voldemort

Looking for input. First road bike. What's the significant differences here? I'm just looking to be able to do some longer rides than I can with my Giant hybrid. I'm not looking to do any racing or anything. I know clipless pedals vs. clips and straps, and I know different brakes, but I can switch out the pedals, right? I'm pretty much at a $1000 window, so the 2100 would probably have to be last year's model. Thanks!

johnny99

Different geometries. 2100 is intended for more athletic and flexible riders. Pilot is more upright, which is more stable and comfortable at lower speeds. Also, some body shapes may prefer one or the other.

R900

We have Trek Mountain bikes and seemed to be the perfect target for the Pilots, but they just road funny to both my wife and I. It came down to a 60 Trek 2100, 58 Cannondale, and a 58 Specialized. The Trek was a hair long, but we both really fell in love with the Cannondales (mine is a R900, wife's is a SR500). Like everyone else says, ride a bunch of bikes and your body will tell you what to pick. After about 3 weeks I really love my R900, even hit 45 mph this morning.

John

voldemort

Athletic is not a word that has probably ever been used to describe me, so I guess that's one vote for the Pilot.

dfw

I have the Pilot 2.1 which I like very much. However, just so you know, a standard geometry bike like the 2100 can be set up for an upright riding position too. It's just that the Pilot is built specifically that way.

johnny99

Pilot has a short top tube as well as a tall head tube. You may need a really ugly setup to get that kind of riding position from a standard racing bike.

dfw

The effective top tube of the Pilot is about the same as the 2100. Of course the Pilot is semi-compact and the 2100 isn't, but this makes the actual top tube of the Pilot longer than the 2100. The head tube on the Pilot is longer, but not that much more so when you look at them side by side. The Pilot does have a bit more relaxed head angle.

I wouldn't think it would be all that bad. Cut the steering tube a little longer and add some spacers, change the angle on the bars, and mount the hoods a little higher up and you could get a similar effect. As long as you don't go overboard on anything you'd be OK, you just might not get as upright as a Pilot, but more so than a standard racer.

voldemort

But why pay to make all the changes to the 2100 to make it more like a Pilot? Why not just buy the Pilot?

dfw

I asked myself the same question and bought the Pilot. One advantage of going the other way is it would be very easy to revert to a racing profile should you ever choose to later. There's also ways to set the Pilot up to get to a lower riding position, but certainly not what you could do with the 2100.