Just asking what makes Super Bikes so Super?
02-09-20, 04:59 AM
#51
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One way to look at it is just about every quality bicycle, at one point was a super bike , technology and design changes all the time , if you want the gains in performance you have to pay for it , but that's if you want the highest grade , there are plenty if affordable super bikes .
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02-09-20, 12:22 PM
#52
Senior Member
Team Fuji monocoque frame. You can spend a whole lot more but it really doesn't get that much better than this.
02-10-20, 09:35 AM
#53
Steel80's
A Super Bike is like the Corvette in the Chevy showroom. You sit in it and daydream about how your life could be if only...then you go buy an SUV.
It's the Halo Effect- promote the latest & greatest. Not Record 11, it's Super Record 12! So light, it's not even legal! So fast, so-and-so won the Tour on one.
It's fun to window shop bikes like that. Every so often I'll go on a bike shop safari and try out high-end bikes (if they even have them). I have as yet to find a correlation between price and performance. I've tried $3,000 bikes I liked more than $8,000 ones, for comfort and handling. If you're a competitor and it matters that you're 20 seconds faster over 40 miles, or getting kicked in the ass on every bump doesn't matter, maybe a super bike is worth it.
It's the Halo Effect- promote the latest & greatest. Not Record 11, it's Super Record 12! So light, it's not even legal! So fast, so-and-so won the Tour on one.
It's fun to window shop bikes like that. Every so often I'll go on a bike shop safari and try out high-end bikes (if they even have them). I have as yet to find a correlation between price and performance. I've tried $3,000 bikes I liked more than $8,000 ones, for comfort and handling. If you're a competitor and it matters that you're 20 seconds faster over 40 miles, or getting kicked in the ass on every bump doesn't matter, maybe a super bike is worth it.
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02-10-20, 11:03 AM
#54
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I see plenty of people on $10k+ bikes, doesn't seem to make them any faster, but they are def nice to look at. I don't care what anyone spends their money on, if I had the budget for it, I would too. People at work think my $2k bikes are outrageous, I just laugh and tell them they don't even know how bad it gets. 
02-10-20, 12:38 PM
#55
Senior Member
Super bikes tend to be carbon fiber. I think that has a lot to do with the amount of space for advertising. But carbon fiber has been around for a while. Stainless steel such as XCr is a lot newer and just as technically advance and almost as light. The vas amount of riders could not tell a carbon super bike frame from a cheapie asian mass produced frame if both were painted black and had the same wheels and group. They would however be able to tell the difference between carbon and steel rather easily. But then, steel bikes don't have as much room for the name in huge print.
02-10-20, 01:16 PM
#56
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I see plenty of people on $10k+ bikes, doesn't seem to make them any faster, but they are def nice to look at. I don't care what anyone spends their money on, if I had the budget for it, I would too. People at work think my $2k bikes are outrageous, I just laugh and tell them they don't even know how bad it gets.
The very spendy bikes are super cool to look at and they are fun to see but they don't make a persona cyclist. I have 4 bikes, 2 are in the $1K rangeish, one is under $400 and one is over $2k. I get so much crap for the 2k bike that I have. I don't care what a person spends their money on so I would hope a person doesn't care what I spend my money on.
02-10-20, 02:00 PM
#57
Senior Member
I see plenty of people on $10k+ bikes, doesn't seem to make them any faster, but they are def nice to look at. I don't care what anyone spends their money on, if I had the budget for it, I would too. People at work think my $2k bikes are outrageous, I just laugh and tell them they don't even know how bad it gets.
02-10-20, 03:30 PM
#58
Junior Member
My 0.02$
GCN did a video on this. They took an old aluminum Trek USPS aluminum and tested against a ‘super bike’, aka a 10k$ carbon.
difference was huge.
They then stripped the old bike and put modern components including a new 105 Groupo. Cost them 1000$, including buying the bike off eBay.
Difference was 20 seconds on a 10 minute ride. Or there abouts.
I guess there’s the answer.
difference was huge.
They then stripped the old bike and put modern components including a new 105 Groupo. Cost them 1000$, including buying the bike off eBay.
Difference was 20 seconds on a 10 minute ride. Or there abouts.
I guess there’s the answer.
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02-10-20, 03:38 PM
#59
Senior Member
GCN did a video on this. They took an old aluminum Trek USPS aluminum and tested against a ‘super bike’, aka a 10k$ carbon.
difference was huge.
They then stripped the old bike and put modern components including a new 105 Groupo. Cost them 1000$, including buying the bike off eBay.
Difference was 20 seconds on a 10 minute ride. Or there abouts.
I guess there’s the answer.
difference was huge.
They then stripped the old bike and put modern components including a new 105 Groupo. Cost them 1000$, including buying the bike off eBay.
Difference was 20 seconds on a 10 minute ride. Or there abouts.
I guess there’s the answer.
02-10-20, 04:49 PM
#60
Senior Member
Robert got promoted to a pro? (oblique way to say there's no correlation between being able to ride a bike fast and discerning differences in bike behaviors.) (oblique way of saying at least weight differences are evident to anyone with a scale, ability to ride not a prerequisite.)
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02-17-20, 09:46 AM
#61
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Robert got promoted to a pro? (oblique way to say there's no correlation between being able to ride a bike fast and discerning differences in bike behaviors.) (oblique way of saying at least weight differences are evident to anyone with a scale, ability to ride not a prerequisite.)
02-17-20, 11:46 AM
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Once you get into bikes in the $1k range, they are all good enough. It is all about the motor and perceived advantages in the mind commanding the motor.
02-17-20, 01:25 PM
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02-17-20, 01:34 PM
#64
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My comparison would be a pretty nice carbon Synapse I had with 105 components versus my current S-Works with DA Di2 and all the candy Specialized could throw at it 2 years ago. Weight difference is not earth shaking - the S Works is 16.5 lbs ready to ride and set up for a Clydesdale class rider (heavy Look pedals and replaced the carbon aero handlebars with a more comfy aluminum Specialized Hover bar) - and the Cannondale was around 18.5 , but with a boat anchor FSA crankset and alloy wheels
The retail price on the S Works is pretty high while the retail on the 105 Synapse is roughly 20% of the cost. The ride is night and day different between the 2 with the S Works being more efficient and stiffer , yet more comfortable at the same time. The bike doesn't have a "dead" feeling on the road and I feel like I can climb anything on it within reason
The Cannondale in comparison - although the Synapse is supposed to be a more comfortable bike , is not. It feels slower and literally feels like it takes more effort to stay on top of the gear and the ride is like some people say about other carbon bikes when they say its like riding a block of wood -- the bike just doesn't give much feedback
ITs not the weight difference either -- I would pick the 21 lb vintage Colnago over the Cannondale if I ever had to go on a fast ride
I think if the Cannondale were built with equivalent wheels and an equivalent Dura Ace build kit and lighter post, bars etc -- the weight difference between it and the Tarmac would be not much but I still cant get past the fact that the Cannondale rides like a block of wood while every pedal stroke seems to be energized on the Specialized
But - big but -- I wonder what difference the wheels alone make too
The retail price on the S Works is pretty high while the retail on the 105 Synapse is roughly 20% of the cost. The ride is night and day different between the 2 with the S Works being more efficient and stiffer , yet more comfortable at the same time. The bike doesn't have a "dead" feeling on the road and I feel like I can climb anything on it within reason
The Cannondale in comparison - although the Synapse is supposed to be a more comfortable bike , is not. It feels slower and literally feels like it takes more effort to stay on top of the gear and the ride is like some people say about other carbon bikes when they say its like riding a block of wood -- the bike just doesn't give much feedback
ITs not the weight difference either -- I would pick the 21 lb vintage Colnago over the Cannondale if I ever had to go on a fast ride
I think if the Cannondale were built with equivalent wheels and an equivalent Dura Ace build kit and lighter post, bars etc -- the weight difference between it and the Tarmac would be not much but I still cant get past the fact that the Cannondale rides like a block of wood while every pedal stroke seems to be energized on the Specialized
But - big but -- I wonder what difference the wheels alone make too
Not a "superbike," but it is now a super bike.
02-17-20, 01:41 PM
#65
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With mountain bikes you get more "X". Instead of names like Acera, Alivio (headache medicine?) and Deore (sounds like "bore"), you get SLX, XT and XTR (the latter two being better because the X comes first). With SRAM you can even get multiple Xs, like "XX1"
With road bikes you go from dull names like Sora and Claris (someone's aunt from the midwest) to euro-sounding names like Ultegra and Dura Ace (plus you know anything with "Ace" is good).
And sometimes you literally get "super". I used to have a Santa Cruz Superlight with a Marzocchi Superfly fork, which I upgrades to an X-Vert Super (which had both "X" and "super").
With road bikes you go from dull names like Sora and Claris (someone's aunt from the midwest) to euro-sounding names like Ultegra and Dura Ace (plus you know anything with "Ace" is good).
And sometimes you literally get "super". I used to have a Santa Cruz Superlight with a Marzocchi Superfly fork, which I upgrades to an X-Vert Super (which had both "X" and "super").
Last edited by Kapusta; 02-17-20 at 05:16 PM.
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02-17-20, 02:16 PM
#66
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GCN did a video on this. They took an old aluminum Trek USPS aluminum and tested against a ‘super bike’, aka a 10k$ carbon.
difference was huge.
They then stripped the old bike and put modern components including a new 105 Groupo. Cost them 1000$, including buying the bike off eBay.
Difference was 20 seconds on a 10 minute ride. Or there abouts.
I guess there’s the answer.
difference was huge.
They then stripped the old bike and put modern components including a new 105 Groupo. Cost them 1000$, including buying the bike off eBay.
Difference was 20 seconds on a 10 minute ride. Or there abouts.
I guess there’s the answer.
It had a decent enough setup, that within the budget of that episode, no realistic performance gains were made. Switching from 53-39 to 50-34 is arguably the only thing they changed that mattered, and that doesn't require a complete rebuild.
They made the comparison that old = clunker. The truth is unmaintained = clunker
02-17-20, 02:22 PM
#67
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02-17-20, 02:28 PM
#68
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02-17-20, 03:11 PM
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Good enough to do the prescribed task reliably. Commuters will get you to work, tourers will get you across the country, sporty bikes will let you mix it up with faster riders. Even mountain bike races are very rarely decided by the latest and greatest. You see bikes of all vintages mixing it up. All the new gearing standards have not made riders any faster, just make it more difficult to know what parts are compatible when you wear them out and need replacements.
02-17-20, 04:05 PM
#71
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88 Ironman. Looks fast just sitting there.
