What Bike - S3, Aeroad, Venge or Foil?

Neilth
Neilth Posts: 31
edited June 2018 in Road buying advice
afternoon,

Sure its been done to death, but I'm looking at replacing my ageing Focus Cayo 2005 (which has been pretty good overall) with an aero bike and narrowed the choice down to either an Aeroad 8, Venge, Scott Foil, or S3 - all in disc form. I've ridden the Venge Vias disc at one of the Specialized track days, and despite being a fast ride (at least on a smooth track surface) I was put off by the deep profile wheel cross-wind issue, which kinda takes the Canyon Aeroad out of the equation, unless I buy frame and build up.

I've used the Focus for a few sportives and several triathlons, so will be used for the same, plus the usual weekend/eve rides.

I've also got a Cervelo P2 which has been excellent, so fancied the S3 initially, but the Foil looks to be a better bike overall.

Shame I can't borrow / hire all for a weekend.

Anyone got any of these bikes and offer an opinion?

thanks

Comments

  • shirley_basso
    shirley_basso Posts: 6,195
    Sorry to nitpick, but why do you want an aero road bike without deep profile wheels, or is it just the stock ones on the Venge and Aeroad you don't want?
  • mrpbennett
    mrpbennett Posts: 102
    yeah i 2nd that, why get an aero bike without aero wheels. I have an old Giant TCR (2012) with Mavic Cosmic Pros never had an issue with cross winds, I have felt them more but only slightly.

    I have been looking at a non disc S3 / S5 though.
  • Neilth
    Neilth Posts: 31
    Shirley Basso wrote:
    Sorry to nitpick, but why do you want an aero road bike without deep profile wheels, or is it just the stock ones on the Venge and Aeroad you don't want?

    The test ride I did of the Venge Vias at Mallory Park proved the deep profile wheels to be pretty hairy in the crosswind, almost ruined the ride for me, so wanting to avoid this on whatever I do end up buying. I'd prefer something akin to those on the S3 disc over the Vias any day.
  • Neilth
    Neilth Posts: 31
    mrpbennett wrote:
    yeah i 2nd that, why get an aero bike without aero wheels. I have an old Giant TCR (2012) with Mavic Cosmic Pros never had an issue with cross winds, I have felt them more but only slightly.

    I have been looking at a non disc S3 / S5 though.

    I have similar Mavic wheels on my P2, and agree not had an issue with those in crosswinds, but those on the Venge Vias were a fair bit deeper and awful in the crosswinds at mallory.
  • mrpbennett
    mrpbennett Posts: 102
    I have similar Mavic wheels on my P2, and agree not had an issue with those in crosswinds, but those on the Venge Vias were a fair bit deeper and awful in the crosswinds at mallory.

    I would imagine they're 45mm + cant you sell the wheels and buy a small dish set?
  • sloppyschleckonds
    sloppyschleckonds Posts: 8,019
    Shirley Basso wrote:
    why do you want an aero road bike without deep profile wheels

    What a time to be alive
    I'm sorry you don't believe in miracles
  • mfin
    mfin Posts: 6,729
    OP, wanting an aero bike but not wanting aero wheels is plain weird. It will also look shite, although I assume you don't realise that or don't care. If it's what you want fair enough, but it's really odd logic. Saying that, the Scott Foil out of the ones you mention is the only one that will look okay-ish with regular wheels.

    Have you considered maybe getting a non-aero bike or one with not much side profile to it and getting some well designed 40mm wheels that aren't so susceptible to side winds? I think this would suit you better if you're after a bit of aero advantage.
  • cougie
    cougie Posts: 22,512
    If you have a p2 that's your triathlon bike there surely ?

    There's really no difference performance wise aero frame to non aero. It's all looks. But some deep rims handle cross winds better than others. Buy separately ?
  • matt_n-2
    matt_n-2 Posts: 581
    Colnago Concept or perhaps a V2-R.
    Colnago Master Olympic
    Colnago CLX 3.0
    Colnago Dream
    Giant Trinity Advanced
    Italian steel winter hack
  • Matthewfalle
    Matthewfalle Posts: 17,380
    S3

    But I and I have soft spots for Cervelos.
    Postby team47b » Sun Jun 28, 2015 11:53 am

    De Sisti wrote:
    This is one of the silliest threads I've come across. :lol:

    Recognition at last Matthew, well done!, a justified honour :D
    smithy21 wrote:

    He's right you know.
  • haydenm
    haydenm Posts: 2,997
    SloppySchleckonds wrote:
    Shirley Basso wrote:
    why do you want an aero road bike without deep profile wheels

    What a time to be alive

    The Mavics are still 'aero', just not as deep as the stock ones on the Venge.
  • mrpbennett
    mrpbennett Posts: 102
    Matthewfalle wrote:
    S3

    But I and I have soft spots for Cervelos.

    S3 or S5 though...sorry jumping in ha.
  • philbar72
    philbar72 Posts: 2,229
    the bike that fits best and looks and goes well. pretty much all my clubs fast racers are on crit bikes like aeroads/scott foils/planet x's for the budget conscious. the venge doesn't appeal at all as its a bit of a munter.
  • Neilth
    Neilth Posts: 31
    cougie wrote:
    If you have a p2 that's your triathlon bike there surely ?

    No it depends on the triathlon route, something hilly and I'm better on a decent road bike than the P2. P2 is great for flatter courses though.
  • Neilth
    Neilth Posts: 31
    mfin wrote:
    OP, wanting an aero bike but not wanting aero wheels is plain weird. It will also look shite, although I assume you don't realise that or don't care. If it's what you want fair enough, but it's really odd logic. Saying that, the Scott Foil out of the ones you mention is the only one that will look okay-ish with regular wheels.

    Have you considered maybe getting a non-aero bike or one with not much side profile to it and getting some well designed 40mm wheels that aren't so susceptible to side winds? I think this would suit you better if you're after a bit of aero advantage.

    Don't get me wrong I'm not averse to aero wheels at all, just not those as deep as the Venge Vias uses (Roval 64s I believe), which as I said before was truly horrible to ride with crosswinds, so I assume most other deep dish aero wheels will have similar characteristics (but happy to be wrong here). Most my rides are country lanes in the middle of nowhere so often get some fairly high crosswinds blasting across farmers fields etc.
  • poptart242
    poptart242 Posts: 531
    I found the Foil to be significantly more comfortable than the Aeroad, for what it's worth.

    I ride 45mm wheels on my Foil, and rode 55s on the Aeroad that I hired for a week. Never had an issue with crosswinds. But then I'm heavy, so maybe it's just that I'm too fat for the wind.
  • Camcycle1974
    Camcycle1974 Posts: 1,356
    New Tarmac SL6
  • gary_sparrow
    gary_sparrow Posts: 181
    S3 is a beautiful in red .
  • singleton
    singleton Posts: 2,523
    To answer your specific, initial question - out of those I'd probably get an S3.

    But - in reality you don't want an S3 with shallow wheels, you want 40mm+ depth.
    I've got Reynolds Assaults on my (non-aero) bike and there is no issues with cross winds at all.
  • cougie
    cougie Posts: 22,512
    Neilth wrote:
    cougie wrote:
    If you have a p2 that's your triathlon bike there surely ?

    No it depends on the triathlon route, something hilly and I'm better on a decent road bike than the P2. P2 is great for flatter courses though.

    It'd have to be really hilly for the road bike to be the better option. I know IMFR a lot of people use road bikes due to the exciting descents.

    Or just enter events suited to the P2 ! ;-)
  • Neilth
    Neilth Posts: 31
    So I bought the S3 Disc Ultegra in white - picked it up yesterday. Very pleased with it :D

Categories