Road bikes evolution
#1
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Road bikes evolution
I was forced to switch from a very good 2015 road bike (SRAM Force mechanical, rim brakes) to a very good 2023 bike (Rival AXS, disk brakes).
Many will shout at me, but I feel like…
I have just swapped a technically very good bike for another technically very good bike, with the penalties of 15% increase in bike weight and 65% increase of price (say half of it coming from inflation). Better braking performance in wet or mud conditions is useless since, like many others, I am not a "pro" and I carefully avoid riding in such conditions.
Many will shout at me, but I feel like…
I have just swapped a technically very good bike for another technically very good bike, with the penalties of 15% increase in bike weight and 65% increase of price (say half of it coming from inflation). Better braking performance in wet or mud conditions is useless since, like many others, I am not a "pro" and I carefully avoid riding in such conditions.
Last edited by Redbullet; 04-14-23 at 03:51 PM.
#2
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i do agree with you and have bought a new bike road bike that has E-Shifting and disc brakes and its a fatty (Scott Addict 10 with Rival AXS that weights over 19lbs omg lol) and was wondering if I made a huge mistake.
but in the end I do love that with disc brakes you can put in a lot wider tires, mine came stock with 32c, braking with disc brakes (especially hydraulic disc brakes) is a lot smoother. the bike is the most comfortable road bike i've ridden/owned and I've done the retro steel with sram red that was so comfortable. i also did the super 14lbs light weight racing bike (van dessel rivet with sram red) that was unforgivingly stiff but fast and light and surprisingly not that expensive for that weight, carbon, and groupset (i spent well under 4k). Its probably mainly do to the 32c tires and i can even fit bigger 35-38c tires and turn the bike into a capable lighter gravel bike. hell even with the 32c tires I did some pretty gnarly semi-mountain trail riding just to see if it works and its good.
a lot of the modern endurance bikes also have mounts for accessory bags and fender mounts (i bought a official fender mount kit from scott thats super clean looking).
i'm contemplating spending $$$$ for carbon wheels/carbon cockpit/SRAM Red Cranks Groupt eventually to get it into that 15-16lbs range, but i actually don't care that the bike is over 19lbs so far I love riding it. The AXS shifting, Garmin Varia, Cadence APP (that tracks power meter and has varia) have made riding super fun and actually safer and mechanical stuff like no cables for shifting is even simpler.
i love this bike with all the newer stuff, I don't love its heavier and somewhat more expensive but everything is (groceries, eggs, gas, concert tickets, houses, etc).
the tech will catch up again and lower in price over time as well as get lighter for cheaper eventually.
but in the end I do love that with disc brakes you can put in a lot wider tires, mine came stock with 32c, braking with disc brakes (especially hydraulic disc brakes) is a lot smoother. the bike is the most comfortable road bike i've ridden/owned and I've done the retro steel with sram red that was so comfortable. i also did the super 14lbs light weight racing bike (van dessel rivet with sram red) that was unforgivingly stiff but fast and light and surprisingly not that expensive for that weight, carbon, and groupset (i spent well under 4k). Its probably mainly do to the 32c tires and i can even fit bigger 35-38c tires and turn the bike into a capable lighter gravel bike. hell even with the 32c tires I did some pretty gnarly semi-mountain trail riding just to see if it works and its good.
a lot of the modern endurance bikes also have mounts for accessory bags and fender mounts (i bought a official fender mount kit from scott thats super clean looking).
i'm contemplating spending $$$$ for carbon wheels/carbon cockpit/SRAM Red Cranks Groupt eventually to get it into that 15-16lbs range, but i actually don't care that the bike is over 19lbs so far I love riding it. The AXS shifting, Garmin Varia, Cadence APP (that tracks power meter and has varia) have made riding super fun and actually safer and mechanical stuff like no cables for shifting is even simpler.
i love this bike with all the newer stuff, I don't love its heavier and somewhat more expensive but everything is (groceries, eggs, gas, concert tickets, houses, etc).
the tech will catch up again and lower in price over time as well as get lighter for cheaper eventually.
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I was forced to switch from a very good 2015 road bike (SRAM Force mechanical, rim brakes) to a very good 2023 bike (Rival AXS, disk brakes).
Many will shout at me, but I feel like…
I have just swapped a technically very good bike for another technically very good bike, with the penalties of 15% increase in bike weight and 65% increase of price (say half of it coming from inflation). Better braking performance in wet or mud conditions is useless since, like many others, I am not a "pro" and I carefully avoid riding in such conditions.
Many will shout at me, but I feel like…
I have just swapped a technically very good bike for another technically very good bike, with the penalties of 15% increase in bike weight and 65% increase of price (say half of it coming from inflation). Better braking performance in wet or mud conditions is useless since, like many others, I am not a "pro" and I carefully avoid riding in such conditions.
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Is better braking performance every really useless?
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You also swapped an occasional need to charge batteries for the occasional need to swap shift cables. I find charging a lot easier to deal with.
#7
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I have a Topstone with 105 discs, as well as a Chinese carbon with 105 rims brakes. I pretty much never ride in the rain (unless I accidentally get caught out) and avoid wet roads. There is functionally no difference between the 2 braking systems in good conditions. The singularly different advantage to a disc equipped bike is I can run much wider tires, up to 44mm, where as I would never be able to get a tire that large past a set of rim brakes. So discs are great for gravel and endurance bikes.
Last edited by Steve B.; 04-15-23 at 07:53 AM.
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#10
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I was forced to switch from a very good 2015 road bike (SRAM Force mechanical, rim brakes) to a very good 2023 bike (Rival AXS, disk brakes).
Many will shout at me, but I feel like…
I have just swapped a technically very good bike for another technically very good bike, with the penalties of 15% increase in bike weight and 65% increase of price (say half of it coming from inflation). Better braking performance in wet or mud conditions is useless since, like many others, I am not a "pro" and I carefully avoid riding in such conditions.
Many will shout at me, but I feel like…
I have just swapped a technically very good bike for another technically very good bike, with the penalties of 15% increase in bike weight and 65% increase of price (say half of it coming from inflation). Better braking performance in wet or mud conditions is useless since, like many others, I am not a "pro" and I carefully avoid riding in such conditions.
#12
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#13
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I heard about better performance of disk brakes, but my previous sram force rim brakes had very similar performance. Maybe that is to be expected, since pros had no problems to abuse rim brakes for decades, probably 5 times harder than myself.
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Evolution or devolution? You decide.
#15
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in 2023 i weigh 153lbs on this 12spd sram electronic rival hydraulic disc brake bike that weighs 19.5lbs.
19lbs 2022 Scott Addict 10 for me please, thank you!
Last edited by runningDoc; 04-15-23 at 05:24 AM.
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#16
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I got now 7.7-7.8 kg from the start with less than 4000 EUR, but I clearly feel the difference compared with the old 6.65 kg.
Last edited by Redbullet; 04-15-23 at 02:45 PM.
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#17
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#18
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I'm not sure you can. If you further spend around 2000 EUR, you might obtain around 500 g weight reduction, which will reduce your actual 19.29 lbs (8.75 kg) to 18.19 lbs (8.25 kg). Does this worth the effort?
I am pessimistic about that. I spent lots of hours to find a decent lightweight road bike and I unterstood that the norm for all the providers during the last years was to continuously increase bike weight. I could find a bike below 7 kg in 2015 with 2300-2500 EUR. Now I should have spent 8000+ EUR for such lightweight – insane amount for just a bike. I think they will never go back to lightweight for casual riders.
I got now 7.7-7.8 kg from the start with less than 4000 EUR, but I clearly feel the difference compared with the old 6.65 kg.
I am pessimistic about that. I spent lots of hours to find a decent lightweight road bike and I unterstood that the norm for all the providers during the last years was to continuously increase bike weight. I could find a bike below 7 kg in 2015 with 2300-2500 EUR. Now I should have spent 8000+ EUR for such lightweight – insane amount for just a bike. I think they will never go back to lightweight for casual riders.
I got now 7.7-7.8 kg from the start with less than 4000 EUR, but I clearly feel the difference compared with the old 6.65 kg.
upgrade to wheels saves about 500g/1lb. integrated cockpit saves 250-300g. my seat is already 100g lighter. tubless setup another 150g. sram red crankset alone is 400-500g savings. i'm already in the 16lb range but will have to spend a ton.
everything gets cheaper eventually. even this stuff does too. I also bought a older 2019 scott addict 10 for $1000 used before this one and it has hydraulic disc brakes, 32c tires and 11sp group that sold for $3500 brand new. its all relative.
the only reason i spent $3700 on this is because it was new and I wanted a new bike again. i could scour the craigslist/ebay and probably get a comparable cervelo that was $5-6k new for maybe 4k or lower. its variable arguing about pricing when you compare new bikes from a bike shop to a used bike from ebay/craigslist. I know how to shop for both.
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Has the OP explained why he was forced to switch yet?
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At 19lbs if seems like there isn't much effort to get the weight down, my cyclocross bike 2x12 with road tires is 19.5 while my daughter's with road tires and 1x12 is 18.75lb, both are steel frames, seems like just a swap to aluminum or carbon frames would drop a lb with no real effort. A real effort to shave weight wouldn't take much, some lightbicycle carbon rims with lighter spokes and hubs could get mine into the sub18lb range with a little effort.
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The strange thing is that none of this really matters to me. I am fine with rim or disk brakes. I have no problem with electronic shifting. Do I need it? No. What matters to me is riding for fitness and enjoyment of the adventure.
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#22
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“Progress.”
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My complaint (and OP’s too I believe) is that for a mid or better tier groupset, going forward, we will HAVE to get disc brake and electric shifting, at a much higher price point. It’s unfortunate that the older technology may be relegated to entry level lower quality tier groupsets.
“Progress.”
“Progress.”
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At 19lbs if seems like there isn't much effort to get the weight down, my cyclocross bike 2x12 with road tires is 19.5 while my daughter's with road tires and 1x12 is 18.75lb, both are steel frames, seems like just a swap to aluminum or carbon frames would drop a lb with no real effort. A real effort to shave weight wouldn't take much, some lightbicycle carbon rims with lighter spokes and hubs could get mine into the sub18lb range with a little effort.
...I'm assuming this is a production frame.
...I'm also assuming it's a carbon fork and not steel fork, plus a smaller size?
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