Love some of it but brakes leave me cold, looks a ball ache to work on/maintain
Love some of it but brakes leave me cold, looks a ball ache to work on/maintain
Kind of cool, but wouldn't swap what I have.
Father Josh prescribes a daily penance of 3 espressos and a macchiato. Go now and sin no more.
I'll try an IPA.
Stem and aero top cap are very ugly, I don't like the saddle and wheels would have to go but other than that it is quite purposeful. Hardly a good looking bike though.
Allegedly it's 5 mins quicker than a Tarmac over 40km, although if you dig deeper that seems to include changing not only the bike and wheels but the shorts and flappy jersey for a skinsuit, normal helmet for an aero one, tyres, shoes so a little misleading.
Considering it comes with a Quarq as standard £8,500 looks almost reasonable - I'll be sticking with my S5 for the time being though.
I was about to pull the trigger on one of those bad boys as a daily commuter but then noticed that the stupid saddle has nowhere to hang my saddlebag from so on that basis i am out.
Wow! Some lovely carbon bling on this thread, but time to bring it back down a peg or ten!
I've been looking for an option to make the most of the summer and get out on family rides. My daughter is too big for a bike seat and I was never keen on conventional trailers due to their width on the road. She's not quite ready for a tag-a-long yet and this seemed to be the perfect compromise.
Hitched up to my family/hack bike (a 2014 Rockhopper 29er)! Should be good for some tracks, trails and light off-road.
Last edited by warns74; 24th June 2015 at 14:42.
Nice set up Warns.. i think my daughter would very much like to travel like this!
I wonder why Specialized are using Sagan to "promote" this model, rather than Cavendish who has traditionally been the Venge flag-holder for Specialized?
Maybe Oleg spent some ££ to make sure his team got it first?
Anyway, I wouldnt say no! (to the bike, not Oleg!)
With Sworks new aero venge the topic of conversation what's everyone's thoughts on the new more "Aero" Canyon ultimate cf slx that's just been announced?
Prefer the Aeroad to be honest... the new Ultimate looks gopping, particularly in the battleship grey colour they've got on the website
That said, I had the pleasure of seeing Dowsett's Canyon Speedmax TT bike close up the other evening... although I didn't get a particularly good look the first time I saw it as he overtook me...
Last edited by Meesterbond; 24th June 2015 at 21:41.
Thanks for that, not sure about the grips...
Just upgraded my Trek Domane 4.5 disc that I have put over 1,000 miles on since buying it in March to a BMC Teammachine SLR01. Night and day between the two bikes.
The next day, I took it to the Lake District for 3 days, performed amazingly well, particularly on the climbs.
Saddlebag and flare light have gone, Dura Ace groupset ordered (pure vanity), Stages power meter, looking for new wheels (Enve 3.4SES if I'm brave) and a new cockpit. Perhaps Ritchey Superlogic bar and stem.
Pics.
Last edited by JC180; 14th July 2015 at 11:22.
First time i ever seen a bike where you could get a body in the trunk...
I've got the Domane 4.3 (non-disc).....in what way is the BMC "night and day"??
I've been upgrading mine since last Sept (don't we all) and I've gone about as far as I will go with it without changing the whole bike so just wondering.
Also, 2 other questions;
1. Why didn't you buy the version that already has Dura Ace?
2. Will you be selling on the Ultegra that you take off (please) :o) ?
Mark
With me acting as middle man Kerry (100thmonkey) sold this to my boss and cycling buddy Mike. He is delighted with it Kerry, fantastic bike.
Edit: Roubaix with Ultegra Di2, Mavic carbon rims, S-Works bits elsewhere.
ImageUploadedByTapatalk1436898662.177735.jpg
Hi Mark,
Happy to clarify. I'm 73kg and pretty fit now. I wasn't all that fit in March when I purchased the Trek but could quite easily do a 50+ mile sportive in 3hrs as I had been doing loads of spinning on the turbo over the winter to lose weight. Since I purchased the Trek, I have been doing lot of road riding and most pertinently climbing. Going in to the Peak District and doing 5,000 ft of climbing on avg per ride, I also did a 100 mile ride from Manchester to Penrith. I have also purchased a Wahoo Kickr which is incredible for training benefit and a Stages Power Meter for my bike so that I can push myself to my known capability rather than backing off due to perceived physical exertion. I've also added Schwalbe One tubeless tyres to the Trek which transformed it on the flat and downhill, made it faster and far more stable and confidence inspiring. It also naturally rides better as I'm running them at 75psi.
I achieved what I wanted to in terms of endurance and distance, I wanted to go faster. And as I was a lot more flexible than when I started, wanted to get down in to a more aggressive position, so wanted a lower head tube and smaller stack height than the domane.
My one one weak spot was climbing, I could climb, and steadily improved from March, increasing power output and shaving off seconds, but the Trek with discs particularly is a heavy bike 9kg+ and even with 32 teeth on the back and a compact chainset, I found that in 7% + gradients, I was just spinning in the granny gear trying to keep my breathing in check.
The BMC is a pro level frame set, 800g frame weight and a 7kg fully built weight with average DT Swiss wheels. Immediate the bike felt light and lively, and on a regular 14 mile route that I do I went for a shakedown Sunday AM before breakfast and shaved 2 mins off my time. It was faster everywhere but especially on the climbs, I shaved 14 seconds off my PB on a local steep climb and was well down the block all the way up with a long out of the saddle sprint to the finish. Unheard of on the trek, I may have been on the 25 or 28 tooth at best.
That evening I went to the Lake District and tackled up to 25% inclines, again, I was on my lowest gear for these 28 teeth in this case, but still the exertion was much less, the enjoyment was greater and I felt less anxiety all round. The bike was just more fun.
I havent even even got to stiffness, and comfort which are both exceptional, the ride on 23mm clinchers is within 2 tents of my Domane with isospeed and 28mm tubeless. Pretty exceptional.
Here is the review, only marked down half a star due to price. http://www.bikeradar.com/road/gear/c...lr01-14-48486/
I didn't buy the Dura Ace because I got an exceptional deal on the Ultegra. New with just some handling marks for £2k! List is £3.5k and the Dura Ace is £5,300. My groupset is costing me £800 or thereabouts and I will sell the Ultegra groupset so a net cost of me of much less. If you're interested in it send me a PM.
The allure of a pro level bike (once I sort the wheels) for around £3k is intoxicating.
If I was a snob I might mention Rule 17...
Back in Black
Some fantastic machines on here. Thought I'd make my own contribution.
The frame for this was given to me by a friend of my Dads who'd given up cycling due to ill health/age in the mid 80s (so I think it's late 60s) Finally got round to painting it and building it up with bits left over from upgrades/scrap in 1990. Been sat around since last year until I finally brought it over. Not a bad ride and I've never seen another.
Last edited by Barton Red; 14th July 2015 at 21:53.
That's interesting as I keeping reading about how the weight of the bike doesn't/ shouldn't make a material difference, but its seems to have had a positive impact with you. I realise some of it is down to a better position, marginal gains and all that, but this reinforces my decision to get a light bike at some point in my life.
(late reply, I know...) ...but I heard Cav doest rate it either, apparently swapping to his "old" bike after the first couple of sprints where he lost out. I read this from one of the journos on twitter, so cant confirm since I have since seen him riding on this new machine. Perhaps he uses his "old" venge just for the sprint stages?
Kerry, you just won this thread with that bike! I WANT IT!!!
Jacob - havent read all your posts above in detail, but;
1) NICE bike... very very nice! Great choice!
2) looking much trimmer & fitter than last time I saw you - well done that man! It's great to see people change like that!
As for changing the new Ultegra to Dura-Ace; I totally understand the vanity aspect and with plenty of disposable cash - why not? But the new Ultegra really is very very good, and certainly from a performance point of view at our sort of level / use, I doubt it's be of any benefit at all...
Just make sure if you do get the Dura-Ace fitted to that AWESOME bike, you need to have the legs and the lungs to keep up with it!
The idiot in me always targets folk on really high-end kit / Rapha wearers** and tries to rip their legs off - I imagine it's like having a red Ferrari - everyone probably tries to race you!
** I wear Rapha (though mostly in the winter / cold-wet)
I'm having a midlife crisis and the best way to tackle it doesn't seem to be buing a new watch. I tried all sorts of things, but in the end I quit smoking (eight weeks without a puff come monday) and started exercising. I haven't owned a bicycle in twenty years, if you don't count the army issue bike, and I thought now it would be time again.
I wanted something simple of decent quality, an all-rounder for mostly paved surfaces in an urban environment. So today I went to a couple of bike shops and rode a few examples. In the end I bought a Specialized Daily Sport in a basic setup they had in the store, like this:
Pic from google, I'll see if I have it in me to take some pics in the weekend.
My current commute is some 5 miles and went to reconnoiter the route. I must admit I enjoyed the first four and a half of them. A nice change of pace to jogging. The last half a mile wasn't so enjoyable as my rear tyre went flat. I took the bike back to the store and the chaps there noticed that sidewalls of both tyres had started to break and the rear inner tube was leaking from the inner side. I got new tyres and inner tubes free of charge on the spot. I'm very happy with the service. Nice chaps and very cool and helpful from start to finish with a total numpty like me.
All in all I rode some 15 miles today. My a**e is sore from the saddle and the backs of my legs feel like they'll be sore tomorrow. Can't wait for the weekend when I'll have a chance for more.
After all that I opened this thread for the first time. I see this is Watch Talk all over again. All the other kids have nicer toys and they know something about the subject. I think I'll see what's happening here and see if I'll learn something.
I'd be glad to hear some informed opinions about my bike. How did I do? Is it a good one?
Cheers,
Antti