OK, so three years on from becoming a father, its becoming abundantly clear that 1) my 30s aren’t being as kind to me as my 20s were for base fitness, and 2) I just do not have the time to get out mountain biking as much as I need to in order to even remotely maintain my fitness. I’ve taken my commuter out for a few longer rides, and I think I actually quite like riding on quieter roads and cycle paths, but its weight and geometry (steel frame tourer) put me off doing this regularly. So, I’m now seriously thinking about spending a few grand (budget around $5k AUD) on a light sprightly road bike that would make me excited about riding it, rather than a dull grind as the commuter is (or my Cotic when on the road).

I popped into a local bike shop here in Adelaide, and they caught me off guard by showing me this with $2k off, making it $5k. It seems like quite a good deal. But, I’ve also had an eye on similarly priced Canyons or Ribbles that seem lighter and better specced for that price. I’m sure there are many others in that ball park too.

So, a couple of questions:
1) Does anyone have any views on mail order Canyons or Ribbles, or anything else that can’t easily be looked at in a shop?
2) Is DI-2 worth it?
3) Would I really regret not getting disks? My commuter is on 105 callipers and I have no concerns about its ability to stop in a hurry. But that said, I’ve also had discs on my mountain bikes for about the last 15 years.
4) Has anyone else here been in a similar malaise about cycling and found that getting a new bike really helped motivate them to get back out?
5) A cheaper “fitness improvement” option is a turbo trainer with or without Zwift. But never having set foot in a gym, I’m skeptical about how much I’d really use it.

Thoughts from ex-disillusioned 30-something MTBers much appreciated!

All road bikes are the same! It doesn’t really matter how stiff or light or whatever they are, once you’ve ridden it for a while it just becomes “normal”

Apparently Di2 doesn’t work in the heat.

Discs brakes aren’t necessary if you live somewhere warm with little rain.

There’s no reason to spend $5K on a road bike (unless you want to!) You could spend half that and get something mint. Dunno what the road cycling scene it like in Aus, but you might be able to pick something up second hand.

Save some money for saddles/stems/bars to find something comfortable. Also a decent pair of those shoes that attach to your pedals.

Buy whatever Giant Defy meets your budget.

Di2 is great, if you can afford it. Ultegra is all you need, really. Even 105 is good enough.
Discs are better. Why use early 20th century technology?

This is a mtb forum they’ll say you need discs but you dont and very few people in the UK use them even though its wet 50% of the time.

I would just get the best looking normal road bike your budget can manage not forgetting clothing shoes and maybe a garmin.

Then ride.

This is a mtb forum they’ll say you need discs but you dont and very few people in the UK use them even though its wet 50% of the time.

This thought had occurred to me 🙂

The reason I’m asking here is I’m after a mountainbiker’s perspective on this, being a (semi)lapsed mountainbiker myself.

That Lapierre looks lovely, I make that around £3k GBP.

I’ve no experience with Ultegra Di2 but 6800 mechanical has been excellent for me. 8000 is out if you must have the latest, suspect you’re not too fussed about that.

e2a – I’ve used disc brakes in mtb so very aware of how good they are, particularly hydraulics. I would only bother on a winter bike or anything that’s going to get ridden a lot in shitty conditions (cross bike etc.)

That Lapierre looks lovely, I make that around £3k GBP.

It does, which is the problem, as its RRP is another $2k, so I suspect the next model if I don’t get this will be well out of my range.

This is within my range with a little haggling, and obviously has discs too, but it’s gopping by comparison, and I’ve never been one for “normal” bikes, hence my Soul and the Salsa commuter. But I guess they do bring VFM that boutique brands don’t unless the extra value of the frame can be quantified…

This is within my range with a little haggling

Buy that, then.

Given your location, buying from a bigger brand will not only be better value for money, but also better warranty backup should you need it.

Can you ride them? Might be the best bike in the world but if it doesn’t fit then not worth it. Road bike sizing is a bit more finicky ss you’re often in a static position for much longer periods of time.

Buy that, then.

Whilst I appreciate your confidence in your recommendation, is there a reason for your love of Giants? I can see that it appears good value even compared to mail order Canyons in terms of componentry, but it’s also a kilo heavier than that Canyon, which seems like a lot in road bike land (I dunno, is it??).

The Lapierre is obviously a more expensive frame to be RRP $7k but same spec as the Giant (minus discs). But then so was my Soul relative to a 456, and I reckon that was worth it.

Basically, I have no radar about what makes road bike frame better than another\

EDIT: Seeing your qualification, Giant have their own store in the city, LaPierre’s main dealer (and they shift a lot of them across the road/MTB ranges) is where I would be getting the LaPierre from, so warranty shouldn’t be an issue for either brand. Obviously no way of trying a Canyon or Ribble before purchase, and returns would be very annoying.

They all look like good bikes to me, decent wheels included which is often the week point.

The Giant probably looks better in real life and if you want to go down that route no doubt it will be a superb all rounder.

Personally I would spend a bit of time looking around bike shops see what appeals to you.

Canyon do seem good value with nicely made frames and good spec.

Any options on a Giant TCR?

Will be a bit livelier than a Defy if that’s what you’re after..

Discs are better.

Discs offer no benefit over a good rim brake for the OP’s requirements, and arguably only have negatives for the OP’s intended use (comparative cost, faff and weight).

Why use early 20th century technology?

Because it works. If you are reduced to saying that something should be rejected simply because it is old technology, then you have exposed the weakness of your argument. The fact that something has worked successfully for a 100 years is not actually a reason to discard it (q.v. threaded vs. press fit bottom brackets).

OP, I was in a similar position to you at one point. I had a good quality touring bike, which was set up with (for the time) fastish wheels and 23c tyres, but was neverthless a tourer with heavier gauge tubing, cantilever brakes and a rear rack. I wanted something a bit nicer, lighter and faster, and initially I was going to get a top end audax machine. However, I realised that most of my riding on it would not be audaxes or long day rides, and that the bike would only be ridden for quick blasts in the evening or a morning at the weekend. Consequently I decided that the best tool for the job was a full on road race bike, even though I never raced on it.

Since you have a tourer which you can use for more relaxed rides/rides in bad weather and possibly for any gravel type roads for which you would not use the MTB, you can similarly choose a road bike that is specifically suited for quick blasts.

Taking this to an extreme, you might even decide to go for an extremely aero set up and fit which you might not like riding for a whole day, but I would not do that, and would prefer a set up that I could ride all day long in comfort if I wanted. As akira says, whatever bike you get, you need to get the right size and the fit set up correctly. A bottom of the range Defy or similar that is the right size and fits you well, will be far better than any top end machine that is the wrong size or not fitted to you properly.

I don’t know what the terrain around Adelaide is like, but if most of your riding will be 1-2 hour blasts, you might prefer not to have a 36 inner ring (in fact if the terrain does not have steep/long hills, and/or you are fit, I would prefer a 42 tooth inner, and fit the 36 or a 39 only when I needed it).

Since you have a number of local bike shops, start off by getting some test rides. Also I would strongly recommend a bike fit if you have that option locally. Some of the bike shops may offer fitting, but you want to be sure that they are not trying to fit you to the bike they want to sell you, so I would suggest asking around for recommendations.

Go a rim braked bike unless you are planning on riding it regularly in wet conditions, the wheels at the same price point are much lighter (and the whole bike will be lighter). Second hand roadies are generally a better deal than mountain bikes as they are less beaten up and are often sold to fund the next must have purchase (not something any mountain biker would ever do…). I was lucky and got a very good deal on a second hand cervelo with dura-ace 10 speed, it is a joy to ride around where I live (warrandyte in victoria) on the hills etc, much better bike than I can ride, and I have never suffered from too little braking, although I don’t ride it in the wet very much.
Road bikes are great for base fitness, and covering much bigger distances, but you will see lots of examples of dangerous driving, try to stick to minor roads if possible.
Also you can use mtb pedals and shoes, I haven’t seen any good reason to switch them over on mine as I have run mtb pedals for years (although I do have good rigid XC shoes). Have fun.

IMHO and YMMV

Road disc if hydraulic are better if they work but for simplicity and ease rims brakes are still fine for road use. Cable brake – not overly convinced they are as powerful as rim but they are always consistent so not affected by rain. It would not be something that concerned me personally either way but o think my choice would be
1. Hydraulic
2 Rim
3. Cable disc

Di will be better but marginal gains at a relatively high price- its not a game changer for an occasional user IMHO just like casual MTB users dont really need a dropper post.

Get second hand- the first thing you will think is its tool long and big and you might not get into it so why buy new when you can buy a barely used second hand one form someone who did this

Like MTB any premium brand/make will be good quality

I only really care about the quality of my wheels I am not bothered whether the rest is 105, Ultegra or even Tiagra- it all works fine

Shimano shifting seems better than SRAM might just be my setting of it up though

Its never a bad idea to have a bike that takes wider wheels- dont know state of the roads but 28mm are generally better for here than proper skinnies

Also Lapierre are currently discounted here as apparently they are pulling out of Australia, potentially making their warranty work even more difficult, they do have a reputation for being difficult here in Australia (maybe due to the distributer or not, I don’t know).

As a semi-lapsed MTBist/fair weather roadie, For a first road bike I don’t think I would advise anyone to go straight to a swanky ultegra clad ego chariot, it’s a lovely bike but you’re not certain yet if you’re sold on road cycling, it’s a big investment on that basis…

So perhaps start a bit more ‘down market’ and think more about what you are actually going to do with the bike once you get it, long solo rides? club runs? squeezed in couple of hours at the weekend/evenings? Only you can answer that, but it dictates just where you want to go on the speed vs comfort scale…

Discs for road bikes are a great addition but not enough of a selling point to pick a disc specced bike over a good rim braked one today, there’s still some more settling of standards and wider adoption to happen IMO. And all the while 130mm spaced, caliper braked frames and wheels remain pretty well standardised, easy to work on, and affordable…

This is what I would do:

Maybe halve the budget for the bike and get the best giant, specialized or similar big brand bike with Tiagra or 105 that the budget allows, there may well be a full carbon frameset in that bracket, which will of course be upgradable over time…

Keep the surplus budget in reserve to chuck at kit and possibly a lighter second set of wheels, and certainly clothing, a good fitting, well padded pair of bibs is worth way more to me on just about any ride than discs, Di2 or moar aeroness…

YMMV of course…

I ordered a Canyon Endurace CF9 and it took just over a week to be delivered ( classed as in stock }
Perfectly boxed with just the handlebars,seatpost and wheels to fit.
Gear indexing was spot on with loads of little info leaflets and Canyon handbook.You get all the tools to put it together as well.
The spec for the money,£1750 delivered can’t be matched for a new bike.Especially the wheels which are DT Di Cut.
Claimed 7kg a bit optimistic,but lighter than my Scott CR1.
Most importantly,the ride.Its great.Very secure and accurately tracking front end.Rear has a little bit more give than the Scott but that’s probably due to the carbon leaf spring type seatpost.
I looked on forums and buyers experience with sizing to help me with the size choice.Also used the canyon sizing guide.
No real negativity unless you don’t like the original seat,stem or handlebars.I’ve found them spot on.
I’d have no hesitation buying from canyon again.

Discs offer no benefit over a good rim brake for the OP’s requirements, and arguably only have negatives for the OP’s intended use (comparative cost, faff and weight).

That may be true if you come from rim brakes. If you’re used to discs then rim brakes are ridiculous faffy things and discs are familiar and faff free.

They’re penny farthing era embarrassments which would cause me endless angst being on my bike. That might just be me.

It is.

You know for me if you want a full on race bike that delivers that last 10% of high contrast riding pleasure a full carbon rim brake bike is the most cost effective way to get it.

If your after something more versatile and toned down just about anything will do the job.

At some point all that will matter is your legs anyway.

That may be true if you come from rim brakes. If you’re used to discs then rim brakes are ridiculous faffy things and discs are familiar and faff free.

How many threads can you find on STW and other cycling forums about how to set up and adjust disc brakes, how to bleed brakes, about disc brakes not working correctly, about leaks, about contaminated pads, about brakes fading?

Now compare the answer with how many you can find about adjusting calliper rim brakes and problems with them.

Disc brakes may be familar to you and faff free in your experience, but your experience is clearly not universally representative of many other disc brake users.

They’re penny farthing era embarrassments which would cause me endless angst being on my bike.

Like Captain Flashheart, you are reduced to an argument which has nothing to with actual merits or otherwise of the technology, and which resembles a teenager telling their parents that they cannot wear last year’s trainers because they are no longer fashionable and their mates are all wearing a different brand.

If you’re used to discs then rim brakes are ridiculous faffy things and discs are familiar and faff free

Can i have all your disc brakes please?

just freeing up some pistons today – rim break set it up and it last for ever pretty much IME with no real servicing.

Discs are certainly the more faffy of the two brake systems.

Like Captain Flashheart, you are reduced to an argument which has nothing to with actual merits or otherwise of the technology, and which resembles a teenager telling their parents that they cannot wear last year’s trainers because they are no longer fashionable and their mates are all wearing a different brand.

True. I remember similar conversations about wind up windows vs electric windows with my dad.

I was right then too. 🙂

Chapeau for taking my criticism in such good spirit and humour.

I was right then too.

Ferrari agreed with your dad when they developed the F40.

There’s nowt up with wind up Windows, they never fail, unlike the electric ones in just about every car I’ve owned.

This may sound a bit harsh, but I think it’s your situation, not the buying of a high spec road bike, that is the problem. In six months your family life may still be preventing you from finding time to ride. You’ll have a nice road bike reflecting guilt off the wall at you and be little fitter. Do something about that first.

I’d buy some slicks and a turbo trainer, get onto zwift early in the morning, and get disciplined about some training, then think about road. That way you can mix up family and cycling.

And then buy a Giant TCR or Defy, spec to suit, don’t worry about di2 and discs, they are affectations. Nice things that won’t improve your overall riding experience greatly.

There are always good offers around on road bikes. Local dealerships are more important than brand.

There’s nowt up with wind up Windows, they never fail, unlike the electric ones in just about every car I’ve owned.

A-ha… I may have uncovered a 1:1 relationship between window winder enthusiasts and victorian braking system enthusiasts.

Makes sense.

😀 lol,I like things simple!

I’m in a similar situation OP (but without the cash) and I’m looking at something that can do a bit of both. When I’ve tried road riding in the past, I’ve always ended up seeing little tracks, towpaths etc and been unable to resist riding them.

I’ve always loved MTB and can’t resist seeing where a path or knackered little track might take me. If you’re a mountain biker at heart, you may find a proper road bike to not be as good as something a little more robust. Just a thought.

Same here too,how do those cx/gravel bikes do on the tarmac compared to a proper road bike though? I’m also an off roader at heart but have been thinking of a road bike lately as some of my mates are getting them,prefer the idea of a gravel bike.Would an average rider on a gravel bike keep up with an average rider on a road bike easy enough?

Usual story – bikes are personal so go and test several. I am looking for new road bike, everyone convinced me the roubaix was the best thing ever. I rode it for three hours and hated nearly every second. Horses for courses.

Expect the defy to be the same. So more likely to go for to a thr or Tarmac or splash out on a cervelo in sales or a wyndy miilla

Agree with flashy, in a few years time expect people to wonder why anyone stuck with old brakes.

Tired, I think it’s more an hour out on the road bike takes an hour, an hour out on the MTB takes about three. That was my experience and why I rode more road when the sprogs we’re tiny. You could just wait till they were having a nap, grab a quick blast and be back for them waking up. Getting out of the house and some fresh air was as vital as the exercise.

OP just get what you fancy with the best wheels for the money, allyy frames are often good value

I’m 36 and since having a baby I’m limited on bike time. Commuting is the way I’m keeping some spin going through the legs with a Mid week evening mtb for a couple of hours.

I’m using a carbon fibre racer – in the uk this was £1000 in a sale but the equivalent now is about £1300.

Think it weighs 8kg so 17.6lbs. Sram Rival gearing and basic Mavic aksium wheels. Came with no name rim brakes which I’ve just swapped for some Sram Apex which are better.

In the uk we get a lot of rain and rim brakes are useless – if I could easily swap to disc brakes I would. If you don’t get much rain then decent rim brakes are fine on a racer I’d say.

Not used di2 but equally happy with the gears I’ve got.

I think my priorities would be light / decent frame with a good warranty and very decent wheels above all else.

Its a good point though the actual bike is less important than what your going to do with it.

I’m tiring of Strava now but it certainly improved my fitness for the first few years of using it.

I would get a few local loops you like, time them or make them segments. No doubt there’ll be existing popular competitive segments out there too.

It’ll still take time though 7 hours a week to be close to your best, 5 should get you pretty fit.

Tired, I think it’s more an hour out on the road bike takes an hour, an hour out on the MTB takes about three

Absolutely true. My real point is that I would try and change my activity and discipline before investing in a new bike. I’ve had young kids. When they were really little, they sat in a seat on the back and I went out at 6 am to “see the cows!” When they were a little older, they moved onto the back of a tandem for ride up to about 30 miles (basically they were the luggage so plenty of fitness gains). When they became teens, I took road riding seriously and began road racing. Looking back, I’d have done more inside training in my time for fitness.

Bought my nice bling road bike for my 40th. It was stolen, so now I ride a Giant Defy and race a Giant Propel. It is a pretty bling Defy though 😉

I wouldn’t go out and spend big on a first proper road bike. Your first one will be something of an experiment with finding out what you like. Once you’ve done 3-4000mi then you’ll be in a great position to look for an upgrade and use the first one as a turbo or winter bike.

I’d definitely suggest getting down to a LBS that stocks a complete range from any brand so you can have a sit on different bikes with different geometries. Once you know whether you feel more at home on a race bike or something more endurance orientated then you can start looking what to spend your cash on.

To start with i’d look for rim brakes and Shimano 105 around the 8-9kg mark will be fine, no need to go chasing the 7’s.

The midrange of most big firms is excellent these days
I would suggest a 105 or Ultegra level spec
Trek do the Edmonda which is a lightweight flier (what I have).
Rest is down to fitness
With money left over you could get some decent wheels – but I’d get fit first as this will make the biggest difference

PS – I gave my ‘heavy’ Edmonda wheels to the BIL who is fairly conservative with cash and he keeps up fine with what I would consider to be the cream of UK pro’s when they go out training together. So midrange kit really is great these days.

You don’t need Di2

You don’t need Ultegra

You don’t need 105

You barely need Tiagra (I quite liked my old 9s Tiagra, the ability to trim the front mech in a pseudo indexed-friction mode was much easier to setup!)

TBH Sora is pretty good too.

All work perfectly well and the limiting factor in any system is the bit that presses on the pedals.

There is, however, something to be said for getting the right frame for your needs/wants. Have a good long think about the kind of rides you want to do, how flexible you are, what you like about bikes. I don’t race but I like my race bike, I’d compare it to driving a Lotus Elise, it makes me grin even when I’m just pootling. Other people want the bike equivalent of an Audi S4 estate (a sportive/endurance bike, worse in every possible way, except if Chris Froome rode one he’d still wipe the floor with me).

Go on ebay, spend about £300, then upgrade it if you get the bug, I did. £300 bought a then 1 year old entry level CAAD4 bike (about £900 new in 2004 money), it’s now got 1200g wheels, carbon cranks and 7800 Dura Ace. But the important factor is I was much faster on it before I upgraded it because back then I had time to ride it 200miles a week!

And virtually everything everyone says about road bikes is true.
-lycra is comfortable but looks odd
-you do need chamois cream/butter
-roadies are all a bit serious, but only in the same way MTBers are all middle aged tubby blokes trying to look like DHers out for an XC ride whilst pretending to not want to look like DHers and being serious about it.
-you will obsess over details, this is why buying a cheap bike is a good idea, you will want to change EVERYTHING. Buying a cheap bike at least means you’re not buying expensive tyres, wheels, saddle, bars, bar tape, seatpost, brake pads, cables, pedals etc that at some point mid way through a 100mile ride you will obsess over and become convinced that that’s what’s holding you back by 0.5mph. £100 saddles are expensive, they’re even more expensive if you have to take a £100 saddle off first!

All of the above is true
I ride with people who run old Alu frames and they are absolutely deadly wrt the speeds they can get up to.
What I was suggesting is that the midrange kit can also make you feel special if that’s what you are after
I know that I have no excuses on a fairly standard Emonda