My Specialized Allez Elite is a lovely bike to ride, and other than slightly clunky (Shimano 105) gears, I’m happy with it.

I want to ride my darkside bike a bit more this summer and was thinking about upgrading to something that would be really nice to ride – that feeling you get when good kit just makes you want to stay out and ride all day. What doesn’t help is a guy I work with can get me 40% off Tifosi/Time/Cinelli bikes so I’m toying with going all out and getting a piece of carbon-framed loveliness. I was reckoning on an Retail Price of £2-2.5k

Question is, just how much of a difference would it make to my riding. Would it be that much better to ride, would I really go any faster or be able to ride further?

Basically I’m talking about shelling out a load of cash but don’t want to do it if I don’t think I’ll get the benefit – the usual conundrum 🙂

Ultimately it won’t make more than a very small difference in your riding. Obviously what you really mean is you want to get one, so do it.

I ride an old Allez Elite with 105, and they ain’t that shonkey. You might be disapointed by just spending more and hoping to be a better rider.
I’m lucky to be in a position to test ride a few bikes, and if I had just bought the most expensive bike I could have afforded I would have been very unhappy. Instead I paid very little for a Planet X Carbon SL and it just works really well for me.

depends i upgraded from steel to ali then to carbon and now on a titanium all ride different some things better some worse depends on what you like the feel of really 🙂 not much help i guess lol

That Planet X is the first ever bike I’ve had that I can ride in the drops all day on, can’t work out why for the hell of me?
Was all simpler years ago, handbuild 531C with Campag and Cinelli and that was it.
Now the huge ammount of components available, all the sizes and weights and geometries make getting it right first time a tough one.
Not helping is it?
If your just a fit rider that wants a nice bike to ride then any good off the peg £1500 bike and up will feel good.

The frame upgrade will help a bit but doesn’t have to be carbon. The real difference will be for the bike as a whole; at that price range almost everything will be lighter and 3-4lb is noticeable, especially if the wheels are better quality.

Will the bike make you go faster or longer?-no ( and anyone who tells you different is either trying to sell you a bike or has listened to too much marketing bulls***). If you really want to go faster and longer then spend a fraction of the money on a coach.

I’ve got a 2009 Allez Elite to commute on, and a 2005 Trek Madone SL 5.9. Despite the Trek being rather old now, it’s so much nicer to ride, the Allez feels flexy and slow, it’s heavy, it doesn’t climb nearly as well and the ride is harsh.

It’s not comparing like for like, the wheels obviously make a huge difference, but I really don’t like riding the Allez in comparison, and the Trek always feels brilliant when I get on it.

Just my 2p worth, I had Cad4 alloy 105 equiped road bike and just got a focus cayo. The cayo is better in every respect, and most importantly the harshness of the ride. The cayo seems to take the sting out the crap road surface without making it feel flexy.

Just to confuse matters, I’ve found the complete opposite – built up a Trek carbon frame (not sure which one) and I actually prefer my Langster 😀

Maybe it’s because I was a lot fitter when I was riding my Specialised quite a bit, and after a few months of not much riding, and getting on the Trek, it’s more lack of fitness than the bike.

However, I find the aluminium frame a lot more responsive, and comfortable, the carbon frame is pretty harsh, and doesn’t seem to put the power down as directly.

Obviously one carbon frame can be worlds apart from another, but it’s certainly worth riding before buying.

Cheers, Rich

Will the bike make you go faster or longer?-no

Despite trying to pre-defend this position, that’s not entirely true. A better bike will make you faster and reduce fatigue. What makes a better bike is perhaps the question…

Anyway, to add weight to those who are ‘either trying to sell you a bike or [have] listened to too much marketing bulls***’ a carbon frame does make a difference. I went from alu to carbon last year – it’s easy to ride it for 4+ hours whereas my wrists complained after about an hour on the alu. It’s easier to move around the road, and seems to skip over rough patches much better than the alu.

Turboferret I’m stunned, particularly as the Langsters are awful things! Really harsh and generally unpleasant to ride!

Like I say, I’m not making a totally fair comparison, my Allez has nasty hubs with cheap Mavic rims and 32 plain gauge spokes, whilst the Madone has Bontrager Race X Lites. In fact the wheels on my Epic including tyres, rotors, cassette etc weigh less than those on the Allez!

I suspect that playing musical wheels would make a huge difference, but the bottom bracket stiffness is worlds apart between the 2 bikes.

Correct fit and good wheels are the most important things.

Can you get to a good bike shop (like Swinnos in Fenton) and try a few out?

I didn’t know how bad my bike was until I hired a T-Mobile Giant in Majorca and suddenly found how a good bike should feel.

Depends on the frame I suppose. My take on it is that a carbon frame can be built to be more comfortable/lighter/stiffer/whatever you’re interested in than an aluminium one, but won’t necessarily have those properties just because it’s carbon. As others have said upgrading some of the other bits on your Allez will probably be cheaper and more noticeable.

That said, if you want one then do it anyway!

I think you need to start calling it a road bike too