WT21

Got into serious biking in the early 2010s. I went from old steel Frame to modern hybrid to endurance bike. I've been getting faster and stronger, and want something sportier still (sold the hybrid and moved the endurance bike to the trainer). I ride by myself, and do about hour rides for exercise, but I just like to go fast on the road.

But when I go to the LBS, they see my gray hair, and tell me I should be on an endurance bike. When I ask about an Emonda, or TCR, or Tarmac they say "have you been on one of those? I guess we can raise up the handle bars and make it like your Domane."

I'm not out of my 50s, I can touch my toes, do some light yoga, and I like to ride in the drops.

Am I the only one, or am I fooling myself, and I should just stick with endurance geometry. I put a deposit on a TCR, but now I'm wondering if I'll just be selling it in a year?

mackgoo

I'm 64 and this has been my daily go to for 25 years.

WT21

[QUOTE=mackgoo;22864056]I'm 64 and this has been my daily go to for 25 years.


[QUOTE]

That is a nice looking ride!

terrymorse 

Feh.

I'm about to turn 65, and I've been riding the same race geometry for 20+ years, with no feeling that I need to raise my bars or shorten my stem.

The only thing I do differently these days is more stretching.

Bar drop 7.5 cm, stem 6º 110 mm:

TejanoTrackie 

I'm 76, going on 77, and just bought this:


Trek Émonda SLR 7

The only concession to my age was to raise the bars a bit and install wider tires. The guys at my LBS know better than to suggest that I "act my age" and switch to a comfort bike.

big john

Do you still race track?

TejanoTrackie 

Nope, gave it up six years ago, but I still like to ride fixed gear on the road.

Steve B.

Of course. They sure do move fast and when I'm in a group ride with my buddies, fast and efficient is needed. I've had 8 racing bikes in 33 years of cycling, as well as a gravel, a tourer and 2 mt. bikes currently. This is pretty light at 17.5 lbs, and I love the Di2 shifting.

Eric F 

I’m 54. I got back on the bike 3 years ago after a 15 year break from it. I’ve gone to a 10cm shorter stem than I used to use, but I still favor that stem to be slammed. On my gravel bike, I went to a -17deg because the -8deg on it before didn’t feel right. I’m thankful that I’ve been able to maintain really good spinal flexibility (I can bend forward and put my palms flat on the floor).

My #1 road bike…

canklecat

Yeah, my main whip the past three years has been a Diamondback Podium 5, a decent racing bike a decade ago. But 2020 was my last "fast" year in which I snagged several top tens on Strava. It's been all downhill since, getting slower and tired more easily.

And as my cervical spine stenosis has worsened, along with the usual back pain, etc., I've raised the stem, installed a compact drop bar with less reach, and a cushy older Cobb V-Flow tri-bike saddle, the only really comfy cutout saddle I've tried for longer rides.

To reduce pain from rough roads I've switched that bike to Soma Supple Vitesse, the lightest genuinely supple tires I've tried that didn't cost a fortune when I bought 'em ($15 in 2019, skyrocketed to $70 now). And latex tubes. Very cushy. But I'm about to try squeezing some 700x28 tires into the frame. That's no-go with my early 1990s Trek OCLV, which is a tight squeeze even with 700x25.

But it'll be my last conventional road bike. My neck can't handle rides much longer than an hour, and a more upright, less aggressive setup might enable me to enjoy longer rides again.

The main reason I still have a couple of older carbon fiber road bikes is to save weight for lifting and carrying them. I don't notice much difference while riding, compared with my 25 lb steel road bike.

I'm considering piling up all of my current bikes and selling or swapping for one relaxed geometry drop bar bike.

I've even toyed around with the idea of converting one of my carbon fiber road bikes to a city bike with upright swept bars, although I've procrastinated because it would require replacing too many components to convert a road bike into a hybrid. I've seen other folks locally who've done this and they were happy with the conversions for casual solo and group rides around town.

Carbonfiberboy 

While post 9 shows a pretty much full race rig, the other bikes have a lot less drop to them. I've had the same race bike for 23 years, a carbon Trek, the frame Lance won his first TdF on. It also has only 3-5 cm drop, depending on whether I have the slammed -17° stem on. While that's really endurance geometry IMO, that's as good as it gets with my short legs.

I rather think that a fast bike is a bike you can really make go. I'm not sure how much difference the fine details of geometry make. I was on a group ride one time, and one of the faster riders. At a stop, a riding buddy and I decided to change bikes for a while. We're almost the identical size, same pedals. He had a high end steel Bianchi. We started off and I was dropped in about 1/4 mile. The first time I rode my Trek, I knew it was a rocket ship for me. As long as I kept shifting up, the bike just went faster and faster. 18.5 lbs., never bought another bike.

So I think it's more about what the bike enables you to do than on the specs of the bike. Test ride. BTW, I can only put my 2nd knuckles on the floor in my shoes, though that's a stretch. 1st knuckles are easy. You'll want to be comfortable riding the bike with horizontal forearms, hands on hoods, thighs not hitting belly.

50PlusCycling

Still riding my Gios Compact Pro, It's been my road bike for 25 years since I got it new, and it still rides great.

Jumpski

. Celeste is the ultimate color on a bicycle

Jumpski

Nice bike- enjoy!

RB1-luvr

I'll be 59 this year and all of my rode bikes and my cx bike are "racy" so far as geometry goes. I am not having any problem with saddle being higher than stem. My shop is constantly trying to get me to change the ratio.

Bald Paul

The last shop that did that with me lost the sale. Why do they insist on telling you what you want? If I went into a car dealership and started looking at some 700+HP sports car, would the salesman look at me and say "Hey, you really don't want this model, we have a nice subcompact hybrid over here."

Granted, they may just be trying to point out that one type of bike *may* be more comfortable for you, but isn't that really up to YOU to decide? Best thing you can do is to go to a professional bike fitting, get a printout of the geometry that fits you best, and then look for a bike that most closely matches it. If it happens to be a 'race-type' bike, then so be it. Even then, if fast is what you're looking for, buy something for the potential speed. I raced cars when I was younger (much younger) and believe me, fast is NOT comfortable, but if speed is the whole idea behind the chassis setup, who cares?

Robert7659

I’m 58, I like my handlebars on the low side and don’t mind my tires on the wide side.

I’m currently riding an endurance bike on 28mm (max tire size, won’t fit a mm more) Schwalbe Marathon Plus tires.

I just bought a Sora level Cannondale Topstone gravel bike. With lowered handlebars and 38mm Marathons it is fantastic. I just barrel forward over most pavement irregularities.

BobbyG

I'm 61 and still bike commute most days year round. I have five bikes, all drop bar, including my 90's MTB...well the 20" folder has bull bars.

MoAlpha

Age 66. Lowered the stem on the Cervélo 5 mm from the pictured height this season. I have never been able to touch my toes, but I do lots of deadlifts.

Iride01 

I got this bike in 2020. I suppose it's what you might call a race type bike of your thread title.

It fits me better and allows me to comfortably remain in a fairly aero position for many miles more than any other bike I ever had.



IMO, people think endurance bikes mean more upright sitting positions. That couldn't be further from the truth. Endurance bikes are ones that allow you to go further in the position you prefer comfortably whether a more aero position or a less aero upright position. My other bikes gave me a more upright position, however I've found I prefer not to be so upright.

DirePenguin

It’s just my opinion, but a Domane IS a “racing bike!” Some of the pros (Trek/Segafredo for sure) ride them on the cobblestones. After all, that’s exactly what it was designed for!

Is it as “nimble” as an Emonda … perhaps not … but it’s plenty fast!

Hermes

I rode this at the indoor velodrome yesterday. Does it count?

MoAlpha

I don't think I could ride that in a straight line on flat ground.

zandoval 

So what is a more Race-Type bike?

Is that the kind of bike that would be used in a race now days or yesterdays?

I wonder who could afford a modern race-type bike. But if they can... Bravo for them!

That TCR is going to be a nice bike for sure. It could very well become your favorite ride. If nothing else it will make a great Wall Hanger, and every one deserves one of those...

Bob Ross

My most comfortable bike is still this rocket, with 90mm of saddle>bar drop, a classic "long and low" race position, which I've had for 7 years.



My other custom bike is based on Carl Strong's "stage race" geometry, my gravel bike is technically a cyclocross race bike, and my Cannondale Synapse is their first generation from 2006, which arguably is before the concept of an "endurance bike for old folks" hit the market.