Originally Posted by
smashndash
I’m actually curious. How come?
The reason I say non-racers shouldn’t ride race bikes is that the marginal gains you get from compromising comfort, stability and tire clearance don’t actually help you unless you race. Especially for a new rider, the #1 priority is getting comfortable on the bike, IMO. The fastest bike is the one you can tolerate to ride the longest.
You also usually don’t get as many mounts for bottles/racks/fenders, which reduces the practicality of such bikes.
There is no compromise of comfort or stability in my case, it’s more the other way around.
I was more comfortable on my stretched out tooth rattling Felt F75 than on my Z, more confident in turns and downhills bla bla bla...
The R3 geometry is not as race-y as the F75 was, but I went a size down, got a longer stem and it feels great to me.