Road or endurance?

PaulZetter

Hi All,

I'm new to the forum and just getting into road cycling. I plan to compete in triathlons in the near future(I run a lot so my fitness is reasonably good). I am wondering whether to go full road or endurance bike? I am not used to riding in the full race position and was wondering whether the sightly more relaxed position on the endurance would be better? I live in the Chiltern's so NEED something decent on hills!! I want a bike that i'll enjoy riding over long and short distances. Any help or advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks

Paul

DeVlaeminck

Unless you are quite old or have back problems just get a road bike that fits - this will be better suited to tri bars should you wish to use them and most people get on OK with normal road geometry.

imposter2.0

Road bikes usually are endurance bikes, the term has just been hijacked by marketers. As above, a well fitting bike will offer you the most in terms of endurance capability anyway..

markhewitt1978

The terms road and endurance are confusing ones which are largely marketing terms so don't have any fixed reference especially across different manufacturers.

In general it all just refers to the stack height (the difference in height beween the bottom bracket centre and the top of the top tube where the headset attaches). 'Endurance' bikes have this taller so the handlebars can be fitted higher without the need for lots of spacers, more agresssive bikes have a lower stack height. There may be additional features on some such as shock absorption technology.

So it's better to look at geometry charts to determine that rather than relying on branding.

The whole "get the bike that fits you" is rather broad. Because in general if you're a leisure rider doing 60miles on a Sunday then you're likely to want a higher position and a competitive road racer is going to want a lower position.

I suspect most of us want something inbetween.

Mantas

Have you tried to ride a road bike ? Just go to a local shop and give a try couple different bikes.

ayjaycee

As said above, endurance bikes are road bikes by another name. If you do not have any experience of road bikes then you really need to try some for size and see how you get on with them. In your position, I would be trying to find a good local bike shop who can discuss your requirements (including budget) and advise on what might suit / fit you and let you sit on a few and ride them. After that, pick the one that feels best for you, that you can afford and, importantly, that you like the look of. A half decent LBS is worth it's weight in gold in your situation, you just have to find one!

PaulZetter

Thanks for all the advice. I've tried out a friends(who is the same height a me) bike and the riding position feels alien, but I know it will take a bit if getting used as will using clip in pedals. I was thinking of maybe getting a decent second hand bike for about £500 -600 to get used to and hopefully learn to love road cycling then treat myself to a shiny new one using the cycle to work scheme later this year, or early next. My next dilemma is aluminum or full carbon??...will a novice like me notice the difference? Any bike recommendations would also be much appreciated. Sorry about all the questions!!!

hsiaolc

PaulZetter wrote:

Thanks for all the advice. I've tried out a friends(who is the same height a me) bike and the riding position feels alien, but I know it will take a bit if getting used as will using clip in pedals. I was thinking of maybe getting a decent second hand bike for about £500 -600 to get used to and hopefully learn to love road cycling then treat myself to a shiny new one using the cycle to work scheme later this year, or early next. My next dilemma is aluminum or full carbon??...will a novice like me notice the difference? Any bike recommendations would also be much appreciated. Sorry about all the questions!!!

Only you know what kind of riding position you prefer.

But since you are quite fit and want to race then probably you want some of a racier geometry.

I went for Canyon Ultimate first and I hated the geometry and two year later I went for the Rose Xeon Dx for a a endurance geometry but by that time I already know what I want roughly. It just takes a bit of time to know what you really want. And the only way to get to know that is if you tried as many different bikes as possible.

singleton

Your first road bike will likely feel a bit wierd to begin with. If you've had other types of bikes then it may feel flighty and over-sensitive and it will almost certainly take a bit of getting used to for rides of more than an hour or so.

Fit will have a huge impact on comfort as will the saddle. The saddle is fairly easy to change and you can fiddle a bit with the fit by moving the saddle or buying a new stem, but the basic frame geometry is fixed and that's why you need to get that right otherwise you will struggle.

I've done 70.3 distance triathlons on "race" geometry bikes and it was fine for me. To be honest, a tri or TT position is much less comfortable for me than an aggressive road position.

fenix

Buying second hand is tricky as you don't know what size.

A shop would be better. I'd look at buying a cheaper bike that has the low gears that you need and the capability to have full mudguards on so it can be a winter bike.

Then hopefully you can get your bike to work bike as your racing machine.

(although with the tax benefits your c2w bike might just be the cheapest option anyway?)

markhewitt1978

hsiaolc wrote:

I went for Canyon Ultimate first and I hated the geometry and two year later I went for the Rose Xeon Dx for a a endurance geometry but by that time I already know what I want roughly. It just takes a bit of time to know what you really want. And the only way to get to know that is if you tried as many different bikes as possible.

What didn't you like about the Canyon, front end too low?

hypster

Well my GT Grade "endurance" bike is quite a bit higher than my Scott CR1 so I would advise the OP to try and get test rides on various bikes as a starting point to see what might suit. I guess you're never really going to know what you prefer until you live with a bike for a while and put it to the actual use you want it for but it is somewhere to start without shelling out a load of cash.

Personally I use the GT Grade as my main training bike for comfort/sportives and the Scott CR1 for speed but in reality there is not a whole lot in it in my opinion either way.

markhewitt1978

Really? That's surprising because the Scott CR1 is pretty tall in the stack height compared to most other bikes

hypster

Measured headtube length for my 60cm frame: GT Grade 23 cm, Scott CR1 21cm. I just checked the Trek Madone and Emonda (online) are both 21 cm in the same size frame as well for comparison.

2 cm may not sound much but the two bikes do feel very different in relation to the riding position. Just for reference my Scott CR1 is an older one so slightly more race-oriented geometry than the newer ones although admittedly not an out-and-out race bike compared to say the Addict.

kajjal

The trouble with road bikes is you only really know what you want once you have ridden one for a while and are buying your second bike. Very roughly speaking they vary from bikes like the specialized tarmac with a head down racier position to less stretched more upright bikes like the GT grade.

PaulZetter

Thanks for all the advice it's much appreciated. I've been to several shops and had contradicting advice which hasn't helped! I think I'm going to go and try a few out with geometrys and see what I like. Talking to several keen cyclists I'm leaning towards going straight for a carbon frame as they said I will want one on the end anyway, and whatever bike I get I will probably end up upgrading several components once I get hooked so don't waste my money on a cheaper bike. They also said to try and get last year model in the sale as with many makes there won't be much difference between 2015 and 2016 apart from the price!! Any recommendations of decent bike shops in the south east/London? Or what bikes to definitely try out? Thanks again for all your help and advice!! Really looking forward to my bike shopping!!!

hsiaolc

markhewitt1978 wrote:

hsiaolc wrote:

I went for Canyon Ultimate first and I hated the geometry and two year later I went for the Rose Xeon Dx for a a endurance geometry but by that time I already know what I want roughly. It just takes a bit of time to know what you really want. And the only way to get to know that is if you tried as many different bikes as possible.

What didn't you like about the Canyon, front end too low?

Yep it was too low for my liking.

yertez

I have loved my Canyon Ultimate CF 9.0 SL.
So it's horses for courses I guess.

hsiaolc

yertez wrote:

I have loved my Canyon Ultimate CF 9.0 SL.
So it's horses for courses I guess.

Yep of course that's why there are so many models out there for you to choose from. But I thought I liked the race kind of riding even though I've never tried any at that time. I completely loath it because every ride I was in pain or completely discomfort and I didn't find the ride enjoyable. OH and I completely despised caliper brakes especially I came from mountain biking.

But I don't I am the minority. The trend is moving towards everything that I do like and so I am quite happy with a lot of choices now for me such as hydro disc brake, Di2 shifiting, and tubeless tires.

You loved our Canyon? Hmmm? What happened to it?

Even I loathed my Canyon I still have mine.

DeVlaeminck

If you want a typical road bike without breaking the bank then don't rule out aluminium. When your friends say you will probably want a carbon frame they probably just mean you will want a better (or at least more expensive) bike and the more expensive frames do tend to be carbon but up to around say £1,500 (give or take) for a complete bike aluminium is still a fair choice.

The Cannondale CAAD range is well rated and aluminium bikes from Canyon look decent too - those two just come to mind not saying they are any better than other choices out there - to an extent though unless you are shopping right at the bottom end of the market or going for something a bit left field it's hard to buy a bad bike so long as it fits you.

markhewitt1978

PaulZetter wrote:

Talking to several keen cyclists I'm leaning towards going straight for a carbon frame as they said I will want one on the end anyway, and whatever bike I get I will probably end up upgrading several components once I get hooked so don't waste my money on a cheaper bike.

I would tend to agree. If you're expecting to keep the bike long term then get the best frame you can afford. HOWEVER! . If you're not sure of your eventually geometry perhaps not

They also said to try and get last year model in the sale as with many makes there won't be much difference between 2015 and 2016 apart from the price!!

100%. Sometimes there's a significant difference if there's a groupset upgrade etc, but the vast majority of the time literally the only difference is the paint scheme.

In your case, wanting to do Tri which needs to eventually get low it's difficult to say. Perhaps something middle of the road like a Canyon Ultimate or Trek Emonda H2fit, where you can start out with a bunch of spacers and upright stem and eventually remove spacers and flip the stem down as you manage to get yourself lower.