jerman

Hello.


Considering a new disc road bike. The disc Felt VR4 I have is not as efficient or comfortable on the road as my Look caliper braked bike, so want to make the Felt strictly for gravel and get a disc road bike that can handle 28, 30, or 32 tires for the isolated, rural are where I ride.



I am a fan of Ti, but open to CF. Would just like the weight to be reasonable as I draft behind turtles on climbs.
Electronic shifting preferred and I already have a good carbon wheelset to go on this, so the wheels that come with it will be for back-up.



Budget is $8K max, total... so, opinions please?


I am 62 and am trying to get back to a 17mph average by spring when I've signed up to do a 100 mile ride. TIA

melikebikey35

Based on my experience I would say go with a Domane (SLR, since your budget allows it) or a Cervelo R3.

The Domane is a very comfortable ride and can handle tires up to 38c (I believe), and is pretty lightweight for an endurance bike.

The R3 is also very smooth over rougher roads...for a race bike. It's not Domane smooth, but it doesn't beat you up like other race frames. And you can get it with Ultegra Di2 well under your budget. The geometry is also slightly less aggressive than most race frames, which helps on the long days, and it can handle fairly wide tires. I had 28c GP4000's (which measured 31.5mm) for a while on mine, and there was still room to go wider.

SkepticalOne

Domane SLR7

thehammerdog

Great budget anything i mean anything of any material in that budget will b e great. Custom frame of any material can be built.
Go crazy. Nice steel custom built plus paint.
I am jealous

jerman

Thank you, yes in a good position for getting a great bike. And thanks for the recommendations.

I saw steel Colnago and Bianchi frames at Colorado Cyclist, Excel or Competitive, but they didn't have my size.
Checked out the Domane and Cervelo R3.

The Trek was a nice red color but just don't think I can get a Trek again, I just see them so much around here.
The Cervelo only comes in an orange, that doesn't appeal to me, and a black, which is a color that is again way to common here.

How about a BMC?
Anyone have experience with those?
There is a blue 03-one with coral accents that looks good to me... thanks

melikebikey35

I wasn't very fond of the orange either when I first got my R3, but it grew on me and I really like it now...something different in a sea of matte black bikes.

I don't have any experience with BMC, but they seem to be very highly rated, and the Teammachine SL01 was the bike that I lusting after. But it was a little over my budget, at the time.

The Roadmachine 01 Three looks nice (very cool color), but personally I'd go for the Four since it has Ultegra Di2 instead of Force Axes. And it's cheaper.
Axes is HEAVY, and Sram isn't as smooth/reliable as Shimano

Maelochs

If the guy has a budget of $8K he can get custom paint. The Cervelo and Domane are radically different bikes, and depending on his tastes and personal fitness and flexibility, it is likely one will be a lot more comfortable than the other.

But if he has $8K to spend, he could get a custom Ti frame.

drewtk

For chewing up miles comfortably, the new Domane seriously impressed me. The combination of Isospeed and 32mm tires really smooths things out and was significantly better than the Specialized Roubaix that I test rode back to back. The overall handling of the Domane just felt solid and stable too. My wife test rode also and came to the same conclusion.

Unless I wanted an aero race bike, Domane would be near the top of my list.

jerman

No doubt, Trek makes a wonderful bike. Just leaning towards another make not seen quite as often.
Looked at Moots and other Ti makes, talked to Seven. For the same money, the weight saving with carbon seems to tilt the decision in that direction.
Ultimately, color is playing a big role. The blue of the BMC 01 Three is incredibly unique.
I went and looked at one yesterday.
The clean integration and snappy acceleration with that striking blue has me leaning that way.

JasonD67

I'm coming up a year with my disc/Di2 BMC, and love it. I, too, didn't want just another Trek/Cannondale so I was looking at something a bit more exotic. I test-rode both of those brands, and the bikes seemed fine, the BMC just seemed to fit my riding style fine and you won't pass yourself on the same bike all the time.

topflightpro

Trek Domane, Specialized Roubaix, Cannondale Synapse, Giant Defy.... For $8k, your options are pretty wide. And I'm probably going to get some disagreement with this, but there really isn't that much difference between most carbon bikes in this category. They will each have a gimmick to differentiate from others, such as Trek's Isospeed or the Specialized's Futureshock.

I'd suggest going to several local bike shops and trying "Endurance" geometry bikes and get the one you like best. You really cannot buy a bad bike in that budget range.

jadocs

If you are a fan of Ti, then I would get a Ti. Check out the clearances from Litespeed. I purchased by T2 Di2 disc for almost 3k under your budget and has the tire range you specified.

Sy Reene

Quirky color scheme but I like it... don't know if you saw this one:
https://www.excelsports.com/main.asp...ajor=1&minor=1

Maelochs

Yeah ... try Lynskey and such. Try custom Ti with geometry to fit your body and riding style (Ask @indyfabz about custom Ti.)

The small weight difference only matters if you are competing, the ride quality will likely be superior. Also, the bike will last forever, and if you drop it, crash it, or need to throw it on the rack on your car for a bumpy ride ... no sweat.

I wholly agree ... at Any price point every bike from every major manufacturer/retailer in whatever style is almost identical. (By the way, check out the life span on Futureshock ... I just saw an article, i think.)

Decide what kind of riding you want to do most, and get a bike just for that. Any good endurance frame with electronic shifting is going to ride really well for hours, if it is fitted to you.

Seriously, though ... if you are going to drop $8K why not get custom Ti? or even off-the-rack Ti if it fits? You can always spend a couple K more later and get something in in carbon ... maybe buy a Chinese CF frame and build it up with 105 for a couple K, if you want extra-light or extra-aero for the occasional fast day.

HTupolev

Install some fast tires, pedal harder.

Get whatever bike you think looks nice, and then buy several more bikes.

If your concern is that you might not stand out in a crowd, buy a nice-condition bike from 1980 and upgrade the crap out of it.

jerman

OK, the BMC Roadmachine 01-Three is ordered.

TiHabanero

Although the bike has been ordered, with a budget of 8k, why did you go with an off the shelf bike when a full custom bike could have been had? Tubing, components, color, etc. all to your specific requirements, not to mention the frame is purposely built to your body fit. Right now I can have a custom built Seven titanium frame set up with Ultegra and Hed wheelset for well under 8k. Seven designs the bike around your body dimensions, butts the tubing, cuts it to length, etc. What was the motivating factor to go with off the shelf bike? I know you said weight and the alure of carbon, but it had to be something else.

shelbyfv

Great looking bike! Several in my riding group have gone with BMC in the past year or so, they all seem pleased with them.

jerman

Thanks, and I will answer your questions as directly as I can...
I am an off the shelf sized guy.. 5'10" 170# 54.5 TT length. 31" jeans inseam. Have half a dozen bikes, all 54's and one 55, they fit.
Tubing means Ti, which means a 2# weight increase. Why do that when my goal is be as fast as on the machine as I can get? I need to keep up with my wife, and she's grabbing polka dot jerseys on Zwift.
Components for me were Ultegra Di2 or SRAM Force AXS.. either. That was all I was wanting.
The color is appealing to me, unusual and kind of unique, so OK there.
Seven is great, one day I may get one, but I'm 62 and need help getting faster, so that was the trump card.
This BMC also comes with carbon wheels, and the only other factor that played a major roll was BMC is a Swiss bike and I really like all thing European, especially Swiss.

And thanks for the last comment after this one who liked the color and whose friends had had good experience with BMC's.
I do appreciate all the replies...

rdrsonthstrm

I love my Argon18 Nitrogen, so I say go for it!

For what its worth, I rode a top-of-the-range fully specced up Wilier Zero7 on a demo ride. It was not night-and-day different from my £1500 Wilier. The best way to describe it is more reactive. I achieved a similar feel by buying a nice set of wheels. Don't expect a massive difference- its still a bike and you still have to pedal hard for the best results!

N00b_Cyclist

Yea, I really agree that if you can "afford" to go with off the shelf...then do it. That means, if your shape/size allows. 5'7" here...so yea, plenty fits.

jerman

So stoked. Been watching vids.. reading. Can't wait....