I fancy an aero bike because they look cool. I have insurance money from my broken one, and am planning to get one of the above with Ultegra Di2. The Cervelo seems to be really quite practical (normal brakes, good clearance, reportedly comfy and stiff albeit not super-aero), but it is pretty pricey – £4k RRP with cheap-ass wheels – can probably get it for about £3600. The equivalent spec Felt is nearer £3400 (Wiggle, with discount). The Canyon is way cheaper – £3500 with Reynolds Strike wheels, or £3250 with Mavic Cosmics.

So, first question: does anyone have any direct experience of any of the above? I can get a test ride on a Cervelo, but Felt dealers seem thin on the ground, and, well the Aeroad is a Canyon.

Second question: 50 – 60 mm deep wheels, is it realistic to expect to ride those _most_ of the time except for the filthiest / windiest of weather? I’d get some shallow wheels for winter etc. too, but not much point having fancy deep ones if I rarely used them.

Thanks all!

I fancy an aero bike because they look cool.

I rented the Cervelo in Majorca. I thought it was pretty comfy, and the di2 is lush. But I did struggle to get really confident on it. I think my Giant roadbike is more forgiving of my lack of skill and ability. Or something like that.

Test ride them?

I have a hankering for the Cervelo myself, but I’ve never ridden one. However, I was taken through the different carbon weaves on the bike by a local bike shop owner, which is the next best thing

I am firmly of the opinion that bikes are things of beauty as well as function. If an aero bike would not be any good for me functionally then I’d be against it, but there isn’t really a downside. The position will be fine. It’ll be light enough, comfy enough and stiff enough, so I see no reason not to go for something that looks cool and is a little more aero to boot.

If this were a purely logical tool purchase then I could get something with 105 for just over a grand that would be damn near as functional, but not every decision is like that…

a bit left field but the new swift carbon hypervox is really impressive. my lbs are the new uk distributors and built one up with mechanical dura ace and nice wheels at 6.9kg. apparently it’s a rocket ship with their race team taking wins on it in their first couple of races. worth a look.

My race bike’s a Felt AR (4 I think). Bought the frame from a friend and swapped bits over. Used for races and training when it’s not raining. Nothing that special about it TBH, rides well, nice and light etc, nice internal cable routing. Does the job. I reckon you’re best not getting too attached to your race bikes, never know when they might get wrecked.

I use deep sections (404s) for racing but prefer handbuilt training wheels the rest of the time. Deep sections make a nice sound right enough.

Not that fussed what my bike looks like I guess!

A top UK duathlon was showing me their Scott Foil 10 the other day, it looked fast if that helps?

I’ve got an S3, it’s awesome. flies along, handles beautifully, climbs well.

but, I’d wait for the disc aeroroad if I were you.

I have an s3 with 40mm Reynolds as avert day wheels. It’s fine in all conditions.
It’s a great bike but sizing can be hard to judge.
I also considered the canyon but the Cervelo pulled at the heart strings.

CFS- I admire the OPs honesty. I’d expect equal distain if he’d said it was because he wanted to faster as that would have been met with scepticism about manufacturers claims and calls for him to train more.

Canyon – I’d be looking at delivery and warranty issue threads on here and elsewhere, though I think the aeroad is one of the best looking aero bikes.

Cervelo seem to have lost their sheen and edge but not their high price. Not exactly objective, but I used to covet the R3/5 but other companies seem to moved on whilst Cervelo rested on laurels (or just released entry-level models) and they wouldn’t even make my wish list top 5 now.

Had a look at the new Scott aero bike?

Edit; have mates with the Cervelo S3 and the Felt AR (105 equipped model). Both equally happy but out of the 2 I much prefer the Felt.

Are canyons still cheap after the £ took a dive? I’m in the same boat. Really like the venge. Bit put off by the s3 as there appear to be several in my extended riding group all ridden by your stereotypical mamil. No issue with them spending their hard earned, just puts me off a little.

I know it’s not an aero bike but the sworks Tarmac disc in sparkly blue is gorgeous looking.

A couple of friends have the Canyon and it does look awesome in real life. They’ve been good with warranty stuff.

ONe thing to look out for is the rake adjust on the fork – it’s worth threadlocking the wee bolt for that in place as it can come loose and is a PITA.

Stay well away from canyon as they will take 6 weeks to assess any warranty issues then tell you that one fault on your £4k mountain bike is caused by washing your bike and the second fault is caused by not washing it. They will then take another two weeks to send it back and try to chanrge you for postage.

I have an Aeroad 8.0 Di2 with Reynolds wheels and it’s a great bike, I regularly use it for century rides and will be using it for LEJOG soon, the 62mm wheels can take some getting used to in the wind and I’d probably recomend getting a shallower set or just a front if your using it all year round. I have had no issues with the bike and delivery was fine.

On the negative side the Canyon customer service is diabolical, I have owned 7 and still have 3, They will do anything to get out if a warranty claim so expect to fight hard and have your bike off the road for months… Read the forums and consider yourself warned from this point on

So if your not bothered about warranty or are willing to take the risk go for it, just make sure you have a spare bike 🙂

Re deep section wheels, I used to lust after them but the wind on the moors has put me off and I’ll always use lightweight shallow section wheels for the type of riding I do. But then you might have more confidence/better bike handling skills than I do.

If you’re not bothered about aero wheels then this evens the prices up a bit. If I was in the market for an aero bike, I’d be having a look at the offerings from Cipollini, Mercx and Trek too.

Let us know what you get 🙂

A further wildcard. Rose do stand by their warranty and are very good, I’ve had 2 now.

What have you done to that poor s3?

Thanks all – some useful info there. I have considered the new Scott Foil. I can’t get over the neon yellow though, it’s just too 80s.

I agree that the Cervelo is not great value for money, and technically I am a MAMIL I guess, though I like to think that I don’t fit that stereotype.

Anyone tried a Look 695? Not aero, but quite nice looking.

MOAR PHATTER AERO!

Crikey.

The plot thickens… this morning I got an email from SportPursuit with a 10% off everything discount code. Had a wee look and saw that the Felt AR FRD frameset was back on there… in my size. They popped up a few weeks back, and I ummed and ahhed for a couple of hours, then they were all sold out. So this time I pulled the trigger straight away! £1500 minus the 10% is £1350, which is an excellent price. They’re still showing availability for 56 cm frames if anyone else is interested. I’m not entirely convinced that it’s not just a glitch, since the delivery date is showing as 28/6 – 1/7. But I guess it’s possible that someone or some people cancelled previous orders.

I was almost set on getting an Canyon Aeroad (had a go on a Canyon Ultimate last night, and found it pretty nice). But I always kind of wanted a Felt, so if this one comes through at that price then I’ll be pretty happy. The only questions now are Ultegra or Dura Ace (Di2-specific frame)? Which wheels?

This bike shopping lark is quite fun.

mate at work has an aeroad with the reynolds deep section

it looks absolutely sick

Personally I couldn’t bring myself to ride something like that in winter though

I’ve close to pulling the trigger on the Canyon ENDURACE CF SLX 8.0 (it lovely red). With the pound tanking and the talk of crappy after sales I’m getting serious cold feet.

3 grand – ultegra, light wheels with disks/thruaxles

recommendations?

Canyon are crazy value for money, there’s no doubt about that. I guess the aftersales is a bit of a gamble, but compared with most alternatives the reality is that you could simply replace anything but the frame and still be better off than if you’d paid more for something else…

With the pound tanking, prices are only going to go one way, so now’s the time to buy I reckon (provided it doesn’t leave you skint and jobless once Brexit’s effects are fully felt)!

Gray- SP don’t hold stock which is why they take so long to deliver stuff, they bulk order from the supplier that they’ve got the deal with.

So I assume your frame is in stock somewhere (maybe a cancelled order) and isn’t a glitch.

And ref Canyon, they used to have a floating price based on exchange rate but last couple of years have fixed UK prices, so yes I’d expect them to put them up soon as they’re now making 10% less than they were a week ago.

I’ve used SP lots – the unusual aspect is that the estimated despatch dates are today or in a couple of days. Haven’t had any email saying “oopsie doops” yet so am crossing my fingers…

fancy a deal ? 2016 model is £2,500

Is that about a foot of drop to the bars?

My S3 looks wicked when I slam the stem and lift the seat. Shame I can’t touch the pedals or bars at the same time 🙂

I did consider a Propel – generally seem pretty good value. The obvious one for me would be 4000 though, with the slightly posher frame, nicer wheels and less garish colours than the above!

Well, it’s showing as ‘shipped’ on the SportPursuit website, so it looks like it’s real… I’d better choose some wheels and stuff I guess!

Oh bollards.

It arrived today, complete with a crack near the top of one of the seatstays. Pretty shallow, at the join of two bits of cloth by the looks of it, so I guess it’s ‘only’ one layer deep. If it was something that appeared after riding or crashing then I’d probably keep riding it, and it might be structurally OK. But this is a brand new frame, and it’s nowhere near acceptable. The box had clearly been opened before, and the frame taken out and then repacked. Could have been entirely innocent, but I strongly suspect that this has been rejected before. Possibly not entirely unrelated to the fact that it mysteriously reappeared weeks after they were first on SP. Maybe somebody just returned it without telling SP why.

I’m glad that I held off on ordering groupset and wheels now!

Follow up: SportPursuit were great about it, very responsive and helpful. They asked for a few more photos, which necessitated getting the frame fully out of its packaging. Turned out that there were much bigger cracks around the BB / chainstay junction. The rear dropout spacer was crushed too. Clearly had a massive smack at some point, and definitely a write off. They asked me to dispose of it, and refunded me straight away. So if anyone needs any bits from an AR (forks, post, etc) then let me know. I ended up getting a Canyon Aeroad, since they couldn’t supply a replacement AR frameset.

I ended up getting a Canyon Aeroad

You actually have it, in your hands? I notice two weeks since the last post, no way did Canyon actually manage to deliver a bike in two weeks 🙂

Fella in our chaingang last night had a new Aeroad. I was looking at it and it looked nice

In my hands. Canyon were way quicker than their estimates…

Update: I like it. Not convinced by the saddle (Fizik Arione). I think it’d be fine if it were flatter on the top instead of being convex side-to-side. It feels a bit like it has the opposite of a cut-out channel.