Aero frame vs endurance frame...

bjornhughes

I'm looking to upgrade my bike and my budget is around £2K. The primary use for the bike will be training and racing in duathlon / triathlon but as yet I'm not sure on preferred distance - I may plan for a half iron towards the end of next season. I am not racing in the elite groups so drafting is not permitted in most of the events I enter. It is likely I will use the bike for some other cycling events and possibly even the occasional commute. I live in north London so training rides are normally around here or at least start here and head out towards Brighton, Milton Keynes, into Surrey or Essex hence I've been looking at a road bike and not a TT.

I've narrowed it down to the Boardman Elite Air 9.0 (2014 spec) http://www.boardmanbikes.com/road/air90.html

vs

Cannondale Synapse Carbon 105 5 (2014 edition) http://www.cannondale.com/fin/2014/bike ... rbon-5-105

Which would be best suited to my intended use?

lawrences

*the following post may not be helpful*

Felt ar4 or 5 (2014 or 2015). You just flip the seatpost and it's a tt bike.

bjornhughes

;0) Nice bike.... so from your perspective it would be an aero frame and the argument would be Air vs AR4...

lawrences

If you go with the aero option then yes. But keep an open mind there are loads of good bikes being announced in the next few weeks.

Personally I don't ever see endurance as an option. Wheelset and tyre choice affects comfort so much more than a frame it's silly to buy something solely on the back of it having a comfortable ride. That said if you need to train through the winter on it an aero frame will be a pain as getting guards on them proves tricky.

smoggysteve

If your main intention is Racing duathlon and triathlon then I would take the aero bike every time. The endurance bike would be too "Sit up and beg" for a decent aero position. They are designed for long distances on difficult roads. If you fancy racing over cobbles then fine. For commuting the endurance bike would make more sense but you would lose out in the performance for racing.

Another alternative would be a Canyon aeroad cx Ultegra

http://www.canyon.com/_en/roadbikes/bike.html?b=10106#tab-reiter2

marcusjb

lawrences wrote:

Personally I don't ever see endurance as an option. Wheelset and tyre choice affects comfort so much more than a frame it's silly to buy something solely on the back of it having a comfortable ride.

Whilst I agree with the sentiment that wheels/tyres make the biggest difference to comfort, where 'endurance' bikes excel is having the clearances to give more options in wheels/tyres.

thegreatdivide

http://www.westbrookcycles.co.uk/scott- ... tAodoU0Ang

And put the £500 left towards some wheels.

bjornhughes

Thanks again all, your suggestions have led me to explore some similar threads in the forum...
It seems this is a much debated topic but all suggestions here are for aero alternatives to the Air so it seems like aero-road is winning out over endurance-race atm.

My thoughts were that power transfer, handling and overall weight saving might outperform the aero benefits....
The Synapse is a little bit more upright in terms of seated position with a stack height around 4cm higher than most of the aero bikes I've looked at / suggested here...

smoggysteve

bjornhughes wrote:

My thoughts were that power transfer, handling and overall weight saving might outperform the aero benefits...

This depends on what you want to use it for. If triathlon or TT is your aim then weight is not as important as aerodynamic drag. You dont really do much climbing or riding on poor surfaces in tri or TT so the endurance qualities are negligible.

Grill

bjornhughes wrote:

Thanks again all, your suggestions have led me to explore some similar threads in the forum...
It seems this is a much debated topic but all suggestions here are for aero alternatives to the Air so it seems like aero-road is winning out over endurance-race atm.

My thoughts were that power transfer, handling and overall weight saving might outperform the aero benefits....
The Synapse is a little bit more upright in terms of seated position with a stack height around 4cm higher than most of the aero bikes I've looked at / suggested here...

Power transfer depends on stiffness (mainly BB). Most aero frames are stiffer than their typical road counterparts. Weight savings won't make a lick of difference considering there's only about 100g in it. Handling really depends on geometry and stiffness. So what I'm saying is that it doesn't matter although if you're doing duathlons and tris then an aero frame makes a whole lot more sense (and the AR4 is a good shout).

bjornhughes

Thanks again all, so first decision is made. I'm going Aero!
Next decision is which aero.... in no particular order the line up is now

Boardman Air 9.0
Felt AR4
Canyon CF 7.0
Scott Foil

@thegreatdivide that Scott Foil looks like a great deal, but I've not built up a bike from the ground before, only upgraded bits and it looks like there is more than just wheels to add here and I'd end up popping my 2K budget for sure... plus they don't have my size atm (56cm).

Grill

The Foil is the best deal and is a fantastic frame (I've had 2). Best bike for your purposes is the Felt AR4/5.

smoggysteve

You aint biased towards the Scott at all are you Grill ;-)

Grill

I actually just sold my other Foil so down to the Plasma (still piecing together the CX and haven't ridden the Scale in 2 years). I'll buy an Addict SL when Westbrook gets them cheap. :P

meanredspider

Well, if it makes any difference at all, I have an aero bike (Scott Foil HMX team issue with Di2 and RS80 C50 wheels) and an out-and-out endurance bike (Volagi Liscio with disc brakes and Di2). Similar price bikes. The Volagi has some "aero" features (seatpost etc) but tall head tube etc. In real terms, there's absolutely no difference in the performance of the two bikes. I have them (now) set up very differently for the two countries I run them in: the Volagi with a compact and wide cassette for the Highlands and the Foil with a standard double and close ratio cassette and Tri bars for the open flat areas of NL. If I had to choose only one bike, it would be the Volagi.