Senathon

I bought a Poseidon X bike for myself back in November, and was dating. So my girlfriend moved in with her kids and the kids (18 and 21) started to take turns with my new bike. The bike is being more respected than us parents.. lol.

Now they are both riding and maintaining the bike to a point that they are participating in some of the biking groups. My stepson(wants to be a bike mechanic) asked for Park Tools for his birthday this last February. The girl purchased a high quality Jersey Outfit(she is the racer) and saving for a Trek or Specialized Bike($3000)

So I am looking at a new bike for myself and was considering getting the Domain AL 4 Disc since we have light gravel and I been riding with some groups. Does anyone has good experience with this bike? I only been riding since November(past 5-10K runner).

Another question is, does it matter how many gear(for the Domane) you needs to do small town road racing? One rider said 10 would be fine, while another was saying going higher. How many would you recommend for the girl who would be interested in future city racing?

jaxgtr

Those area actually pretty nice bikes. !0 speed is fine for what you are looking to do. However, if you are looking to local racing, you might consider the Cannondale Caad13 105. About the same price, but a much better setup. This would be a better option for local racing in my opinion. The Domane is more relaxed and great for distance. I have a Domane and I love the thing, but I dont think I would use it for racing, not that your couldn't, I just think there are better options.

Now, with that said, if you believe you are going to go full bore and want to upgrade quickly, I would check your local used bike market, prices are dropping in the used market these day compared to what it was a year ago, so you might be able to find a higher end bike for about the same price.

bike_tom

You should probably think about what size (width) tires you will want to run for the two use cases you mentioned: light gravel vs city racing.
The Domane AL series comes with 32 mm tires and Trek specs it to go up to 35 - might be able to push it to 38.
A racier bike like the CAAD13 or Trek Emonda ALR comes with 25mm tires. With either of those you could be limited to as little as 28mm. You may find that too narrow for comfort on even light gravel.

Just something to consider. Good luck with your search.

mstateglfr 

If you want to race, a Domane is not ideal, though also not horrible- it will likely be more bike than you need for a long time.
A 2x10 drivetrain will be fine for you to toe the line and get blown away in a road race. The drivetrain really doesnt matter, quite honestly. You could have the highest level 2x12 DuraAce drivetrain and get blown away too. The difference between 2x10 Tiagra and 2x12 Ultegra is not even a couple pounds, if I remember correctly. That may sound like a lot, but on flat road the weight difference doesnt matter a bit and on climbs I doubt the 2# is what would hold you back(vs technique and conditioning).
Bluntly put- spending $90 and changing the stock wire bead tires on the Domane AL 4 to something lighter and faster rolling, like Continental GP4k tires, will net you faster speed over 40mi of riding than the weight difference between Tiagra and Ultegra components...but Ultegra is really nice, for what its worth.

If 95% of your riding will be recreational and hit bad roads or light gravel, I would go with the Domane for sure. Slap some fast rolling 38mm tires on it and it would be very capable for almost all of your riding. The few times you do choose to race then, swap tires for some fast rolling 28mm tires. Thats hardly a difficult thing to do a couple times a year for racing.

livedarklions

No opinion on the bike you should buy, but just wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed the bicycle "abduction" story.

t2p

I would lean toward 11 speed

105 or Ultegra ... ( R7000 or R8000 or whatever ) ... or whatever gravel equivalent if you go that way ... ? ... GRX800 or whatever

for your next bike or their bikes

(I’m currently setting up a bike with 10 speed new/take-off stuff - but would not recommend it ... I did it because of the rear hub (limit) and access to the parts)

tomato coupe

Girlfriend moves in with her 18 and 21 year-old kids?

LarrySellerz

Its her bike now hopefully it fits, that’s more Important than number of gears

Senathon

We had her checked by one of the female riders in the local bike group and she is the same height and leg length for the bike.

mstateglfr 

We pulled an 18yo girl into our family last summer- she is at college right now, but doesnt live in the dorm 365 of the year. Funny enough, she has her own road bike, but 'stole' one from our garage for a day while her road bike was out of commission a couple weeks ago due to me tearing it down for a full rebuild.
Some neighbors of mine have a 23yo daughter living at home- she is at a local med school and living at home to save money.
I know 6 kids(I guess adults) that graduated HS last spring and are at a local community college while living at home.

Perhaps they are at college. Perhaps they are at community college. Perhaps they are working and saving up for their own places. Perhaps they are lazy and will mooch for years to come.
Who knows- that was perhaps the least important part of the story.

05 fuji

pretty much off topic and served no purpose IMO

tomato coupe

That’s my only point - they’re adults, not kids.

tomato coupe

Relax.

mstateglfr 

Is '18 and 21 year old adult children' really any different from '18 and 21 year old kids'?
On a related note- at those ages, while they are legally adults, I have found that very few are actually fully functioning adults. Most are in a transitional stage from 'kid' to 'adult' and still benefit from parenting, only a different form than when they were 8. Its more advice and suggestions, plus guidance when asked.

05 fuji

Sorry, didn’t know you were just being the grammar police - carry on!

biker128pedal

Not sure about the gf but sounds like her Kids are keepers.

Eric F 

My kids will always be my kids. Currently mine are 18 and 23, and the older one has a kid of her own.

squirtdad

just for reference, my understanding is the shimano hg800 11 speed cassette will fit on a 10 speed hub, but have not personally done it https://bike.shimano.com/en-EU/produ...-HG800-11.html

livedarklions

Judging from the tone of the OP, he likes having them there. He's obviously enthusiastic about helping them with the bike stuff, and for what it's worth, I think that's pretty cool.

livedarklions

Weird way to phrase it then. Pretty sure everyone thought you were implying more.

What's wrong with "kids" in this context? It's a lot easier than typing "son and daughter", and we all know what OP meant.

Frank72

I think you will like the Domain AL4 quite a bit. In 2018 I bought an Emonda Al4. It's light, fits me good and it was not too racy as I sit fairly upright on it. I upgraded the bike quite a bit and still really like the ride.

t2p

yes - I believe this is the case - at least according to some docs and discussion / threads I’ve found

however - there might be a few variables in play - (?) - including hub (Shimano vs non-Shimano), model and type of cassette (series vs non-series, road vs off-road / size of large cog), rear wheel dish (?) - so I went with what I thought would work