bruce19

Background: I am 78 yrs old and we are trying to house break two Berrnadoodle puppies so I don't have a lot of time to ride. It's also the start of my season and I don't have fitness. I kept going into the garage and seeing my 4 road bikes hanging on the wall so I thought I'd take each on the same route just to see the differences in ride.

The course: a 9.1 mile loop with 53 ft/mi climbing and one relatively flat .85 mi. Strava segment. Where I live it can be very windy but usually it's an 6-10 mph wind.

The Bikes:

1. Canyon Aeroad CF SL w/DT Swiss wheels and Conti 5000 GP tires. Includes Garmin 830 and Varia radar in addition to a mini-pump and saddle bag. 11 sp Ultegra mechanical Weighs 19 lba as ridden.

2. GURU Photon w/MavicKsyrium Elite USTs and Yksion tires. Outfitted as above minus mini-pump. 10 sp Dura Ace mechanical. Weighs 16 lbs as ridden

3. GURU Sidero (steel) Outfitted as above minus mini-pump. SRAM Red 10 sp mechanical. Weighs 18 lbs as ridden.

4. CAAD 12 outfitted as above w/mini-pump and saddle bag. 11 sp 105 mechanical. Weighs 19 lbs as ridden.

I should also mention that, without trying, all these rides were around 13.2 mph. I wasn't trying for this it just turned out that way. What will follow will be a brief description of the feel of each ride. There are no winners and losers. I truly love each of these bikes for what they are. Hope some find this interesting.

bruce19

Canyon Aeroad: It just feels fast. It might be in spots. It feels stiff and nimble. It also accelerates quickly.I really don't feel any deficit in the way it climbs which is often the criticism of Aero bikes.. OTOH there are no real climbs on this route, just slow longish upgrades. It was a little faster on the relatively flat .85 mile Strava segment. I managed 17.1 mph which is my fastest this year. FWIW, my best was 22.1 mph about 3 yrs ago. Of course I was a young punk at age 75 back then. Bottom line: I love this bike and it is always the one I reach for. I also think it is the best looking one. It's also the only one with disc brakes FWIW.

bruce19

GURU Photon: This is the lightest bike. It is not as stiff as the Aeroad and has a little more supple feel to the ride. Still, it's a planted and comfortable ride. There is a noticeable difference in the feel when climbing up these small rises but not as much as I expected. The Dura Ace does feel "better" to the hand. I wasn't expecting to feel any difference between it and the Ultegra but I did. Not a game changer but just more buttery smooth. Down that Strava segment I averaged 16.8 mph. But, with the wind variability I don't know if that means anything. Overall, this is just another bike I love and feel privileged to own.

bruce19

Guru Sidero (steel): Now this was different. It's outfitted with SRAM 10 sp mechanical and that is different for sure. To me the difference is like a good manual trans car and a good automatic. Not buttery smooth by any means but each shift is definite and the feel to hand is very mechanical. If ever you wanted to feel "connected" to the bike, this is it. I can definitely see how this would be a turn off to some. To me it's just different. Now to the ride. The geometry of this bike is very "racy." A short wheelbase and steep fork angle. A friend of mine, who is the most knowledgeable bike guy I know, calls it "nervous." The ride is supple and it accelerates more leisurely than the other two bikes. It's also very comfortable.very nice and very different. Strangely, Ii also averaged 16.8 mph on that Strava segment. At least I'm consistent. I guess. A wonderful ride that I'm always happy to jump on.

bruce19

CAAD 12:: Hopefully, I will get out on it today. If not, probably on Friday since we have Invisible Fence puppy training tomorrow.

bblair

The CAAD is aluminum, right? My very limited experience with alum was an old Cannondale. Very responsive but uncomfortable as hell.

bruce19

It is AL. I remember the originals too. Back in the day when they were made in Cannondale, CT. Absolutely, the worst ride ever. This is a totally different animal. Hydro formed tubes. I think that's what they are called. I thnk you'd be surprised at how good they are and 1/2 the price of a CF bike.

Iride01 

Those puppies would be given away if they came between me and my cycling! <grin>

mstateglfr 

Computers and aluminum frame bikes have come a long way since 1985.
I wouldnt look at a current computer and think 'man, my experience with a 1986 Tandy 1000 was that it was slow as hell' because the current computer will obviously be nothing like that nearly 40 year old computer.

bruce19

never

bruce19

I've been thinking about marketing a computer that gives high speed readings. Reality is overrated.

tFUnK

Nice, I do the same exercise - regular route but on different bikes, just to mix it up.

Remind me, does your Photon have the seat mast or does it take a regular seat post?

bruce19

It's a 2016 with Fi'zi:k Carbon, 27.2mm seat post.

https://www.theproscloset.com/produc...specifications

Jughed

My CADD3 vs my ALR5 (Trek) - night and day difference. Yes, there are slight differences in geometry, I ran 23's on the old bike and the ALR came with 25's - but the ride quality is night and day, way past anything a few MM here or there can account for. The CADD3 was stiff and very harsh, you could feel every pedal stroke putting the power right to the wheels - but you could also feel every pebble on the road in your teeth. The ALR is just as stiff, but the ride is much softer.

My next N+1 will probably be a CADD12.

bruce19

Not sure but I might be selling mine. Bought new in 2019. Probably has about 500 miles on it. Aksiums and 105. In addition to the bikes I mentioned I also have a MASI Gran Criterium S (AL w/CF fork and rear triangle) all Dura Ace 10 sp. A friend is using it on his trainer. Oh, and a Colnago World Cup CX for the trails. I gotta stop this.

bruce19

Completed my comparo with a CAAD 12 ride. Before the ride I was pretty sure this would be the bike I might sell. And, this was an aberrant ride unlike the other three rides. On the ride, an older rider joined me and we chatted and we rode gently. Whereas I had been about plus .5 mph everywhere, I ended up slower because of company. At one point he stopped and waved me on. He had to make an adjustment. I wasn't racing but I was quite a bit ahead of him. It took him a couple miles but he caught me..We slow pedaled the one segment and continued our conversation..Turns out he was Tom Phillips. He's 88 and when he was 50 he won his age group at the CT road race championship. He's also the one guy on Strava who sometimes beats my 75+ times. We congratulated each other for being old and still on our bikes and split up.

Now the bike. I was quite surprised. The CAAD 12 might be the best all-arounder in the collection.. Smooth, nimble, quick to accelerate and generally a beautiful bike. I really enjoyed riding and am looking forward to riding it again without distraction. So, I'm back to where I started. I guess we are family.