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Old 04-26-24, 11:16 AM
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Dave Mayer
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Wow: if that was my size, despite already having too many road bikes, I'd buy it in a minute. This is a team-level bike; very light and fast.

Apart from the price It has several advantages over an equivalent 2024 bike, the most important of which is lower weight, without the unnecessary ballast of disc brakes, which comes with extra frame and fork reinforcements and sluggish heavy wheels.

The Dura-Ace 7800 gruppo is about the best Shimano ever made, in terms of performance and weight. When Shimano later put the shift cables under the bar wrap for style reasons, thereby introducing tight bends and cable friction, shifting suffered. The latest stuff still not quite up to 7800 standards in terms of shifting crispness and precision. 10 speed consumables such as cassettes and chains are far cheaper and easier to find than 12-speed stuff, and on the bike you won't notice the presence of a couple of superfluous extra cogs.

External cable routing: thank goodness. Notice all 2024 high-end bikes with fully integrated cables? Avoid, as formerly trivial maintenance tasks such as changing a stem or the yearly task of replacing shift housing and cables is converted to a frustrating 3 hour adventure. Taking this to a shop will cost you $300, a couple of trips and a days of waiting. Or 2 weeks, this time of year.

Mavic wheels: I've been riding on these heavily for the last couple of years and have become a convert. Replacing a spoke is expensive misery, but this is the same now for all prebuilt high-end wheels. At least with Mavic, you can find the spokes.

In terms of absolute performance on pavement, this bike is outright better than anything you can buy in 2024 - at any price.
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