'll have it sorted out soon.
I also noted that some models did not have the configurator option at all. I think an email might be best to find out what your options are.

MM80

Hey Konkers,
Any particular reason why you are going for a Rose over a Canyon, I'm just about to go ahead with a Canyon purchase (Ultimate CF SLX) .........
Anyone else's thoughts also welcome..
Thanks