Recommendations for an endurance bike
 

Hi guys as a newbie I'm having hard time chosing my new bike. I did a lot of research and I reduced to 4 bikes. I weight around 115kg, and I'm willing to ride around 30 miles a day as starters and my budged is around $3000.

Giant Defy Advanced 1 (2019) $3000
Ultegra group set
Giant P-R2 disc wheel set
Advanced grade composite frame

Scott Addict 10 (2020) $2700
Ultegra group set
Syncros RP2.0 disc wheel set
HMF frame

Specialized Roubaix Sport (2019) $3000
105 group set
Axis sport disc wheel set
FACT 9R frame

Specialized Roubaix (2020) $3100
Tiagra group set
Axis sport disc wheel set
FACT 10R frame


I want to make sure I buy a good frame. Wheel set and group set I can upgrade later. I have no idea how much specialized bikes weight but as far as I know Giant is around 9,5kg (which seems a little too heavy for the price) and Scott is around 8,5 kg.

Is the price between FACT 9R and 10R worth it?
Can 8.5 kg is easily achievable with giant? (I mean is it just wheel set which is heavy or should I change everything?)
Addict really has an endurance geometry and is it stiff enough for 115kg?
and info on Roubaix and Roubaix Sport's weight will be appreciated too.

Have a great biking week.

Perhaps focus on simply riding before worrying about the minutiae of a few grams and upgrading a new bike. At your stage it's all about you and not the bike..buy a decent used bike..ride a few thousand miles while educating yourself..and then worry about how best to drop $3k.

Assuming, and this is a HUGE assumption, that you can get a comfortable fit on all those bikes, I'd go with the Giant. Best value combination of frame and components of the lot.
FWIW, I think you'd get a lot more bang for the buck by simply upgrading the tires instead of springing for new wheels.

Yes, you can easily get the Defy down to 8.5kg, that's where mine is at with just a wheel/tire/crank swap (the non-series crank is pretty heavy, you can drop some weight going with an Ultegra crankset). It's a fantastic bike, and Giant has a great warranty. I've got about 1,600 miles on my 2020 Defy Advanced 1 and it's been flawless. I've already done multiple centuries on it, raced it, and it's been great. The weight of the bike will def not hold you back. I had the shop upgrade it to di2, but the mechanical Ultegra is a great groupset too.

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...f8eca40e08.jpg

Absolutely, I dropped 280g just swapping the stock tubeless tires for a set of GP5000s and latex tubes. Also greatly improved the ride quality. While the stock tires come setup tubeless, they're not very comfortable, imo.

If the 2019 Defy Adv 1 has the mech levers with the stem mounted hydro converter, I'd strike it from consideration. That's some bull**** for the pricepoint.

Missed that he was looking at a 2019, def go with 2020, no Conduct mech/hydro setup, and front rotor was bumped from 140 to 160. :thumb:

2020 Roubaix

Bianchi Infinito?

I would second this. Unless $3k is a trivial amount of money, I'd spend some time riding something used. After you've ridden a while, you'll have a better idea of what attributes are important to you and what fits you best.

Also check the weight ratings on the bikes your looking at. You may be over the recommended limit for some of them.

Agree with this too... but I’d add the Canyon Endurace to your list

For someone like the OP at 115 kg(254 pounds), this is a very important point. At that weight, the difference between a 19 kg bike and a 17 kg bike will hardly be noticeable. As well, when upgrading wheels they have to be certain that the "upgrade" is going to stand up to real life

Also a beginner will likely change fit as he puts miles in and loses weight. I don't usually recommend used bikes but in this case it makes sense.
A lot of people don't stick with it. Someone that heavy might destroy parts, I know I have.

Given the size (not dissimilar to mine) and the level of experience, I'd recommend buying a Fuji Sportif or a Giant Contend for about $1000. Either can be resold for decent cash or repurposed as rain/back-up bikes ... but both are excellent bikes which will give the OP a chance to see how he Really feels about cycling.

I have no clue if the guy is a football player with 10 percent body fat, or someone like me, with only about ten percent of my body not fat .... but 30 miles every day is unrealistic for a beginner, usually. And even for a person who has built up base fitness, i'd recommend rest days to increase growth (recovery is when growth happens.)

Also, on the second day, after that first day, one's body will be protesting in a lot of new places .....

I'd say, get out on the road for as little cash as possible consonant with getting a good , reliable bike, and see how much you really enjoy cycling ... and what kind of cycling you enjoy. Maybe you would preffer gravel and dirt, or full-on MTB, or get the bug to go really fast .... or maybe you will find you want a bike which can better accommodate a rack. Maybe you will find that you don't like riding as much as you had imagined.

no need to spend three grand to find out all that .... in dact, better not to, so that next season you can spend bigger bucks on exactly the bike that really suits you.

Of the choices offered, I'd do the 2020 Defy, though.

Defy. Do not simply rely on weight to purchase your bike, it's a factor among others.

+1 on the 30miles everyday. That's quite a bit of miles for a newb, and that amount of time is hard for many to find daily.

I agree on the 2020 Giant Defy like this one.
https://www.giant-bicycles.com/us/defy-advanced-2-2020

I think you meant LB on the bike weight there.

Here is s review of the 2019 Roubaix sport with wieght:

https://www.bikeradar.com/reviews/bi...-sport-review/

However, as noted, I would caution that for these lighter bikes, you may exceed the maximum safe rider weight, For example, according to specialized, the maximum structural weight for the 2019 Roubaix sport is 240 lb / 109 kg:

https://media.specialized.com/suppor...0000130943.pdf

This is likely due to the lighter components used to achieve that lighter overall weight, like the seatpost, rather than the frame itself.

The advanced looks good though,

if your planning on buying a Endurace bike I wouldn’t worry. About a pound or so weight difference like others have said you are the main reason how the bike will be for now u need to build up Endurace and speed then worry about a pound difference in weight. I have many bikes some weigh 22 pounds some under 16 and really not to much difference in performance for me anyway except on the hills rather be on a lighter bike but even then not to much difference. Good luck with your search for a bike

I wouldn't worry about "maximum load" stickers .... manufacturers put them there for insurance reasons. it is like "sell-by" dates ... the food will be fine far past the sell-by date and the bikes will be solid with heavier riders. But, if you should happen to wreck, the manufacturers want as many ways as possible to not be liable for the warranty.

I have been using low-spoke-count wheels for years, and I am Well over the Clydesdale limit .... more like Jumbo the Elephant. Stuff is tough.

Also, as many note; bike weight is not a big issue, especially if you ar already carrying a few extra. I have just as much fun on my Fuji, with full racks and extra gear an set up for hauling gear, as I do on my Workswell, which is about eight pounds lighter. How fast i go on either seems to correlate with how i feel on any given day, rather than how much the bike weighs (except when I am hauling fifty pounds of gear, of course.)

Better tires, eventually maybe lighter wheels .... but really, unless you are racing professionally (in which case your bike is probably whatever the sponsor tells you it is) a pound of weight makes very little difference.

That's enough of a reason to go for the newer model, no question. Why they went with the 140 on the front is beyond me. Even my three year old Roubaix has a 160 on the front.

When I got back into cycling, my first 3 bikes were used, all purchased from used bike shops. I rode my first double on an old 12 speed steel rig. Learned a lot, and discovered that I wanted a very particular new bike for a particular purpose. I've been riding that bike for 20 years, still love it.

Worth looking at weight limits. I looked around a little, found a couple mildly useful links:
Bicycle Weight Limits | IsolateCyclist
https://forums.roadbikereview.com/bi...es-329303.html

I know from riding tandems that a good wheel set has a deep alu rim, say 28mm, and at least 28 spokes. Shallow rims, 36 spokes. The rear wheel is the usual problem. The disc wheel set is certainly a good idea, downside of used bikes. Though our tandem has rim brakes, fine for the past 13 years.

Complete bike weight is not interesting data. I'd want as much carbon in the frame as I could easily get, so looking at frame weights might be useful, looking for the higher weight.

It's trivial to swap between 140 and 160 rotors. But agree on avoiding the Conduct mech/hydro brake system.

Uh....I'll take the bigger rotor, thanks. Better stopping power and less heat buildup. It's not important until....it is.

He's not arguing against a bigger rotor - he's saying that it's incredibly easy to swap to a bigger rotor and he's correct, 'specially when it comes to bikes using Shimano's flat mount specs.

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...99301e92da.jpg

ok mates thanks for everyone for precious comments. After reading all your comments I decided to buy a used bike for start and this is what I bought. (Can't post the url until 10 posts I will add later)

Giant Defy Advanced 1 (2015) $1245
Ultegra 6800 shifts
TRP mechanical disc system
Giand P-R2 disc wheel set
Weighted 9,2 kg

I had a short run and here are my first impressions:

-It won't be that easy to achieve 30 miles a day as you guys just said I was exhausted at 7th mile. Hopefully I won't need more then 2 months.
-Didn't like the mechanical disc brakes, already want to upgrade them. (Bike shop guy said I can sell TRP brakes for around $150 does it seem correct?)
-Bike shop guy also said a wheel set would be a big upgrade. He recommended Campagnolo Zonda for value.
-The frame is di2 compatible.

So as far as I understand a hydraulic disc set and upper mid level wheel set will take the bike down to 8,5 kg which I'd like. But I'm not rushing for now. I will get used to the bike until I will be able to tell the difference after upgrade.