Road Bike Info & Discussion -*ASK ROAD QUESTIONS HERE*-

PB Forum :: Road Cycling and Touring
Road Bike Info & Discussion -*ASK ROAD QUESTIONS HERE*-
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flag badbadleroybrown
Posted: Aug 19, 2020 at 11:43 Quote
alreadyupsidedown wrote:
I’d go even lower. A GRX 46-30T sub compact with an 11-34 cassette will give you a ton of range, beating out your typical 1x setup with 40T ring and 11-42 cassette on both the high and low ends.

Lots of bikes moved away from SRAM 1x setups to the GRX double setup above ^ for 2020, and I would expect that trend to continue in 2021.

My complaint with my 11-42T isn’t the top end- I’m a heavy guy, and I have no problem rolling Mach-3 down the hills. I just hate clicking 11 times from one side of the cassette to the other every time reach the top or bottom. It gets very annoying for the right index finger.
I've been really blown away by just how good GRX810 is... Can honestly say that I don't notice any drop off going from 9100 Dura Ace to 810 GRX in terms of shift and brake performance. Ridiculously good performance and all the range you really need for 95% of your rides.
flag alreadyupsidedown
Posted: Aug 19, 2020 at 13:37 Quote
Yeah, I feel like GRX is really spanning the entire range from Tiagra up without being pigeon-holed into a specific level. I wonder if they will drop Ultegra RX? I’m going to get a full GRX group as soon as my Apex 1 stuff starts to wear out.

As far as dropbar bikes go, I think we’re going to see 1x relegated back to cyclocross, and more utility use cases, like bikepacking. Or fringe stuff like clearing massive tires on monster cross bikes.

Keeping the focus on bikes that are intended to be ridden quickly on actual roads, (paved or otherwise) I think we will see tires settle around 50c max. That’s well within the limits of current 2x systems, and 1x doesn’t really offer much more in practice. Moving to an MTB spaced crankset is the solution already in place for that.
flag sherbet
Posted: Aug 19, 2020 at 14:16 Quote
1x is perfect for droppers. If I didn't run one, the left shifter would go back to being a shifter.

Running 50c tires now. It's a no brainer. They're lighter and roll faster than a fair few of the 42-47 tires I've tried. XC race tires > overly marketed "gravel" tires.
flag badbadleroybrown
Posted: Aug 19, 2020 at 17:50 Quote
I feel like it's a miss how hard companies are pushing 1x for gravel... all the top models of the Diverge are 1x only. There's definitely a place for 1x but I think more gravel bikes are going to benefit from a 2x drivetrain and no dropper than would benefit from 1x and a dropper.
flag alreadyupsidedown
Posted: Aug 20, 2020 at 10:45 Quote
Yup.

Looking back at when gravel bikes first started to go mainstream, I remember many individuals were very convinced that that cyclocross bikes were the same thing. And yes, plenty of casual cyclists were using CX bikes for general multi-surface road cycling. 1X was proving to be very practical and competitive in CX racing, and it would seem our human tendency to model our recreational products after competition got the better of us. In reality, cyclocross is a tightly-regulated, made-up racing format with no bearing on anything outside the course tape, but I digress.

This is probably anecdotal, but I see a lot of urban, fixed-gear and single speed riders buying gravel bikes as their first ‘proper road bike’... These riders are happy to have gears in general, and aren’t worried about all the ins and outs of traditional road bike gearing. They also heavily favour the mechanical and visual simplicity... 1x looks cool, and is thus fashionable.

My guess with Specialized, is that the current Diverge range was already too far down the design/production pipeline when GRX was released? Despite their attempts to set and chase trends, they are an industry behemoth after all, and probably plan their products years in advance.
Going ‘All-In on 1x’ is the sort of token ‘off the wall’ behaviour we’ve come to expect from the big S. [Like putting a flat bar on the Diverge Evo and re-inventing the hybrid.]

To be fair, Shimano is pretty tight lipped on their future products, and with the ‘delivery issues’ they’ve had in the last few years, Specialized was probably right not to wait around. Still, I bet the next generation of Diverge models will be 2x compatible.
flag adamwilson97
Posted: Aug 21, 2020 at 3:05 Quote
Hey everyone. I'm looking at purchasing a and came across bike reviews hub Entry-Level road bike and I finalized to buy Tommaso Forcella Endurance Road Bike. I need your honest review that is it worthful to buy?
flag R-M-R
Posted: Aug 21, 2020 at 8:26 Quote
Seems like a decent choice. It's nice to see a full Shimano component group, without sneaky downgrades. Two things I would prefer to have been different:

1. Narrow tires. Current trends are toward 28+ mm tires for more comfort and versatility.
2. Gearing. I prefer fewer overlapping ratios from two chainrings (front sprockets). Three is fine, though, and the total range is generous.

You might consider a used bike. Signs a used bike has seen few miles:

• Original tires with minimal wear.
• Original bar tape in good condition.
• Brake surface of rims is in good shape and perfectly flat (not concave).
• Original brake pads with minimal wear.
• Chain is not significantly elongated (buy a chain wear checker tool).
flag man-wolf
Posted: Aug 21, 2020 at 8:53 Quote
Tried to ask this a bit ago but it got buried in the drivetrain discussion. Thinking about purchasing this Cube Agree C:62 Race:
https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/us/en/cube-agree-c-62-race-road-bike-2020/rp-prod192432

I don't have any personal experience with Cube but they seem to be pretty highly regarded. This bike has the specs and price I'm after; full carbon, Ultegra, disc brakes, balance of comfort and speed. I think my only hesitation is that it can only take a max of 28c tires, but for the riding I do I think that should be sufficient. Is anyone aware of some similarly priced/spec'd bikes that I should be looking at? Preferably something that is available to purchase now. Or any reason to avoid this bike? Thanks.
flag R-M-R
Posted: Aug 21, 2020 at 9:17 Quote
Tire size limitation might be a deal-breaker for me. I'd take larger tires and a nice metal frame, if I had to choose. At least the 19 mm inner rim width is decent. You can often fit a larger tire than the "official" maximum width.
flag man-wolf
Posted: Aug 21, 2020 at 9:24 Quote
R-M-R wrote:
Tire size limitation might be a deal-breaker for me. I'd take larger tires and a nice metal frame, if I had to choose. At least the 19 mm inner rim width is decent. You can often fit a larger tire than the "official" maximum width.
Can I ask why specifically that might be a deal-breaker? It's been a bit since I had a road bike and I'm used to riding on 25c tires, though I know the trends are toward larger sizes now.
flag R-M-R
Posted: Aug 21, 2020 at 9:38 Quote
They just feel nicer. Not a big deal if your roads are super smooth, but even on smooth roads, it's a touch nicer. Huge difference on mediocre roads and the ability to take 32ish mm tires gives the option to mount gravel tires if you ever want to give it a try.

Wide tires also provide a lot more cornering confidence, especially if the roads aren't perfectly clean.
flag man-wolf
Posted: Aug 21, 2020 at 9:45 Quote
R-M-R wrote:
They just feel nicer. Not a big deal if your roads are super smooth, but even on smooth roads, it's a touch nicer. Huge difference on mediocre roads and the ability to take 32ish mm tires gives the option to mount gravel tires if you ever want to give it a try.

Wide tires also provide a lot more cornering confidence, especially if the roads aren't perfectly clean.
Gotcha. I have a gravel bike with 38c tires on it currently that is my all around, ride everything bike. This would be for crushing the tarmac exclusively, and roads are generally pretty dang good in my area.
flag R-M-R
Posted: Aug 21, 2020 at 9:57 Quote
There go the main arguments for wide tires.

Even you don't use wider tires, consider leaving enough in the budget for some painted-on kit and top-of-the-line tires.
flag alreadyupsidedown
Posted: Aug 21, 2020 at 14:06 Quote
I can’t think of any valid reason to avoid it. Looks great, nice spec. Can’t really comment on the ride quality of Cube frames, the wheels, etc, but I’m sure the British/European review websites would have some relevant comparisons. The price seems fair, though I’m a bit out of the loop on higher-end bike pricing. Make sure you calculate any import duty/tax though, as up here in Canada that can often negate the savings vs buying at a brick & mortar. That said, it’s pretty hard to find bikes right now, period.

Personally, I wouldn’t sweat the 28c limit.
My love of huge tires aside, 28c is ample for smooth pavement, even by the most modern standards. Considering you already own a gravel/all-road machine, there’s no sense overlapping with a second do-it all bike.

Maybe there are a bikes in the same class that fit slightly more, but we’re talking what, 30c max? Maybe 32c, but that still has to be pretty rare on a race bike. Meh, not worth passing on a good deal over.
flag badbadleroybrown
Posted: Aug 21, 2020 at 15:33 Quote
28c is plenty and a 28c rating generally means you can fit 30c.

My Domane is rated to 38c and I have no doubt I could fit some 40c, or even 42c on narrow rims.

 


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