New race bike

Amprodude

I'm hoping to upgrade my racing bike this winter. Budget of 5,000 euro, hoping to get some light responsive and good looking bike. At the moment I'm stuck between the cannondale and lapierres. What you reckon guys? Looked into canyon but don't like the colour of their frames. Love the new 2016 cannondale bike red frame, but I would be hoping to get the bike to 6.5kg in weight. Opinions? Also a bike worth that much would want to be insured although i think cannondale have a lifetime guarantee. Love the lapierre ultimate bike also.

lennymc

The first question I allways ask myself when I think about an expensive race biks is how would I feel writing off a 5k bike in a race?
The answer is always alot worse than writing of a 1500 - 2k bike.
Insurance (afaik) doesnt cover racing in a lot of policies, and if it does, it is very expensive.

I'd keep my current racing bike, use it as the tool it is and buy a nice 5k bike for not racing/looking at.

Vincenzo Nibbly

cyclesure.ie have an option for competitive cyclists. It's likely to be expensive for a €5k bike, but less expensive that writing it off in a pile-up

Taxuser1

not to patronise you in any way but what is it you need from your bike ? why go new when you can build up an equally impressive and beautiful second hand racing machine for half that cost by looking for parts/frame. This lends into Lenny's post then should you ever come undone.

if you do go the new bike route - then what is it you're looking for ? breaking it down into its component parts, you will be losing out somewhere. After spending 5000 and incessantly preening and looking at it as you wet yourself in glee, every cyclist will guarantee that you will never be happy with it, you'll always want to add or change something. your 5 grand becomes 7 grand and then 10 grand :-)

So, will you be getting new and better race wheels or stock wheels? Is it electronic shifting and if not, do you really need it ? Is it running Ultegra compared to Dura Ace or Chorus/Record - does this matter to you. Is it just the frame you want to upgrade ? what about a power meter?

if anyone has a link to cheap bike insurance please forward it to me.

dragratchet

Vincenzo Nibbly wrote: »

cyclesure.ie have an option for competitive cyclists. It's likely to be expensive for a €5k bike, but less expensive that writing it off in a pile-up

this: ive a bike of about 3k value insured with them for racing and training damage for about 130 quid which i think is completely reasonable. if i wrote off my frame that the end of my racing for quite some time. gives me peace of mind in big bunches, sprints.

StevieGriff

At 5K your into SuperSix High-Mod territory. 4999 RRP for the Dura-Ace with Kysrium Elites or the Ultegra Version for 4259RRP.
Have seen and ridden the new one and it's a monster, the aero profile to the front facing tubing is a nice idea but who knows whether it's actually effective or not. But it is fantastic to ride, I know I'll be switching to the Ultegra spec one as my race bike next year.
But, the Xelius 700 is under 5K and you're getting Di2. Haven't ridden it but I love the frame.

DirkVoodoo

5k is a very nice budget, but like lenny and taxuser have said, make sure that you can replace anything that you might damage in a crash. The old addage:

"Never race something you can't afford to replace"

Moving on...I think you may be confused about the Cannondale guarantee, this covers issues related to " defects in materials and/or workmanship for the lifetime of the original owner". Crashing your bike in a race is more likely going to be because of race conditions and not because your bike suddenly disintegrates.

Are you going mechanical or electronic?

What wheels are you looking for? 35mm deep section tubs offer a nice blend of aerodynamics and lightweight for rolling courses. I'd consider getting a handbuilt set.

I know you said no Canyons...but this is all the bike you need:

ford2600

Whatever you get keep your Aldi toolkit away from it...

If your spending that kind of money treat yourself to some decent tools and the training to use them

OleRodrigo

If you buy into the idea that there are diminshing returns after the 3000 price point, buying 2 bikes instead ( one for 3000 and another for 2000 ) could be a good option.

SetOverSet

Some of their colours ain't the prettiest, but it's hard to beat the Canyons for value IMO. Waaay out of my price league @ >€5k, but on the 6.3kg CF SLX 9.0 below you're getting wheels that retail for around €2,000 and DA Di2 that retails for €2,500+

Drool

Amprodude

DirkVoodoo wrote: »

5k is a very nice budget, but like lenny and taxuser have said, make sure that you can replace anything that you might damage in a crash. The old addage:

"Never race something you can't afford to replace"

Moving on...I think you may be confused about the Cannondale guarantee, this covers issues related to " defects in materials and/or workmanship for the lifetime of the original owner". Crashing your bike in a race is more likely going to be because of race conditions and not because your bike suddenly disintegrates.

Are you going mechanical or electronic?

What wheels are you looking for? 35mm deep section tubs offer a nice blend of aerodynamics and lightweight for rolling courses. I'd consider getting a handbuilt set.

I know you said no Canyons...but this is all the bike you need:

What weight is that bike Dirk? I was thinking 54 eventhough I normally take 56. Love that bike if colour was different. I would love a bright red frame with white canyon writing on it. Thought I saw it on website but it cost a fortune. Main things for me would be light bike and responsive. My current bike is over 8kg so definitely not the lightest out there. Would it be cheaper for me to spec and build my own bike?

Amprodude

ford2600 wrote: »

Whatever you get keep your Aldi toolkit away from it...

If your spending that kind of money treat yourself to some decent tools and the training to use them

Sure will Ford2600. Sound.

Amprodude

SetOverSet wrote: »

Some of their colours ain't the prettiest, but it's hard to beat the Canyons for value IMO. Waaay out of my price league @ >€5k, but on the 6.3kg CF SLX 9.0 below you're getting wheels that retail for around €2,000 and DA Di2 that retails for €2,500+

Drool

That's looks nice bike but prefer in bright red if available.

transylman

Here you go, and after price drops only 300 euro outside your budget.

https://www.canyon.com/en/road/aeroad/aeroad-cf-slx-9-0-team.html

Amprodude

transylman wrote: »

Here you go, and after price drops only 300 euro outside your budget.

https://www.canyon.com/en/road/aeroad/aeroad-cf-slx-9-0-team.html

Almost a kg heavier than bike in blue above.

harringtonp

Amprodude wrote: »

That's looks nice bike but prefer in bright red if available.

If light as possible is one of the things you're after stay way from colour of any type. Go for the matt black type of finish as they are usually over 200g lighter. If you dig a little you'll find a discussion on paint in another thread.

Lumen

Amprodude wrote: »

Almost a kg heavier than bike in blue above.

Yeah, but red is faster.

A lot of that weight difference will probably be the wheels.

I think the one thing I'd definitely splash out on would be Di2. I think it's much better at shifting under load in a race situation and less likely to result in a dropped chain.

I did my first ride in six months on a mechanical bike at the weekend and had a bit of a moment when shifting under extreme load. The chain slipped across the cassette and the rear wheel bucked up way into the air. It was quite dramatic.

Di2 is pretty much idiotproof, as long as you remember to charge it.

ABEasy

If you're planning on building a bike, the ridley below is good value (relatively).

https://www.salden.nl/nl/fietsen-en-frames/race/raceframes/ridley-noah-fast-frameset.html

Daithi101

Lumen wrote: »

Di2 is pretty much idiotproof, as long as you remember to charge it.

and therein lies the problem, the charging part... :rolleyes:

Amprodude

Lumen wrote: »

Yeah, but red is faster.

A lot of that weight difference will probably be the wheels.

I think the one thing I'd definitely splash out on would be Di2. I think it's much better at shifting under load in a race situation and less likely to result in a dropped chain.

I did my first ride in six months on a mechanical bike at the weekend and had a bit of a moment when shifting under extreme load. The chain slipped across the cassette and the rear wheel bucked up way into the air. It was quite dramatic.

Di2 is pretty much idiotproof, as long as you remember to charge it.

Would speed depend on the rider riding it? I personally would like bike to be light for climbing. Matt black canyons I find very dull.

el tel

At first I thought €5000 is mental money for a Canyon, but sure that's only £3660! :pac:

Lumen

Amprodude wrote: »

Would speed depend on the rider riding it? I personally would like bike to be light for climbing

200g or whatever the frame weight difference is isn't going to make a blind bit of difference in a mass start road race, since it's about 0.25% of your combined rider/bike weight.

But then neither is an aero frame.

You're choosing between two characteristics which don't really matter anyway, so just get whatever you fancy.

The only equipment difference that has ever made any difference to me in a race is (a) tyres, because getting a puncture ends a race, and (b) drivetrain, because a dropped chain at the bottom of a climb means you're unlikely to get back on.

DirkVoodoo

Daithi101 wrote: »

and therein lies the problem, the charging part... :rolleyes:

In fairness, it's once every couple of months, it's not like forgetting to charge your phone.

I did the Raid there and was a little paranoid because I didn't bring the charging kit.

Needn't have worried, the light didn't move from solid green the entire week.

Unknown Soldier

Amprodude wrote: »

Would speed depend on the rider riding it? I personally would like bike to be light for climbing. Matt black canyons I find very dull.

I'm offended

DirkVoodoo wrote: »

In fairness, it's once every couple of months, it's not like forgetting to charge your phone.

I did the Raid there and was a little paranoid because I didn't bring the charging kit.

Needn't have worried, the light didn't move from solid green the entire week.

You can get about 2,000 km out of a single charge or about 4 charges a year if you don't worry about the charge level. Only changing gear uses the battery via buttons and motors.

With something like D-Fly & compatible Garmin it's half the usage but at least you can see what the charge is at all times.

As Dirk said, it's not like a phone.

I'm just going to leave this here...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sqx4_33Q1B4

https://www.canyon.com/en-ie/road/ultimate/2016/ultimate-al-slx-9-0-aero.html


(I'm green/red colour blind so most charging "lights" are useless to me and don't ANYONE post one of those stupid colour test to see if I can see the numbers...No I can't)