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[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/44108154@N06/7368425960/ ]IMAG0135[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/44108154@N06/ ]darren_thorp[/url], on Flickr
So had my first road bike for a couple of weeks now, 4 rides and around 120 miles I have to say I wish I'd bought it earlier.
I spent several months researching, and had ordered a Canyon AL (which was rated highly in a recent review of cycling plus). Sadly it turned out the bike wouldn't have been ready till end of July so I cancelled my order, and went with Rose.
When you compare to the prices that the main stream brands are asking for similar spec levels it is outstanding value. Rose also give you the option to customize (whereas Canyon is off the peg only). This bit of the website is brilliant, but also will be guaranteed to encourage you to spend more.
I had two upgrades from standard - carbon 3t team bars (I have broken both wrists in the past and wanted a bit of comfort) and mavic cosmic carbones (if I am honest, due to the looks...) all in £2100....
Got to say it really shifts, for minimal effort on the flat (zone 1.5) it is easy to maintain 17mph. Found that I can now just 'pop' down to the beach from Southampton in under an hour! (picture is of Lepe, one of my favourite places in the New Forest).
The best part of it though is the lack of faff compared to mountain biking. No cleaning of bike, No peeling off mud caked gear and then sweeping up the kitchen and scrubbing the shower. No driving hours to find somewhere half decent (and legal) to ride.
It won't take the place of mountain biking, I still prefer the technical challenge of off road riding much more, but as a time efficient way of training for XC races and for just getting out it can't be beaten
Happy new roadie....
(one negative, tried using proper road pedals today, bloody difficult to clip in compared to mtd spds)
as a roadie convert of a few months i wholeheartedly agree with the latter part of your OP. looks like a lovely bike too, though I got abuse for forking out £1.5k on my first road bike. 😆
good effort, anyway, enjoy!
How do you find the wheels? I appreciate you've not had that much time on them; I'm toying with getting a pair but I'm not sure they will be anything other than a vanity purchase for me. How are they when its windy?
You'll need to take my findings with a pinch of salt as I have only ridden this bike / wheels but did spend many many hours researching
It has been pretty windy the last couple of weeks, in fact in the picture the bike is on the other side of the wall as it kept getting blown over when I tried to take the photo.
I don't have any trouble at all with strong winds / gusts, as they hit you kind of naturally lean in that direction, or at least I do!
I'd also read they will be slow to accelerate but I have no trouble spinning them up, only been out with a couple of other roadies once (they were on krysiums) and they commented on my turn of speed and catching them by surprise.
Where I do think I notice is on climbs, I haven't tackled any massive hills (there aren't any near me) but notice my mates pulling away on climbs. This could be I'm just not set up on the bike quite right yet as still playing with positioning.
Above all they make the most awesome hum on tarmac. My mate said he could hear me coming a few seconds before I actually overtook him when we were racing a strava segment. In my (sad?) mind it is akin to the rumbling of a v8 🙂
I intend to get into TT in the near future when I get confident on the bike so they made a little sense. After some clip on bars next.
theflatboy - my original budget was 'only' £1500 too, but I got dragged into upgrading, for only a couple of hundred more I could get a carbon frame, a couple hundred more fancy wheels... etc....
glad I did, I am a serial mountain bike upgrader, I am hoping everything on this bike is good enough that I'll only upgrade when it wears out.
that's the spirit, my perspective as well basically!