condor bike purchase advice please

samsbike

fter my earlier thread about getting fitted to my bike, I went into condor to see how a 58 would fit.
Lo and behold, its a lot better with a much smaller drop. Apparently I have long legs and a short torso.

The fratello was OK with a 90mm stem and the World Series with a 100mm stem. The advantage of the latter is that it has a taller seat tube and shorter headtube

I just about managed to keep my credit card in my wallet, upon the offer of a world series bike for around £1200, depending on final spec. This is with the Campag veloce (which I am not sure how good or bad it is). However their brochure says race ready and the steel is of indeterminate quality.

So does anyone have any experience of this bike, worth buying etc.

The biggest downside to me is the lack of mudguard fittings as I use the bike to commute with and my current ride the genesis equilibrium has the provision for full length proper mudguards.

thanks for any advice.

daviesee

The only advice I can give is that the Fratello takes full mudguards over 25mm tyres.

samsbike

daviesee wrote:

The only advice I can give is that the Fratello takes full mudguards over 25mm tyres.

I saw that bike in orange and its very nice.

Steve236

Sam - weren't you planning on getting a bigger Genesis - what changed your mind in going for a Condor? I've been going backwards and forwards between a Condor and an Equilibrium for ages now (more the Acciaio than the Fratello as I don't intend to commute so guard eyelets nice but secondary to a speedy ride). I've been in Condor to check out the above but didn't see a world series - from their website it doesn't look like a commuter bike though.

danmitch

Hi - I think going without proper mudguards for a commuting bike is too big of a compromise. Condor make lovely bikes and gae be excellent service, I am delighted with my Acciaio but I use another bike for commuting on. The Genesis Equilibrium (which I have ridden) and the Fratello (which I haven't) would in my opinion make a far better "fast commuter" than a World Series / Acciaio.

If you want the bars lower (per your reference to shorter headtube being an advantage) would it be worth trying a 55cm frame for fit with a 110 / 120mm stem, which is certainly not overly long for a frame of that size? I have a 120mm stem on my 55cm Acciaio and run a 110mm stem on my 23" touring framed commuter - both fit me perfectly.

(by the way @Steve 236 I looked at and rode the Equilibrium before I built my Acciaio - they are quite different bikes in my opinion, both lovely though!)

Sevenfold

I have a Fratello - absolutely love it! I went with Sram Rival so wheels are interchangeable (works really well with with nice light wheels) & very comfortable on long rides. I bought it to comute to work but got made redundant today - will give me more time to ride!!

samsbike

In response to the questions.

I really like my equilibrium but am struggling with getting the fit right. I don't know if its the height and the reach.

The only advantage of going to Condor is getting a bike fit with the purchase and that I can move my kit from the Genesis to the condor and then sell the genesis frame. I have been struggling for 9 months to get my bike to fit me and its just not working. Also the cost of a new genesis frame and fork is around £500, if not more, and the condor comes in at £600, which with the after sales and bike fit makes it better value.

Danmitch, you are right I cannot live with mudguards so will pass on the world series.

Ironically I managed to sit on a 58 equilibirum and rode a Jamis Endura in a 56 and I think my problem, maybe solved by a longer steerer tube (its currently been cut at around 21cm). So in light of fiscal sanity I am going to sell the current fork and buy one that has a longer steerer tube, so I can get the 5cm of stack which should raise the bars to the same level as the Jamis.

The 58 isn't that much higher (1 cm ish) I thought it would be more like 4cm, which would make a substantial difference.

Steve, I think the world series is their limited edition run of frames to celebrate 80 years. I think the Fratello is better as an all rounder. To be honest if you are not going to commute, you may want to investigate that option.

Still confused as ever.

sam

Steve236

Have you seen that there's a 58cm Fratello on the sale section of the Condor website for £1200?

samsbike

Cheers Steve but it's more than I want to spend

northpole

If you cannot fit full rigid mudguards, you could consider the Crudguards. I have had a pair of them on my bike for the best part of two years and they are still performing well. They do rattle a bit, but they keep you much drier when the roads are wet.

The Campag Veloce sits roughly alonside Shimano's 105 - I have considered both of these as the traditional entry level to both companies' best groupsets. Both should be great quality - just make sure you are happy with the Campag lever actions compared to Shimano. I prefer the Campag, but it's a bit of a marmite subject.

Happy hunting!

Peter

Steve236

That's my problem with Condor (the prices). I've been lusting after the Acciaio for months but now I'm ready to actually buy a bike I just can't justify the cost of even the minimum build (around £1600) when there are so many great, sub-£1000 Alu bikes to be had. Unless something good second hand appears soon its time to give up on the idea of a light, modern steel bike!

samsbike

Get the equilibrium. But to be honest last year's cannondale synapse looks like a blinding deal. Given their history with aluminum, cant ho wrong with a dale.

styxd

I really like my equilibrium but am struggling with getting the fit right. I don't know if its the height and the reach.

What are you struggling with specifically? What are your "vital stats"?

samsbike

Height 180.5 cm

Pubic bone height 90 cm ( which kind of matches with the Condor recommendedseat height of 79cm, measured from the BB and parallel to seat tube). Although oddly I find it more comfortable a few cm lower.

When riding I just barely comfortable on the flats and cannotride the hoods for long. There is no way I can sustain the drops. I have bought my reach back and lucky it fits with the size condor recommended, although I think I would like 5 mm shorter at 95 mm.

I think the seat fore aft is better, it was too far back before. So the only thing left is height.

I think my primary reservation against buying a new bike is that I am just not sure it's going to solve the problem.


Sam