£2500 Road bike - comfort for long charity rides, not races

Rich_H

I'd really appreciate some advice.

A female colleague of mine rides 3 or 4 charity rides a year, ranging from one dayers to 5 dayers. This year she is doing a 4 day ride in France, that will include "mont ventoux" (sp?). She currently does all of these on a 29er mountain bike, which weighs around 12-13kgs. As she has enjoyed the last few years riding she now wants a decent road bike and has an upper limit of £2500. Comfort for long days in the saddle is far more important than any other attribute. Neither of us know much about bikes, so we popped into the local indy shop and he suggested the 'Argon 18 Krypton', which he said he could adjust/swap out parts to be a better fit (shorter stem amongst other things) as well as improve it for the riding described (including upgrading the wheels/cassette).

Another colleague suggested the Bianchi Intenso. And he also started talking about things like compact something or other that completely lost us, that she would benefit from in France.

I'll be honest, we're a bit overwhelmed, so any help and advice at this point would be appreciated. The links to the bikes suggested are below, in case that helps. Thanks in advance.

http://www.bikeradar.com/road/gear/cate ... -14-48287/
http://www.bikeradar.com/road/gear/cate ... -14-48144/

arlowood

Two options that are reputed to be designed for comfort are the Trek Domane and Specialized Tarmac

With her budget she could consider this :-

http://www.pedalon.co.uk/acatalog/trek-domane-5-2.html


or this:-

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/spe ... e-ec053055

markynulty

Comfort for long days in the saddle is far more important than any other attribute.

With that in mind and her fairly large budget, I would be looking at a custom Reynolds frame. Steel can be very comfy and gives the ability to build the 'perfect' frame for both rider and requirements. Give someone like Rourke a call...

http://www.rourke.biz/custom_framesets.php

meanredspider

Rather than worry too much about frame materials, choose something that will take larger tyres (28c or larger) then you can run lower pressures and ride in comfort. Other than that, choose something with a tall headtube (that's the part of the frame that the front fork/steerer goes through) as it will lead to a more upright riding position.

For a bit of guidance, take a look at the www.volagi.com website. Volagi have always specialised in long distance bikes and you'll find lots of features (large tyres, tall headtubes, longbow seat stays, disc brakes etc) that make the bikes ideal for distance riding. The Volagi guys do lots of double-centuries (200 miles)

markhewitt1978

For that budget I would have no worries about buying a Trek Domane 5.2. Unmatched in terms of comfort in the saddle due to the flexi seat post arrangement.

Calpol

arlowood wrote:

Two options that are reputed to be designed for comfort are the Trek Domane and Specialized Tarmac

With her budget she could consider this :-

http://www.pedalon.co.uk/acatalog/trek-domane-5-2.html


or this:-

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/spe ... e-ec053055

Tarmac ? Did you mean Roubaix?

meanredspider

markhewitt1978 wrote:

For that budget I would have no worries about buying a Trek Domane 5.2. Unmatched in terms of comfort in the saddle due to the flexi seat post arrangement.

Apart from the flexi seat post, I've never thought of the Domane as a particularly long-distance bike - more a rough-surface bike. The geo isn't particularly relaxed (nor aggressive). A friend and I were comparing my Volagi with his Domane and concluded the Volagi was the better all-day bike. The "Longbow" seat stay arrangement is designed to provide vertical give whilst maintaining lateral stiffness similar to the Domane's flex.

To the OP - re-reading your post, it seems that the dealer was looking to swap out a lot of parts. If you get to that point, you may well be better off building up from a frame or buying from somewhere that allows you to configure your bike. Changing a stem is fine and normal but, if the list gets too long, then it's probably the wrong bike.

She may also want to consider something that takes mudguards depending upon when she is likely to ride.

diamonddog

Canyon Endurace CF

look565wong

Rich, sent you a PM!

sloppyschleckonds

Rich_H wrote:

Neither of us know much about bikes, so we popped into the local indy shop and he suggested the 'Argon 18 Krypton', which he said he could adjust/swap out parts to be a better fit (shorter stem amongst other things) as well as improve it for the riding described (including upgrading the wheels/cassette).

It sounds like you've found a good bike shop. That frameset is around a £1000, so with a decent groupset, wheels and all clothing and accessories you'll need there should be change from £2500.

arlowood

Calpol wrote:

arlowood wrote:

Two options that are reputed to be designed for comfort are the Trek Domane and Specialized Tarmac

With her budget she could consider this :-

http://www.pedalon.co.uk/acatalog/trek-domane-5-2.html


or this:-

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/spe ... e-ec053055

Tarmac ? Did you mean Roubaix?

Yes -oops. Should have been Roubaix - possibly SL4 expert?

jgsi

I always like to promote local businesses... the Rourkie, well you'll probably be on a 12 month waiting list
however, just up the road ...
http://www.dolan-bikes.com/dolan-preffi ... -bike.html

you can choose some sweet options to get you riding ventoux serious... and its almost touring ready.

but hey go ahead ... stick with something that is still pretty focussed like the Argon.

bmxboy10

You are unlikely to listen to me but you really don't need to spend anywhere near £2.5k.

This will be all you need and is very comfortable indeed. Buy this with a nice set of handbuilt wheels from UGO and your all set.

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/cinelli-saetta-105-2013/

bobmcstuff

Giant Defy Advanced Pro 1 2015? On budget and would seem to fit the bill.

mercia_man

Sounds to me you have a good local indy bike shop. This is a big advantage for someone with little knowledge of road bikes. Much better for a novice than saving some money and buying blind from a mail order outlet with zero advice and little or difficult redress and after-service.

My belief is that a proper fitting bike is much more important for comfortable long distance cycling than fancy frame shapes and seatposts. And that's what your colleague will be able to get at a proper bike shop. If she feels it's not quite right first time, she can go back to get it sorted so that it feels perfect. Wider tyres such as 25 or 28mm will also boost comfort. A good bike shop will also let her try various saddles to see which suits her best.

Low gearing will be essential. What would appear to be low enough gears will feel too high at the end of a long day in the saddle. Your colleague is used to a mountain bike with low gears, probably with a triple chainset. A road bike's bottom gear will seem very high in comparison, even with the lighter weight of the new bike. You say one of her rides will be up Ventoux. A typical road endurance bike will have a compact chainset of 50/34 and cassette of 11-28. The bottom gear with this set-up will be too high for a relatively inexperienced woman to ride up Ventoux without a real struggle. Many men would find it tough to ride up Ventoux on this gearing. I would suggest getting that Argon fitted with an 11-32 cassette to go with a compact chainset. Another possibility to achieve even lower gearing and a better spread of gears would be a triple, although they are hard to find as standard on road bikes.

tonyf34

Deffo get a triple, even with a 32 tooth sprocket you could end up needing lower gears & if you're struggling there's nothing worse than running out of gears!
With that budget easy to swap out a double for a triple set up (in fact a Stronglight impact triple gives you every variable you could want), buy yourself some decent wheels.
As per another poster, buying a frame that will accept wider tyres (say around 28mm) will help with comfort.

cougie

Don't people tire of giving money to her to do her hobby ? Once or twice you can do it - but four of five times a year ?

Anyhoo - how much riding is there ? Some charity rides are only 50 miles per day to cater for all levels.

I agree on 2500 being a bit unnecessary. She'd be better off getting a winter bike with full guards to get in the training now and a lighter bike with a triple for the summer. The rest she could give to the charities ?

HertsG

markhewitt1978 wrote:

For that budget I would have no worries about buying a Trek Domane 5.2. Unmatched in terms of comfort in the saddle due to the flexi seat post arrangement.

+ 1

Anonymous

cougie wrote:

Don't people tire of giving money to her to do her hobby ? Once or twice you can do it - but four of five times a year ?

Anyhoo - how much riding is there ? Some charity rides are only 50 miles per day to cater for all levels.

I agree on 2500 being a bit unnecessary. She'd be better off getting a winter bike with full guards to get in the training now and a lighter bike with a triple for the summer. The rest she could give to the charities ?

I was wondering the same thing, and had similar thoughts about going from an MTB to a high spec road bike.

The one thing the money will buy that would be an advantage is lightness though.
Its still going to be much lighter than the MTB though so I would say spending £1500 now and upgrading when you have a better idea of what you like/need is more sensible.
I would not spend £2500 on a bike if i did not know simple things like if a compact or triple were best.

Could you not hire/borrow one to see how you find it? At least you would have something to go on rather than asking a bunch of guys that know little about you/the rides you are doing other than your inexperience of road bikes.
Ride a more conventional road bike before you are convinced that you 'need' a comfy triple.

Rich_H

Thanks all, thats much appreciated.

As some have said, she definitely wants to buy from a local bikeshop, for set-up and ongoing servicing as well as supporting local business. The guys we spoke to came recommended and talked about a 'fitting/set-up' session one evening, and they said that the Argon comes with an adjustable head-tube which would help. When he talked about swapping parts out, as an example he said the 'standard' wheels had a value of £160, so he'd take that off the cost of the replacement set (ones he pointed out were £450 I think). He said he'd do this across the piece, so I will ask about a triple up front and large sprocket (32) rear cassette. I've just checked Argons site and it will take a 28 tyre, so thats good too.

My colleague has never asked anyone for sponsorship, as you guys say, this is her hobby and she doesn't expect anyone else to foot the bill, she just likes combining fitness, camaraderie, charity & holiday into one package. I don't know where £2.5k came from, I suspect its what she can afford and doesn't want to spend less this year and then upgrade in the future, she's more one-and-done in that respect (now that she's 'into' it). And the Argon is red and black, which is important to her(!) and in stock in the local store.

Thanks again for all the input. We will go back in next week and have a more informed conversation, including about asking about cheaper options and whats the advantage of the Argon (headset was definitely one) and I will let you know what she decides. They had some Lapierres in, and I notice no-one mentioned them, so that was interesting.

Thanks again, very helpful.

andrewthomas197

Canyon Endurace, the comfiest bike I have ridden and amazing value for money.

andrewthomas197

Canyon Endurace, the comfiest bike I have ridden and amazing value for money.