sanmateoclimber

I was thinking about piggy-backing off the recent "new road bike" thread because I'm in a similar situation to that OP and would welcome any similar advice-- but hey, we're all a bit different, and this post rambled on more than I expected, so let's see if I get any traction with this as a separate thread. I've been riding a 2017 Domane ALR 4 for a little over two years. It's my first road bike after a longer history of moderate riding on hybrids. I love this bike, and I'm proud of everything we've accomplished together. I increased my miles/hours significantly starting this past fall, carrying through the winter with a lil' help from a Kickr Core, and my threshold has continued to increase steadily. The 15-20ish pounds I've dropped over the last year has been a welcome outcome as well. I think I'm definitely at a stage where it makes sense to upgrade, but I have relatively little technical understanding of what I want in new a bike.

Goals: I must admit that one of my primary goals/motivations has been and will probably continue to be the sweet sweet satisfaction of Strava PRs, particularly getting faster on good climbs. But I am also always interested in improving my endurance, and this season I expect to graduate from my longest rides of like 70 miles/6000 ft to putting in some respectable times in full centuries. I'm currently 34, and I definitely have the long-term goal of building the proper threshold to someday be one of the venerable old dudes who seem to just casually spend their Saturday cruising through the hills for hours.

Price: I suspect I'll be looking to come in around the $3K mark. If the returns were significant, I would consider spending more, maybe ranging up to like $4500. (Talking in terms of USD.)

Weight: My perception is that at about 24 pounds, my aluminum Domane is pretty heavy, and I could probably pay my way to a weight in the upper teens pretty easily. I think a carbon frame could be both lighter and more comfortable for long rides, although I don't consider my current ride uncomfortable.

Wheels: I also wonder if I should look into carbon rims, not too sure if they would be worth the bang-for-buck but I think they could be. My current tires are 28s, and even though I have zero basis for comparison, I think they are the right fit for my endurance interests.

Geometry: I think that my Domane has me very much in an endurance geometry, and that overall that lends itself well to my endurance ride interests, so my next bike should probably be similar in that regard. Although I will say that I'm a bit more conscious of aerodynamics than I used to be, and spend more time in the drops to save a little effort on flat roads. So I do vaguely wonder if my current geometry is excessively upright, and if I should be interested in exploring changes with that.

Brakes: I'm pretty sold on moving on from rim brakes to disc. My perception from debates on this forum is that they may be a bit heavier and may compare unfavorably on wet roads, but that overall I will have better braking control. I occasionally find myself not having the full braking control I would like on particularly steep downhills, and I think/hope disc brakes would resolve this.

Brand: My current LBS is a Trek shop, and I'm a big fan. Because I bought my bike there, they've squeezed me in preferentially for work orders and really saved my butt once or twice. My perception is that for a technically unsavvy guy like me, it's definitely worth the price tag to purchase through a good LBS. That said, the Trek shop is a bit of a schlep in bay area traffic, and I live much closer to a reputable LBS that works with Specialized. I would probably be happy to buy a Trek from my current LBS or move over to Specialized, and I would guess that there are probably plenty of options to work with between the two, though maybe I could benefit from thinking more outside the box. The 2020 Domane seems to get plenty of love around here, so maybe I just keep the Domane train running?

Aesthetics: Don't care, don't care, don't care.

So yeah, I'm most curious if anyone has any thoughts about my perceptions versus reality. Any particular bikes or brands you would recommend I look at? If I said I was okay to keep riding my current rig for another season and wait for the right bike to come along, is there anything I should know to wait for (clearance cycles, exciting new stuff, etc?)

Thanks in advance as always, ya bike nerds!

Cheers,
An aspiring bike nerd

tomato coupe

Does your Domane really weigh 24 pounds?

sanmateoclimber

I guess with my saddle bag on it and everything (a few LEDs, a phone holder?) Hopped on a scale with and without it; might not be super accurate, but shouldn't be far off.

Rides4Beer

If you like the Domane, and it's a good fit, I don't see any reason to not go with another Domane. As far as fit/getting low goes, are you running spacers? I've noticed a lot of people on Endurance bikes have a larger spacer stack, which puts them even higher than the added frame stack, so you could probably get pretty low on a Domane if you want. I say this because I'm switching from a Tarmac (race geo) to a Defy (endurance geo), but my effective stack will be about the same, since I was running spacers on the Tarmac, but I won't be on the Defy, so I'll still be able to get just as low/aero, but I'll have the longer wheelbase/front center for more stability.

firebird854

Aesthetics do matter even if you don't think so now. I started with a couple-year-old matte black Tarmac Expert, never got a comment on it, and after many races, long long rides, etc. I sold it while getting new bikes, didn't even bat an eye. I had bought it purely for the value and spec, but I'm a firm believer that bikes these days are artwork and should be appreciated as such, as well as mean racing machines.

My new bike... so beautiful... Emonda ALR Disc in purple flip, everything else carbon... wouldn't part with it for, well... a lot of money.

bpcyclist

You will end up with a great bike at your budget, pretty much no matter what you buy, as long as you take your time to sort out your details. Personally, I would go for the closer LBS, because you are definitely going to need them and the closer they are, the easier that is to do. I am not a fan of either Trek or Specialized, personally, but obviously, tons of people are. I am sure those bikes are great.

The new 105 is so good in my opinion that you can get an outstanding ride at the $3000 level or even less, depending on wheels and so forth. I personally find no difference in shifting performance between the current Ultegra and the current 105, so, unless you are an elite racer, the only difference is a relatively minor weight tradeoff. You could maybe go 105 and add some pretty nice wheels and end up at around $4000-4500 or so and be all set.

Ogsarg

I would agree about looking first at a higher spec Domane. You like the geometry, you like the brand, you like the shop, it just makes sense to check out a carbon version of what you have.

I was looking recently with a similar budget and ended up getting a leftover 2019 Roubaix with Ultegra DI2 for about 3700 including sales tax. Love the disc brakes and love the DI2 shifting. I had considered a Domane but a comparable model would have been a lot more and there are no Trek dealers near me.

OUGrad05

24lbs with saddle bags and other stuff? Yeah that all adds weight you won't save a ton of weight going carbon to be honest. Maybe a couple lbs and if you went hi-mod and dura ace maybe 4 lbs. Your actual bike probably weighs closer to 18-20lbs if you took all the stuff off.

Also I'd consider picking up something slightly different a lot of the "race" bikes have moved to a more relaxed geometry then prior versions. The new Super Six Evo for example has a taller stack and a slightly shorter reach than the prior model. It's also very...very slippery. Rumor is we'll see an all new Tarmac this year as well, that'll be worth keeping an eye on.

Maybe you could consider an upgrade that would carry over to your new bike? Perhaps a new set of wheels and/or a power meter? Ride it for another year or two with the upgrades and see what the market does and where it goes. Will you notice a couple lbs of weight savings? Yeah you will, but will it be dramatic? No, 2 lbs will not be dramatic and with a budget of 3k or so that's about all the weight you'll save.

sanmateoclimber

Okay yeah, good call. Took off all the bells and whistles (except I guess pedals and bottle cages,) clocked in at 21.8. Not as dramatic as I was thinking. Thanks for the tips, I'll check out those bikes!

tomato coupe

Put all that stuff in your jersey pockets -- it weighs less there.

biker128pedal

If your budget was less than$1500 US I’d get new carbon wheel. But with you budget you can’t go wrong. Get a new bike. Ride for a few years and upgrade the wheel. But first Go for test rides. I guess your Trek dealer is a Trek factory store and only carries Trek. My local show went that way. The Specialized shops local carry other brands. All should have demo bikes for longer rides and any bike around the lot on a dry sunny day.

Compare what you have to others. Personally I’d start with a test ride on a 2019 or 2020 Domane carbon bike. Have fun.

WhyFi

If you already had a bike with discs, I'd say to just get some nice wheels. Since that's not the case, I'll echo those that suggest looking at a bike with 105 (there's so little separating the new hydro groups and 105 is exceptional) and finding a nice wheelset for $1k-ish on sale (or ordering Light Bicycle wheels or similar).

As far as which bikes to consider - I'd start at the Domane SL, but be aware that it's not exactly a class-leader when it comes to weight. It's a fantastic machine for long days in the saddle and I find it to be more than snappy enough for me during spirited group rides, but no one is going to mistake it for a weight weenie build.

For something a little lighter and just a smidge more aggressive, but still within the endurance geo, I recently built a Cervelo R3 Disc. If you're open to building, too, Excel still has some of these framesets available for $1k. Certainly worth a look.

ultrarider7

I bought a Bianchi Infinito CV disk when I was looking for an Endurance bike last summer. Love it. Great handling and pretty cool looking. It has a stated weight of 17.8 lbs.

Baldy1953

Specialized Roubaix Elite is around 2800 bucks. Full carbon, 105 groupset. Comes with 28mm tires so is fairly comfortable. Weighed when brought home and weighed 16.5#, so is fairly light also. Might be worth a look.

HTupolev

Are you sure? That's a shockingly light weight for a Specialized bike of that price range and featureset. The current revision doesn't appear to be equipped very differently from the 2018 version, which Bikeradar weighed in at around 20lbs.

WhyFi

16.5lbs? Not a chance.

OUGrad05

I have the same bike, while I don't know what size yours is, or what year, I also paid 2,800, it's full carbon and 105 and weighs 20lbs.

Baldy1953

It is a 2018. Weighted it before anything was added. No bottle cages, computer or anything else. Maybe my bath scales are off a couple of pounds.. If so, I like the way they weigh.

vlad1xxi

I think your choice is huge. You could consider Canyon Ultimate or Endurace with Ultegra or Ultegra DI2, BMC Roadmashine, Carbon endurance bikes from Scott, Specialized, Giant or Cannondale. Just need to know your size. By the way the difference in geometry between endurance and race bike is not so big and you can always replace stem (with higher raise) in a race bike to get more upright position.

RockiesDad

Another consideration is what type of frame material you want to get next. My gut feeling is that you're going to love a carbon frame. There are a ton of bikes around your price range. Take an afternoon and test ride a bunch. Ride as much as you can and then you can narrow your choices a bit.

As for me, I am in the same boat as you and looking for another bike. I already have a carbon frame CX bike and am considering going to a steel frame next. Choices are less but I think I know what I am looking for. Top of my list is a Gunner Sport. Made in America by the Waterford folks for the value orientated folks like me. Need to test ride one now...

Have fun shopping! Dreaming is fun...