All of a quandary (new bike?)

UndercoverElephant

Hi All,

Been thinking about this for a while, and now that they're actually properly available, I may be coming round to road disks. There have been a few very-wet commutes recently where my brakes have been mildly terrifying. I went on a test rid of one of the new Pinnacle Dolomites today and I was largely impressed:

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/pinnacle/dolomite-5-2016-road-bike-ec122230

It's a very nice, direct ride. Light-ish. Hydraulic disks and under the CTW threshold. I reckon that with the inclusion of a carbon seatpost, it'd give the Equilibrium a good run for comfort and speed (the frame was designed by the designer of the original Equilibrium, apparently). There are a few nagging things, though:

1st, 105 feels very clunky and noisy compared to Centaur/Veloce. 2nd, the disk brakes really didn't seem to have much power in the dry, though they hadn't been 'bedded-in', apparently. 3rd, when I set off from a set of lights with some gusto, the rear wheel popped out of the dropout, I guess it could be that the QR wasn't set to mighty-level by the somewhat weedy looking mechanic in the shop, but if it kept happening, it'd really pish me off.

What do you reckon?

dhope

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19745909#p19745909]UndercoverElephant[/url] wrote:

Hi All,

Been thinking about this for a while, and now that they're actually properly available, I may be coming round to road disks. There have been a few very-wet commutes recently where my brakes have been mildly terrifying. I went on a test rid of one of the new Pinnacle Dolomites today and I was largely impressed:

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/pinnacle/dolomite-5-2016-road-bike-ec122230

It's a very nice, direct ride. Light-ish. Hydraulic disks and under the CTW threshold. I reckon that with the inclusion of a carbon seatpost, it'd give the Equilibrium a good run for comfort and speed (the frame was designed by the designer of the original Equilibrium, apparently). There are a few nagging things, though:

1st, 105 feels very clunky and noisy compared to Centaur/Veloce. 2nd, the disk brakes really didn't seem to have much power in the dry, though they hadn't been 'bedded-in', apparently. 3rd, when I set off from a set of lights with some gusto, the rear wheel popped out of the dropout, I guess it could be that the QR wasn't set to mighty-level by the somewhat weedy looking mechanic in the shop, but if it kept happening, it'd really pish me off.

What do you reckon?

1) Dunno, don't have Campag. 11 speed 105 has been pretty well received though.
2) Have the same discs on my Inflite. They're definitely stoppy enough in the dry. Might also be getting used to it being a bit less on/off than rim brakes? (not sure, just guessing). Certainly I can lock the wheel up pretty instantly if I try.
3) I expect this is an inept mechanic

elbowloh

Re. 3, QRs don't need to be set to "mighty-level" to be secure/safe. You shouldn't have to strain too much to release a lever. If it's come out of the drop-out, I think there's an issue there.

arthur_scrimshaw

I think it looks a great bike for the money. I think the 105 hydraulic brake levers look a bit weird but I wouldn't be worried about the power of them, I bought a synapse with Ultegra hydraulics and after bedding them in they are spectacularly powerful.

UndercoverElephant

Yeah, the brakes felt absolutely nothing like the hydraulic disks on my MTB, which are superb, to say the least. I'm sure they'd improve with usage. I also have 11-speed Centaur on the Scott, which is just as light and lovely to use as the 10 speed, but with the extra downshifts. I'm sure I'd get used to it again.

Very tempted, TBH.

veronese68

Can't judge the 105 for you. I'm sure you'll get used to it though.
Suspect the brakes will improve when bedded in. That sounds horrible, can we say 'broken in'? Don't know if they'll be as powerful as the MTB brakes. XT's on mine are incredible, whereas the Parabox set up on my CX is just very good.
Suspect the QR is incompetence. Although I put a proper Shimano QR on my bike rather than the nasty external cam Novatec one that came with the hub.

dhope

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19745941#p19745941]Veronese68[/url] wrote:

Don't know if they'll be as powerful as the MTB brakes. XT's on mine are incredible, whereas the Parabox set up on my CX is just very good.

They should be almost identical.
R785 (the road/ultegra disc) calipers are basically the same as M785/XT.

First.Aspect

Yeah I'd agree that the brakes are probably going to be fine. I have the R685/785 set. They aren't quite like mtb brakes in terms of lightness, but they are fantastic. I think the leverage may have intentionally been tuned for roadies.

Normally, 105 has had essentially the same internals as ultegra (hence being regarded as better value). These are clearly laid out differently from the ultegra level levers, suggesting that the basic mechanism is different.

But, if it shifts when you tell it to, does it matter?

You don't really have a choice though, unless you want to spend more on Sram or the R685s. Even when Campag get their act together that'll be expensive and as rare as dragon scrotum soup.

UndercoverElephant

Played the "need to be safe" card and the lovely Mrs. Elephant is all for it, so long as she's allowed to buy a pair of fancy shoes.

veronese68

Excellent, that's how I convinced the EPO of the need for my Kinesis. At least you didn't have to get knocked off and mash up your hand to emphasise the point.

UndercoverElephant

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19746251#p19746251]Veronese68[/url] wrote:

Excellent, that's how I convinced the EPO of the need for my Kinesis. At least you didn't have to get knocked off and mash up your hand to emphasise the point.

Fell off the Equilibrium on a really wet day a couple of months back and broke a rib two days before I had to fly to California. That was a long flight, I can tell you!

veronese68

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19746261#p19746261]UndercoverElephant[/url] wrote:

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19746251#p19746251]Veronese68[/url] wrote:

Excellent, that's how I convinced the EPO of the need for my Kinesis. At least you didn't have to get knocked off and mash up your hand to emphasise the point.

Fell off the Equilibrium on a really wet day a couple of months back and broke a rib two days before I had to fly to California. That was a long flight, I can tell you!

Ouch! I can imagine how uncomfortable that was. I've done both independently and definitely wouldn't want to combine the two.

On_What

Having gone from Campag to cheapo 105 recently I observe the following.
1) It is genuinely a bit more clunky but not in a bad or annoying way.
2) The hoods are horrible to hold but you do get used to them. They are also but ugly to look at.
3) Spares are cheap, chains are cheap and cassettes with various ranges are available that you can't get in Campag.

ON your brakes I would suggest that the pads do need to bed in to work well, also pad choice plays an important role in how a disc will perform. If the rear skewer popped out I think the mechanic will have made an error, and poor wheel alignment might explain the bad braking.

vermin

I picked up a 2015 Dolomite 6 in the sales while ago. I really like it for the commute. I sized down (54 frame, I'm 6ft) to get a short headtube and compact frame, then bunged a long stem on it. The long, low position, with low bb, makes it a relaxing cruiser, but it feels taught enough to be a bit of fun and it zips along nicely (it can cover the commute in about 1hr 40m - within a couple of minutes of the Foil). A long seatpost and 25mm rubber make it comfortable. Guard clearance is great and it's my first bike to have pannier eyes (for a back-seat). I like the 5800 set - to me it feels quite similar to the campag groups I've ridden (which have all been quite low-grade). No comment about discs - I guess some folk like them, so it sounds like a good bike, made better.

UndercoverElephant

So, it seems that I've ordered one...

And the makings for a new disk-braked dynamo wheel. Red-anodized Shutter Precision hub, Stan's Grail rim and black DT Swiss Competition spokes. Should be very, very nice indeed.

zx6man

A cannondale I got for the mrs had both front and rear QR's loose when picking it up...must be an evans thing :-)

UndercoverElephant

Well, the bike has been delayed due to a recall. Should arrive later this month.

Recall Notice wrote:

"We have had reports of rear wheel slip issues on some Pinnacle/Hoy bikes sold since late 2014. We
have found an issue with a small number of rear mech hangers which can result in a wheel slip. "

Really, I never noticed!

daniel_b

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19749859#p19749859]zx6man[/url] wrote:

A cannondale I got for the mrs had both front and rear QR's loose when picking it up...must be an evans thing :-)

A Spesh mountain bike we picked up for my GF had had the forks fitted the wrong way around.......

They did better with the Synapse I just bought though, or at least in terms of fixing the brakes.

UndercoverElephant

Oh it's good, it's very, very good.

First time I've been able to get out on it today (though it arrived before Christmas). Very fast, quite light and a lot of fun. The brakes are getting better all the time (now very good). The carbon seat post certainly helped with weight and comfort. Wheels are light and very free-rolling, bit of a shame that the spokes and build aren't as good as the rest. Not exactly bad, though, but were pinging a bit when I went out of the saddle and are a little wobbly already. I may just tweak them or I may rebuild.

Other than that, I'm a happy Elephant.

bendertherobot

Mr Elephant Sir. Please add a variant of weather to your sig with said new bike!

prawny

I really fancy me either one of those or an Arkose, I'm not sure which. I'm veering towards the arkose so I can put winter proof tyres on it rather than have an extra bike knocking around (wife not keen at all)

UndercoverElephant

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19769301#p19769301]bendertherobot[/url] wrote:

Mr Elephant Sir. Please add a variant of weather to your sig with said new bike!

How dreadful of me not to post a photo:



It's lovely

Must update my snow picture too, haven't owned that one for a couple of years - use a mountain bike now.

First.Aspect

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19774093#p19774093]UndercoverElephant[/url] wrote:

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19769301#p19769301]bendertherobot[/url] wrote:

Mr Elephant Sir. Please add a variant of weather to your sig with said new bike!

How dreadful of me not to post a photo:



It's lovely

Must update my snow picture too, haven't owned that one for a couple of years - use a mountain bike now.

Does it float? I think today that would be helpful.

UndercoverElephant

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19774301#p19774301]First Aspect[/url] wrote:

Does it float? I think today that would be helpful.

It's surprisingly light