Originally Posted by
bleumeon
I'm still a bit unfamiliar with different geometries but what is the primary difference between a racing geometry vs an endurance geometry? I don't mind a slightly aggressive geometry as long as its comfortable for casual and long distance rides.
A bike with "racing" geometry will generally have a longer top tube and a shorter head tube, so the bars will be lower and farther away from the seat, than on a bike with "endurance" geometry with a shorter top- and longer head tube.
You can mess about with stem length and angle and spacers a bit to get to where you want to be but it is better to know up front: do you like to/are you flexible enough to ride very long distances bent all the way over, or would you enjoy the ride more sitting up a little higher most of the time?
I rode a Cannondale SuperSix for several multi-hour rides this summer, and while it felt amazing for the first 90 minutes or so, after that I found it to be increasingly painful for my back, neck and shoulders, to the point that for the last hour I kept having to sit up and ride the bar tops to try to get some relief before leaning down again.
If you have the leg strength to keep the weight mostly on the pedals and the flexibility to ride hunched over for a long time, then a "racing" geometry bike can be comfortable for many hours.
Right now I get some lower back discomfort after 2.5-3 hours on a more upright bike---just old and out of shape--but nothing like the serious pain I found with the Cannondale. On the other hand, another person who rode the same Cannondale, and yet another who rode an almost identical one, bit found the bikes to be absolutely fine for rides of whatever lengths (the one guy did mention neck pain, from holding his head up for several hours while his body was laid out.)
If you are young or fit and plan to ride a lot, you can develop the capacity to ride laid out without discomfort. I did that years ago---it took time, but i slowly lengthened/lowered by bars until I was fit and able to ride in a "race" position for a long time comfortably. Question is, how much will you be riding and how long do you want to spend being uncomfortable getting your body to adjust to the bike, or would you rather buy a bike adjusted to your body and lower /stretch it via stem length/angle as you go on?