Canyon Aeroad to Racy for me?

Jezuki

Hi All - I'm hoping for some advice and experience, I've got a Canyon Aeroad CF SLX 8.0 on order but I'm concerned it may be too aggressive / racy for me. I'm coming from a Trek Domane 4.5 which is quite an upright position and comfortable but I want to make the next step. I wouldn't say I'm the most flexible rider, I ride with a couple of clubs av 18 - 20 mph over 50 miles for club rides and have a bit of shoulder ache at the end but nothing painful. The Canyon has a bigger drop to the handlebars and the reach is longer meaning I will be in a more aggressive position but is this too much and will I be uncomfortable? Thanks for any advice.

gweeds

The Aeroad is a pretty low bike, and the one you're on is fairly tall, certainly in comparison to the Canyon.

What are you looking for from a bike? The Ultimate CF might be a better compromise.

diamonddog

^^This, the CF SL or the CF SlX

DKay

What size frame Domane are you riding and how many spacers do you currently have under your stem? Lots of other questions, but probably easier to just post a pic of your current bike and how it's set up.

Jezuki

Hi - I'm riding a 56" Domane with 3 spacers, I'll try and load a picture here. I want to use my next bike for fast club rides of av 50 miles and around 5 Sportives a year of around 100 miles.
This current setup of my Domane was after a Retul fit.

gweeds

Did they add spacers? That's a pretty high front end. The Aeroad is LOW.

holiver

The obvious solution to me is to remove the spacers on the Domane to try a lower position. Even still, as Gweeds says the Aeroroad is LOW and probably longer than what you currently have for the same size.

gweeds

holiver wrote:

The obvious solution to me is to remove the spacers on the Domane to try a lower position. Even still, as Gweeds says the Aeroroad is LOW and probably longer than what you currently have for the same size.

Good call.

That even makes me wonder if the Domane is a size too big.....

Jezuki

Yes that makes sense, let me try that, I think if I take out the 3 spacers then I'll be at about the level of the Canyon so lets see if I can handle it, seems like quite a drop! BTW can't get the image of my bike small enough to load onto this site.

gweeds

What size frame are you on at the moment?

on-yer-bike

If you had a good bike fit what is the point in throwing all that info to the wind and buying a bike that cant give you that recommended position? No point in buying an aero frame at the best of times yet alone when you'll probably have to sit too upright on it. You'll ride faster if you are comfortable.

gweeds

And if you had Retul you should:

a) Know the stack and reach that works for you

and

b) be able to call them with the planned bike and see if it'll fit you based on the fit they did

gaffer_slow

....

mamba80

gaffer_slow wrote:

Sadly the Aeroad, isnt a good fit for you -
and is a lot of money to make a mistake on.

Basically it is way too long and way too low.
Compare these Stack and Reach measurements.

Domane (56)
STACK - 59.1
REACH - 37.7

+ ?? how high is the headset/cone shaped spacer? + how high is the stem raise from this point by spacers ??

SL/SLX (Medium/56) -

STACK - 560
REACH - 383

+ 16mm Headset + 25mm spacers

Endurace (Medium/56)

STACK - 571
REACH - 378

+16mm Headset + 25mm Spacers

Aeroad (Medium/56)

STACK - 551
REACH - 397

Comparing these, and Aeroroad is miles away from your Domane.

You say you have had a Retul fit - which suggested your fit is reliable - but fit can (and should with work) change over time - Mobility/flexibilty of hamstrings, lower back, glutes - but you should get something that can stay in the ballpark of your retul - at least initially - such that a flipped up stem - adding ~20mm to stack height
For you I would consider an Endurace, Great reviews, Great Value. — or the CF SL
Endurance is 20mm Lower than your Domane, the SL/SLX is ~30mm which i lots. Endurance and SL/SLX is in the ballpark of reach - Aeroad is ~30mm longer aka HUGE.

The stack difference between the Endurace and the SLX can be over come by flipping the stem, assuming you can get the SLX high enough - (need confirmation of your headset + spacer size on the domane)

Would nt the equivalent Canyon Endurance be a 58 ? as the 56 has a shorter tt than the Trek? in that case the figures come out a lot closer to the Trek, with no need to flip or add spacers?

the jump to the Aero Road does sound too extreme, assuming your on the right sized Trek but really you need to go back to your fitter and give them the options, internet fits are never good.

gaffer_slow

yes Endurace L/58 would fit very similar to the Trek.

OP seemed to want a more racy fit - and flipping the Stem of a 56 Endurace would be a good 'transition'.

There *might* be issues with standover on the Canyon L
- i think the Domane top tube is more sloping - the Trek 56 standover is 77.6. Sadly Canyon dont list Standover

gaffer_slow

http://www.bikeradar.com/road/gear/cate ... -15-49269/

Campag Chorus Endurace size L - 7kg £2000!

sloppyschleckonds

^ god thats dull



Make the Aeroad fit!

jgsi

SloppySchleckonds wrote:

^ god thats dull



Make the Aeroad fit!

Is this part of the "oh, sh1t, have I overbiked myself?" thread?

Jezuki

Thanks for all the responses, Gaffer_Slow I'm afraid what you say makes perfect sense and doesn't bode well for my dream of an aeroad! Has anyone made a transition from an upright bike to a aero before, is it something that can be done gradually or is it just not worth the trouble?

Jezuki

I guess I want to push myself to get the best out of my riding but I'm trying to find my geometry limits.

holiver

If it is possible, with anything physical it will take time. My advice would be to optimise yourself on your Domane first, which is a fantastic bike. If you reach the lower limits of the stack height on that through removing spacers and maybe using a smaller headset cover then consider a more racy frame.

AER_2263

Have you looked at the S3 or S5 instead?

I was comparing the S5 and the Aeroad yesterday and the S5 looks slightly more relaxed in its geometry, the top tube having a slight slope. I haven't tried either bikes but both seem to be in the price bracket I am considering for a summer bike upgrade.

gaffer_slow

Jezuki -

Can you measure the headset/Cone shaped spacer. And also the size of the spacer stack on your Domane?

If you could post and image with a tape measure next to it, that would help to be certain.

If you do this, i can help you work out if a SL/SLX with a flipped up stem might work for you as a transition.
An SL/SLX is a great bike. If you are looking at Aeroad you could likely afford an SLX.
The SLX is quite a lot shorter, and higher than the aeroad and is only 10mm lower than the Endurance.

Once you give me accurate measurements for Cone shaped headset and spacers - and perhaps even stem length and angle - i could get more accurate fit estimates.

The Domane is a very relaxed/upright bike - even amongst other endurance bikes.

Re measuring it make a big difference as the headset/cone spacer can be anything from 5mm to 25mm.

For example in the pic below (which has a very short headset/cone spacer (10mm?) and then another 3 thin spacers on top) the measurement i would want is from the top of the white of the headtube to the bottom of the stem.

A flipped 8 degree stem add a little more than 20mm depending on stem length. a 17 degree stem three or four times that. So if you could provide with stem length and Angle- fit can be replicated VERY accurately. Pretty Sure you could make an SL/SLX work and easily transition to a lower fit just swapping stems gradually

gaffer_slow

Re: S5 Cervelo

56 - Stack = 565 Reach = 392
58 - Stack = 588 Reach = 401

basically to get the Height you either have to go longer or even longer than the Aeroad.

Jezuki

I have actually looked at the S3 and S5 and they are possibilities. It may be that I just see how much further I can go with my Domane as has been suggested.

Gaffer_Slow I am away for a few days and then I will try and get a picture up.

gaffer_slow

Jenzuki.

Buy a 20mm longer stem, and remove all spacers. See hoe you get along with it - it would certainly take a few rides to settle into a new position. Google Hamstring stretches.

If you get along ok, it wouldn't be that much of a stretch (pun!) to get on an Aeroad.

Tjgoodhew

I have the older model aeroad and yes it is pretty low and stretched out. It feels a bit more racy than my Caad8 which is also an aggressive geometry bike.

I find that for shorter rides the aeroad is fine and i only really seem to start feeling it a bit after 3 hours +

The only thing i really notice is i spend less time on the drops with the aeroad.

My heart was set on the aeroad and even tho it is a bit racy for club runs and i probably could of got something with a more suitable geometry for the riding i have been doing i dont regret my decison one bit. Its an amazing bike !!

ai_1

I think the advice given by Gaffer_Slow is spot on. Simply by changing the stem you can probably get very close to trying out the new position before committing to it.

You may be able to adapt to a lower position but it can be a gradual process and there will be limits to what you can manage, what provides a benefit and how comfortable you'll be. In my opinion, discomfort is never worth it for vanity. It might be worth it for performance. However if you plan to do mostly longish club rides and sportives then I would focus on a comfortable position (whatever that means for you) and I think the Aeroad looks like it may be an unnecessary compromise on geometry for you. It would be for me too. Don't buy a bike that won't fit. You'll end up hating it.

I started out looking at the old Aeroad but looked at the geometry and ended up going for an Ultimate CF SL. No regrets whatsoever.

On my first bike (a Specialised Tricross) I started out riding with a very small drop from the saddle to the handlebars (about 10 or 20mm I think). I tried dropping the bars 10mm and had minor back and neck discomfort so put the spacer back. A few weeks later my position started to feel less "right" when I was riding with any real effort so I tried again and found that after a few rides I was getting used to the psoture and the lower position was now to my liking. Over the following 12-18 months I gradually dropped the handlebar by flipping it, removing all the spacers and eventually buying a new more angled stem. I ended up with about 60-65mm drop which is probably fairly typical for a lot of road cyclists (not that this matters much) and I stuck with this position for quite a while. I got the Ultimate CF SL last year and this is both a slightly smaller frame and has a more aggressive geometry anyway, than the Tricross. As a result with 25mm of spacers the drop is about 60-65mm which suits me fine and is comfortable for 100mile rides. Now that I have the scope to drop it further I'll probably experiment with going a little lower and I know that'll be fine for shorter rides. On longer ones I'll have to wait and see.
As far as I remember the appropriate sized Aeroad (based on TT length) would have needed a flipped stem plus most or all of the spacers to get me high enough to overlap with my existing position.

Anyway. My point is you'd probably be best to get something that can give you your current position at the upper end but allow you drop lower if you find you can do so. You don't want to end up compromising your position to fit the bike. It should always be the bike that adjusts to suit you.

The CF SL is a lovely bike btw!