glenymact

Hi there,

I am looking to buy 1 nice road bike in the next year and am wondering what type of road bike i should get. My preffered type of ride is 2-6 hrs in a group or alone generally pushing as hard as the group will allow or going as fast as i can on my own. Currently riding old 10 speed steel frame road bikes and looking to upgrade. Based on this description i am thinking i would want an endurance road bike, but am slightly worried that if i don't buy the raciest race bike (not talking weight, just geo) that i will always be wondering "what if". I suppose an obvious solution would be to test ride a few different bikes before buying. I know the main difference between Road race and Road endurance is a slightly more relaxed geometry, clearance for larger tires, and sometimes some road vibration dampening built into the frame or a quasi suspension system (specialized roubaix). Anyways I am 29, fairly flexible and comfortable enough with plenty of saddle drop, just wondering if in the next 5-10 years i will be cursing the decision to buy a road race style bike vs endurance if that is what i end up choosing.

Thoughts, Opinions. Welcomed. I don't race but still get a kick out of going as fast as i can. Love hills too.

delbiker1 

At some point you just have to make a decision and live it. To me, the sensible thing is to have both.

Ogsarg

I think you have to answer this question yourself by riding some. I would suggest picking a brand or two and taking a test ride on their endurance model and comparing it to their more race oriented model. Plenty of people do long distances on race bikes and plenty race on endurance bikes. Only you can decide what is most important to you.

jfranci3

I wouldn't get too hung up on the suspension bits. With modern flexy seat posts and fat tires, they all ride pretty well. The ride/handling differences you'll feel will be mostly which tires are on the bike and how much air are in them.

The difference between the raciest geometry and an endurance bike is that the raciest bike (Allez Spint 56cm) will be 40mm lower in front than a similar Roubaix assuming your don't run any spacers (look at the Stack and Reach https://geometrygeeks.bike/compare/s...ubaix-2018-56/ ). This extra lowness is only important if you intend on running no spacers under the stem and a -17deg stem. Unless you're always using your drops with your arms bent on your current bike, you can get both bikes in the same position . If you run a longer stem, you can always size down a frame - sometimes the difference between two frame sizes is that the head tube is just 20mm taller on the bigger size ( https://geometrygeeks.bike/compare/s...ubaix-2018-56/ the 58 is just 30mm taller and 5mm longer ).

Also, you've got the stem and bars to play with. You can get deeper drops and a flatter stem (https://www.modernbike.com/syntace-111-mm-stems )
https://www.habcycles.com/stemchart2.GIF

Otherwise, unless you're buying an aero bike, it won't matter which kind of road bike you're on. The aero will be the same on a std road bike, endurance road bike, Allez Sprint, and gravel bike (looking at Tour Int test results) on the same wheels/tires. The aero bike will be 20-25w faster, which can mostly be fixed by cleaning up your cabling, running an aero handlebar, and assume both are running 2 water bottles. All the bikes will handle the same. All the bikes will scoot you down the road the same. The endurance bike will likely be able to run soft-road tires. The gravel bike won't be able run tall gearing, but will get you up to 35+ mph pedaling.

TMonk

I think a "middle of the road" race bike like a Giant TCR, Specialized Tarmac, Trek Emonda would be a good bet. So nothing overtly endurance/comfort or "aero". Handles well/quickly, light weight, snappy etc.

Rides4Beer

I've had an aero bike, Fuji Transonic, a race bike, Specialized Tarmac SL6, and now I'm on an endurance bike, Giant Defy.

With the stem slammed on the Defy the stack is barely taller than the Tarmac was with a couple of spacers, so I can still get just as low as before. I've raced all three and there is no noticeable difference in speed between any of them. I wanted a longer wheelbase and longer front center (no toe overlap), so I ended up with an "endurance" geo. But I have no problem on A group rides, and even won a sprint against a guy on a Tarmac last time out (he's a strong sprinter, I was pretty happy about that).

Don't believe the marketing hype, get the bike you like with the geo you want and ride the crap out of it.

Iride01 

Don't spend so much that you can't afford another bike in 5 - 10 years. Two bikes are better than one, right? After that the more the merrier! At least until your garage or house can't hold anymore and/or significant other says something has to go........

Race and endurance terms do sort of let you know a little about the frame geometry. But can be misconstrued to make bad assumptions too. If you are used to a low aero position, then go with the race fit if there is no overriding reason for an endurance fit bike.

RedBullFiXX

50+ here
Prefer race geo, like that snap climbing out of the saddle
TL tires are plenty cushy if you are concerned about ride quality

glenymact

jfranci3 Thank you so much for directing me to this website. Going to spend hours on here in the future i am sure.

Great advice, i do tend to hoard though, and i like to buy things that can last a lifetime so i can add miles, stories, and memories to the bike.

Good to know!

I'm glad that for the most part the consensus is that the difference isn't outrageous between the different sub categories of road bikes. This honestly makes me think i should just get an aero bike now. So i can enjoy maximum speed on descents .

Sy Reene

So this will narrow the field a bit.. aero and lasts a lifetime (aka Titanium)
one option

jfranci3

Ironically, a plain TI bike is probably more aero than that because of the smaller tubes. That's the least aerodynamic aero bike I've ever seen. That's basically a Ti version of a Specialized Allez Sprint, which is not aero. External cabling, big ass down tube, big head tube, oval the-wrong-way down tube profile, round head tube, narrow fork, round seat stays, rear brake in the wind, , . The only thing that aero is the seat tube, which isn't important as your legs dirty up that air. They got the front hub right with the small body.

This is a proper aero metal frame - https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wBJZbRJOF7...150057_116.jpg

DaveSSS 

If you have a bike with a known stack and reach, that would be helpful in selecting a new ride. If you don't buy the wrong size, an endurance or racing bike may only differ by 2cm in stack and even less in reach, so 10-20mm of spacer and 17 or 6 degree stem can make a large difference in handlebar height.

My bigger concern would be buying a soon to be outdated bike, since 12 speed is already the standard for Campy and SRAM and only Shimano is lagging.

Lrdchaos

I agree with your recommendations 100%. I ride a TCR and it’s the beat of both worlds. I can sit up and relax when I want or hit the drops and hang with the group at over 22mph.

TMonk

Yeah, totally. I currently own 2 road bikes - a (2016?) Specialized Venge Elite and a 2013 Giant TCR Advanced ICP. The Venge is decked out with all my "go fast" stuff, deep wheels, aero road bars, latex tubes etc. I race on it but I generally don't enjoy the harsh ride and poor handling. It does make an incremental difference as the speed goes up and up but it rides like crap.

The TCR is my daily driver, long ride, training bike. I love the thing - it's responsive, stiff and light but comfortable and stable at the same time. Amazing bike, certainly the nicely bike I've ever owned.

eduskator

How about a nice endurance bike? The Giant Defy is a great candidate. If you want a race bike, the Giant TCR is also a good candidate.

You can't get better quality for the price you pay when you buy a Giant bike.