big john

I'm 67 next month. Black vest/white sleeves.

Sojodave

I think the title should be "race bike" vs "endurance bike". I just built up a Specialized Roubaix Pro frame and I debated on whether I should get a race frame. I am not a racer, but I do several century rides each year. I decided to go endurance and I am shocked how fast my Roubaix is. I realize that the wind catches you more the higher you are, but the bike so so smooth that I end up going faster than my old bike.

redcon1

I'm with you Dave. My Focus Izalco was a great bike but I felt beat up riding it on the roads around here. I pickup up a 2019 Roubaix Expert and have found I am faster than ever on my local loops, because the bike is so comfortable over rough pavement.

OldTryGuy

Went out today on my Giant Propel Advance SL = Aero Road Race, it was fast and responsive. Now if I was on my 2018 Roubaix Expert same ride would have been more comfortable but not as nimble. Each has its own coolness.

Road Fan

if you mean the pressure chart from Frank Berto or Jan Heine, just Google “Berto tire pressure chart.” You’ll find it in numerous typefaces, but all the same info.

Snotrub

I've owned and ridden several road bikes over the years. I don't know the difference between racing bikes and endurance bikes other that the carbon material and the geometry. What I do know, is that out of all of the road bikes I've owned, the most comfortable were not the fastest. Here's a list of bikes I've owned from least comfortable to most comfortable:

Cannondale Super Six Evo Red Racing
Trek 470 (aluminum)
Madone 5.9
Trek 5200
Madone 5.2 (I had two of these)
Trek Domane SL 6 - by far the nicest riding bike I've ever owned

Also, same bikes ranked from fastest to least fast

Cannondale Super Six Evo Red Racing
Madone 5.9
Madone 5.2
Domane SL 6
Trek 5200
Trek 470

Road Fan

I always thought a rando bike was at first something a person could go at racing speeds (if capable) over varied paved or unpaved terrain, with comfort and protection from road cr@p. So, geo suited to the rider, fat, easy-rolling, supple tires, stable handling, efficient pedaling, light cargo storage, and fenders/mudflaps. Ease of field service is also a key point. The bike is designed to help the rider persevere and to endure.

Looking back toward the French Audax and British Club-riding traditional bikes, you can see these feature sets going back at least to the period between the two World Wars, and still discussed in some current sites and in print.

And BTW back to the OP’s question, I think this sort of bike might be a good approach to having more comfort and less aggravation of physically sensitive matters, while still moving swiftly down the road. Having one, I think it makes a practical endurance bike for light touring.

cormacf

Others have responded better than I in so many ways, so I'll just stick to the one thing I know--titanium.

I love ti for many reasons: corrosion resistance, (relatively) low weight (compared to CrMo) for steel levels of comfy, etc. -- but mostly because it's just cool. The cool factor should not be undersold. I mean, it's made out of SPACESHIP stuff!

I have a Lynskey Sportive Disc as my daily driver, and it's great. Not the lightest bike out there (especially when it has a Brooks and 650bx42s on it, which is how I ride it when speed isn't paramount), but it's comfy. And I just got a Lynskey Pro29 hardtail frame on which I'm building an all-ti midlife crisis rigid MTB. SO I love titanium.

With that said, though, I'd strongly suggest you ride a few different ti bikes if you can. Frame material is still, imp, less important than fork material, bike geo, and tire selection when it comes to comfort, and there are some ti bikes that will absolutely rattle you with the wrong setup. But within the world of ti frames, there's going to be a big difference between alloys. 6/4 is going to be stiffer, lighter, and feel more like carbon, generally, while 3/2.5 (the more common of the two for tubes, for a lot of reasons) is going to be heavier, flexier, and feel more like steel. You see a lot of 6/4 alloys in race-oriented bikes, and 3/2.5 in the rest. It's somewhat subtle, but you can definitely tell the difference.

If you do look at ti, I'd steer you away from most of the brandless imports.

On the lower end of the cost spectrum, I know folks who've had good luck with Motobecane ti frames (but really go through the component group if you buy a full bike--bikesdirect has to save money somewhere), and Habanero is basically a US shop that will perform quality control and stand behind work done in China -- I've heard good things there, too.

In terms of the best value/performance, I think Lynskey and Litespeed are your best bets--American made (same town, actually), with lifetime warranties and people who pick up the phone before and after you order. I've called Lynskey on the phone from a hardware store to ask what pitch screw i needed for a dropout insert, and they told me. You won't get crazy customization (like your name in Times new Roman 48 anodized in rainbows), but they will make substantial modifications to existing models for a fee (e.g., sliding dropouts on a gravel bike, or a slightly different seat tube angle...). Some would put Carver in this bunch (it's a Chinese factory, but a small, dedicated one, and they know them all personally), and there are lots of boutique shops like Bearclaw (where I bought my fork) that also fit here, though maybe at a slightly high end because they have less volume to keep down prices. Dean would also fit here, at the high end. They do really good work in Boulder.

Above that, to me, it's jewelry. You're buying bling--which is not a bad thing (I trap shoot, and it's easy and valid to spend $$$$ on a shotgun that performs no better than $$, bt looks gorgeous). I can find no functional difference between, say, a high-end Lynskey and a Firefly, but sweet mother of everything wonderful those Firefly bikes are beautiful. Just stunning. These are usually full-custom or close to it. Firefly/Seven/Moots/etc. are all places you can drop $10k on a bike and have something that fits perfectly and is a showpiece. But holy crap--especially Firefly, which is the best in the business at gorgeous custom anodized finishes.

Trsnrtr

Two months shy of 70 and my normal ride is a Propel.

OldTryGuy

Are you going to ride your age for birthday ride????

Trsnrtr

Yes, with my wife, and again in the Fall for her 70th.

OldTryGuy

FABULOUS !!!

Wife (48 years in June) can't ride any distance so Birthday Ride is all on me. Will be 71 in July and if I do as I've done in the past, ride is 2 times age plus 1 mile for good measure. SW FL so not much elevation, , so just have to deal with rain and winds. OOPS, 2 years ago was lightning also.

jaxgtr

I turned 56 in Dec, feel like I am in pretty good shape for a dude my age, way more active than most people my age, and honesty, way more active that a lot of people younger than myself. I have been riding my Emonda for 5 years and it is still a lovely riding bike, but I decided to get a Domane this year as a gift to myself for my wife and I successfully releasing 2 kids on society that are not addicted to drugs, not in the criminal justice lane, are gainfully employed in career type jobs and the best thing, they are no longer living in my house.
.

One thing I have noticed is that I don't feel as tight after a long ride on the Domane. My birthday ride of age plus 2 miles, was smooth as silk. I still ride the Emonda, shorter faster rides and indoor trainer duty, but for the longer or casual rides, I will take the Domane.