1985GN

I could use some input from people that have ridden either bike. I've been training on a Cervelo S3 & I really don't want to race it for fear of crashing it & having to pay full price to replace it (got it when I was on a different team/store) but I love the feel of the bike & want something similar. My options from my current sponsor store are Giant or Cannondale (we have an agreement that if we buy a new bike it needs to be from the sponsor store). I've been looking at the EVO and the TCR Advanced SL but don't know much about either and unfortunately the shop doesn't have either in stock and no one else in the area carries them. I would prefer to go carbon, no alum. Any help you guys can give would be much appreciated.

gsteinb

bikes are bikes.

pick two bikes in the same price range and they're going to be essentially equal.

fit trumps all else.

41.


/thread.

johnybutts

CAAD10. Been racing mine all year. Hasn't done be wrong yet. Feels exactly like the SuperSix, just a bit heavier and bit more rigid.

topflightpro

You don't want to risk an S3, but you're willing to drop comparable money on an Evo or TCR Advanced?

MDcatV

these questions never make a bit of sense to me. race your best stuff. that's why you have it. but i'll play.

if you're looking for a "crit" bike and cannondale is an option, you'd be an idiot to get anything other than a caad10.

1985GN

I bought the S3 when I was on another team, got an incredible deal and would not be able to get that price again if I trashed it.

Part of our team deal is that we get an amazing deal on what the shop carries, so Cannondale or Giant.

chasm54

Amen

1985GN

I've ridden a CAAD10, great bike but for me the S3 feels a lot better. I'm just trying to find something similar to it so I can be seen riding on a bike that my sponsor store carries. As good as they are to us, I owe it to them.

himespau 

Edit: nevermind. My post was made irrelevant by a previous post. That's what I get for opening a crap-ton of tabs and slowly working my way through them without checking for updates.

johnybutts

Oh........


what do you want to hear? I can regurgitate it for you so you have an excuse to do it.

1985GN

Only what I asked in the first post, carbon not aluminum. I'm not saying I'm right, it's just my preference. I know all about the CAAD10 several of the guys on the team have it. I appreciated your opinion, it has been duly noted. Thank you.

topflightpro

Ok, so go buy an Evo or TCR. Which one is cheaper? Which one has a geometry closer to what you have now? I don't think you're going to find many people on here who have tremendous experience with the three bikes you are considering. So, just pick one.

island rider

If I were buying a bike today the Supersix Evo would be on my short list. But that has no bearing on your decision.

rankin116

I like Giants, but I have never ridden one.

(We're playing slow-pitch today....)

TMonk

I'll show you a giant...

TMonk

...on second thought, nvm I got nothin'




OP: just buy whatever is the best optimization between price and fit man. you should be able to determine those things for yourself. how long have you been racing such that you think either bike will really make a big difference?

It won't.

wens

Bikes are pretty much bikes. If you wreck the frame (and that's actually pretty uncommon), just buy a cannondale or giant then. FWIW, if I break my tarmac I'll probably end up on an allez or caad10 for at least a year or 2, since it's just a much easier to swallow unplanned expenditure.

CenturionIM

Giant only have defy as their cheaper road bikes and that is NOT what you want for a crit. TCR advanced cost close to your S3 I imagine. So, CAAD10.

EDIT: Giant have brought back the aluminum line of TCR SL this year. Could be worth a look.

gsteinb

giant makes an aluminum version of the TCR as well as a cheaper carbon version (Composite).

fastbub

Rant begin:

WHY is it almost universally accepted around this place that in order to race crits, you need a bike you can destroy? Do all crits end with a brick wall that you slam into at the finish line? I have raced over 100 crits and yes I have even crashed a few times. Twice I have needed a ride to the ER. Never once did I need to replace my whole bike. Not saying it doesn't happen but it is very unlikely. If you have disposable income to buy multiple bikes in case one of them goes up in flames. You probably have money to buy one to replace the one you wrecked.

As for the great "deal" you got on it? I am going out on a limb, but I am guessing you are a CAT 5, 4 maybe 3? Bike shops are not in business to give stuff away. You probably got it for less than retail. Sure. So much that it offsets the cost of a second high end bike? I doubt it. If a shop wants you "on their bike" for exposure, they aren't going to find it at an CAT 5/4/3 race. The audience there is husbands/wives/children of the racers who are counting the minutes because they get to go to Chuckee Cheese when this thing is over. Not too many guys are watching the 40 deep CAT 5 race and are saying to themselves "Wow, did you see that monster kill the field sprint? I really need that S3 he is on. Let me go ask him where I can get it."

Bikes are bikes. Ride yours into the ground and get another as needed. If you want a collection, then just say that. Most racers I know train on their bike. They often times train by commuting on it. (with a backpack and maybe even a frame pump) Then they race that same bike Thursday night and Saturday and Sunday.

Rant over.

Sorry had a little extra time to type on my lunch break.

Rant over.

Andy STi

I don't get the whole crit bike thing, oh well.

Andy STi

I'm with ya Fastbub!

jsutkeepspining

i just ride my bike. this **** is silly

Jandro 

Huh? So you have buy something that the shop doesn't have and that you can't try out? I don't think we are going to be able to tell you anything since you want something that 'feels the same' to you as your S3. We aren't you.

Seems lame. I say race your current bike.

fastbub

Can I start a parody thread about how I need to buy a crit body that feels the same as my regular body?

That way when I crash myself into the ER, I can still go to work in my regular body on Monday?My crit body would have to have better legs lungs and sprint though. Not sure if it is in my budget . I don't want my crit body to be better than my regular body. That would defeat the purpose of having a crit body.

I better go ask a bunch of people on the internet, that I don't know, what they think.