Very tempted by a new road bike...

[TheLemming]

Quick background,

I took up cycling early in the summer and ended up kinda hooked.

I've now a MTB and a cheap Carrera TDF road bike, and the road bike gets the most usage, managed 320 miles last month so I'm hitting about ten miles a day and slowly dragging my fitness level up from my initial "Take a break after a mile for a fag" starting point. I've still got a long way to go.

I've bumped into this one on Chain reaction, full carbon, full dura-ace

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/eddy-merckx-emx...

The spec looks insane from my limited experience, and it looks mad for the price....
1500 quid however is a hell of a lot of money - while I can currently afford it, its a stretch.

Am I better off sticking with my TDF for the winter, instead of getting a bike I cant afford to break, would be paranoid as hell leaving anywhere, couldn't lock up at a bike rack in town etc (typical trip is over to my girlfriends, then I've got the bike there to potter up to town on etc).

I was planning on running the TDF through the winter and then getting something better in the spring (Something like the planet X 1k specials) - instead of spending a fortune on something I cant use in the wet and stty weather etc.

I'm torn....

[Disco You]

Do you really ride a 45cm frame?

[944fan]

Don't take this the wrong way, but at 10 miles a day what benefit do you think you are going to get from a full carbon number with Dura Ace?

[ChrisMCoupe]

As said, I'm not sure how EM bikes are for sizing, but 45cm is a kids bike in my eyes.

Good VFM though.

[TheLemming]

The EM 45cm is apparently suitable for about 5'4" riders, which is me lol. Emphasis on apparently....

And I did say I was planning on upgrading next year when my fitness level has climbed further lol. Or that was the original plan anyway before being tempted by shiny things...

[itsnotarace]

If it fits, buy it. You get full groupset including cranks and brakes, which is worth a grand on it's own


Frame: Carbon 30HM 3K
Fork: Carbon Tapered 1 1/8” – 1 ¼”
Chainset: Shimano Dura-Ace FC7900 50/34t
Front Derailleur: Shimano Dura-Ace FD7900
Rear Derailleur: Shimano Dura-Ace RD7900
Shifters: Shimano Dura-Ace ST7900
Cassette: Shimano Dura-Ace CS7900 11/25t
Wheel Set: Shimano RS30
Tyres: Vittoria Zaffiro Pro 700 x 23c
Brakes: Shimano Dura-Ace BR7900
Handlebar: FSA Carbon K-Force Compact
Stem: FSA OS-99 Alloy/Carbon Wrap
Saddle: Prologo Scratch Pro
Seat Post: FSA Carbon Team Issue

[gangzoom]

No idea how good the frame is but as already said the groupset alone is nearly worth the cost of the bike. But a 45cm frame must be tiny.

[Steve Evil]

Treat yourself!

I'm getting a roadie built up over the next week or so which is a bit of a mongrel parts-wise, but should be half decent (thread inbound at some stage). Do plan on treating myself to something carbon-framed and sexy early next year though.

Why not set yourself a target of doing a 100 mile sportive or something? That way you've got a goal to work towards and a reason for getting out on your new toy as often as possible.

[TheLemming]

Steve Evil said:

Treat yourself!

I'm getting a roadie built up over the next week or so which is a bit of a mongrel parts-wise, but should be half decent (thread inbound at some stage). Do plan on treating myself to something carbon-framed and sexy early next year though.

Why not set yourself a target of doing a 100 mile sportive or something? That way you've got a goal to work towards and a reason for getting out on your new toy as often as possible.

That's already the target for next year, which a few months ago seemed impossible, but I can see it within sight at that kind of timescale.
My friends are suggesting that perhaps something like this, mega deal or not, is best reserved as a reward for accomplishing that...

[Steve Evil]

TheLemming said:

My friends are suggesting that perhaps something like this, mega deal or not, is best reserved as a reward for accomplishing that...

That's the other way to look at it I suppose. I've got myself signed up for an 84 mile ride at the end of October, only got back into cycling a couple of months back, but wanted to give myself a goal to work towards. If I can crack that, I'll be signing up for some more and then justify going out to buy something a bit more fancy.

I'm very much a flash in the pan kind of guy, over the years I've dabbled in snowboarding, photography, model painting and numerous other pursuits that I never stick with and I'm hoping cycling doesn't become like that, mainly because I know I need to do a regular form of exercise but simply don't enjoy going to the gym. The fact that I can get my exercise whilst going to work is a real bonus and finding myself out for 3 hour rides at the weekend is quite unexpected, yet I'm enjoying it.

[scubadude]

TheLemming said:

My friends are suggesting that perhaps something like this, mega deal or not, is best reserved as a reward for accomplishing that...

I'd agree with that- I thought I might grow out of the second hand bike I was given to get on the road, 18months later and despite it being 10yrs old its still more talented than I am but practice and weight loss from riding has meant the weekend 30mile jaunts have dropped from 4hours with stops to sub-2hrs without and I've done 60-75mile Sportives happily.

100miles sounds like a minimum distance to cover to justify a new bike. What time you going to set as the purchase target? :-)

[Clio200pat]

Sure it is a great deal but I think it will be too small for you.

My girlfriend is 5’3” and rides a 48cm road bike that she was properly fitted for. So pretty sure a 45cm frame would be way too small for you.

[itsnotarace]

Clio200pat said:

Sure it is a great deal but I think it will be too small for you.

My girlfriend is 5’3” and rides a 48cm road bike that she was properly fitted for. So pretty sure a 45cm frame would be way too small for you.

It depends on the geometry of the frame, as well as his body dimensions, so you can't say that unless you know that your girlfriends body dimensions match OP's and she rides the same frame as OP is considering

[Karl911]

Reference the frame sizing. When I rode MTB, I always tried to get as small as frame as possible 17", not only because I thought they looked better but also because I could get leant over the frame a lot better.
What would be the disadvantage to having a small road bike frame and having a slightly longer seat post?. I'm talking about a tiny frame but maybe a 45cm. I'm 5'11".

[Steve Evil]

Karl911 said:

Reference the frame sizing. When I rode MTB, I always tried to get as small as frame as possible 17", not only because I thought they looked better but also because I could get leant over the frame a lot better.
What would be the disadvantage to having a small road bike frame and having a slightly longer seat post?. I'm talking about a tiny frame but maybe a 45cm. I'm 5'11".

You'd have to contort yourself in order to reach the drops for a start. At 5'11" you'd be looking at a 58cm frame really.

[anonymous-user]

Fair point, where women and men are the same height, its more than likely that the woman will have longer legs and a shorter torso, I'd bet anything measuring 45cm is way too cramped for a man in terms of reach from saddle to bars...

[itsnotarace]

Karl911 said:

What would be the disadvantage to having a small road bike frame and having a slightly longer seat post?. I'm talking about a tiny frame but maybe a 45cm. I'm 5'11".

The seatpost has very little bearing, your problem would be stack and reach. On smaller frames the headtube will be much shorter either leaving you with a foot of spacers under the stem. Talking of stems, you would need something like a 180mm to make up for the shorter top tube and give you enough reach. Good luck with that!

[MrAdaam]

Steve, I might be completely wrong here but you appear to be advising on the large side for these frames? I was advised that I'd need a 58 frame with my being a 6'/6'1 bloke. Have I been advised wrong? Sorry to hijack slightly!

ETA - this was for a roadie

[WinstonWolf]

A 56 is the norm for a six footer.

[itsnotarace]

MrAdaam said:

Steve, I might be completely wrong here but you appear to be advising on the large side for these frames? I was advised that I'd need a 58 frame with my being a 6'/6'1 bloke. Have I been advised wrong? Sorry to hijack slightly!

It depends on the geometry of the frame in question