The "Show off your bike" thread!
Discussion
Antony Moxey said:
vwsurfbum said:
Finally took a picture of the latest bike.intense Carbine 160mm 29er with added cookies.
How do you pedal in that gear in the pic? It looks as though you’d be doing something like two pedal revolutions to every wheel revolution so unless you can pedal REALLY fast surely you’d be going too slowly to stay upright?
Sa Calobra said:
Antony Moxey said:
vwsurfbum said:
Finally took a picture of the latest bike.intense Carbine 160mm 29er with added cookies.
How do you pedal in that gear in the pic? It looks as though you’d be doing something like two pedal revolutions to every wheel revolution so unless you can pedal REALLY fast surely you’d be going too slowly to stay upright?The suspension arc is a lot smother than other bikes i've had and far better than using a single pivot arrangement. (my last bike with that was a transition covert, and you did notice it then)
Ard Rock in a couple of weeks, so if i'm going to feel it, i'll feel it there.
In a world where you don’t buy a “mountain bike” any more, you buy a trail/enduro/all mountain etc.....
I present my “mountain bike”:
I’ve had it since new in 2004 I think. It’s rather light as whenever anything wears out it gets a lighter replacement. The chain needs a clean, the tyres are cracking (as they always do) and the forks need a rebuild. It’s still a great bike and quite fast. I’ve managed 50mph gps downhill on the road. I may have even done 1 race on it and one timed sprint and one off road triathlon. I didn’t like those very much.
I present my “mountain bike”:
I’ve had it since new in 2004 I think. It’s rather light as whenever anything wears out it gets a lighter replacement. The chain needs a clean, the tyres are cracking (as they always do) and the forks need a rebuild. It’s still a great bike and quite fast. I’ve managed 50mph gps downhill on the road. I may have even done 1 race on it and one timed sprint and one off road triathlon. I didn’t like those very much.
My new Giant Talon 2 29er in large frame. This replaces a (don't laugh!) 20 year old Giant Alu mountain bike, that I've been using for the last year (aka "old faithful"). I've been doing a 18 mile commute to work, 2 or 3 days a week, for the last year, replacing a horrid 40 mile drive up and down the M11, that thankfully I don't have to do any more, due to being made redundant. I now work 9 miles from home. I set my self a target last year to see if I could ride to work a few days a week, and somehow, I have managed it, despite not being as young as I was, and considerable ribbing for some of the folk at work for riding such an old bike! But old faithful did the job and I feel better for it. So now time for a new bike and here it is, yellow and black, in the same colours as old faithful, which I have fond memories of, I can't throw it out, I shall keep it for sentimental reasons!
I'm on a budget, and am aware the Talon may be not as high end and some of the bikes on here, but so far I'm very impressed with it. Like night and day compared to the old bike, It feels very very much faster with only about 2/3rds of the effort being required. Everything about it is light years ahead of the old bike (it would be really!) I think it will be perfect for my commute, half of which is on paths and through forest.
Happy days ahead, any body else have one of these?
Edited by GSE on Friday 20th July 18:52
GSE said:
My new Giant Talon 2 29er in large frame. This replaces a (don't laugh!) 20 year old Giant Alu mountain bike, that I've been using for the last year (aka "old faithful"). I've been doing a 18 mile commute to work, 2 or 3 days a week, for the last year, replacing a horrid 40 mile drive up and down the M11, that thankfully I don't have to do any more, due to being made redundant. I now work 9 miles from home. I set my self a target last year to see if I could ride to work a few days a week, and somehow, I have managed it, despite not being as young as I was, and considerable ribbing for some of the folk at work for riding such an old bike! But old faithful did the job and I feel better for it. So now time for a new bike and here it is, yellow and black, in the same colours as old faithful, which I have fond memories of, I can't throw it out, I shall keep it for sentimental reasons!
I'm on a budget, and am aware the Talon may be not as high end and some of the bikes on here, but so far I'm very impressed with it. Like night and day compared to the old bike, It feels very very much faster with only about 2/3rds of the effort being required. Everything about it is light years ahead of the old bike (it would be really!) I think it will be perfect for my commute, half of which is on paths and through forest.
Happy days ahead, any body else have one of these?
Edited by GSE on Friday 20th July 18:52
Ares said:
Hired a TREK Emonda SLR Di2 last week to ride Ventoux.
Very impressed....although could have done with discs brakes for the descent....!
You'd need deep pockets, but the Emonda is available with discs. the 2018 SLR 8 is full (mechanical) DuraAce with hydraulic discs for £5,600. If you "downgrade" to the slightly heavier SL frame, you could have a 2018 SL 7 with Ultegra Di2 and hydraulic discs for £4,500. There's a new 2019 Émonda SLR 7 Disc at £5,850.00 which pairs Ultegra Di2 with hydraulic discs.Very impressed....although could have done with discs brakes for the descent....!
I'm happy with my 2015 Emonda SL 6 with mechanical Ultegra and rim brakes, but then again I've not ridden up (nor down) Mt Ventoux. I thought that was expensive when I parted with £2,300 for it.
Beautiful bikes though, if the current ones ride anywhere nearly as nice as the earlier ones. I've spent hundreds of hours and near 10,000 miles on mine, and never felt the need to swap even the saddle. The only "upgrade" it had was better brake pads and nicer, slightly wider tyres when the old ones wore out.
The 2019 range starts at £1,100 for the aluminium framed ALR 4 with ten-speed Tiagra, and tops out at £9,300 for the Émonda SLR 9 (D/A Di2) Disc (with a claimed weight of 6.32 kg - 56cm frame).
yellowjack said:
Ares said:
Hired a TREK Emonda SLR Di2 last week to ride Ventoux.
Very impressed....although could have done with discs brakes for the descent....!
You'd need deep pockets, but the Emonda is available with discs. the 2018 SLR 8 is full (mechanical) DuraAce with hydraulic discs for £5,600. If you "downgrade" to the slightly heavier SL frame, you could have a 2018 SL 7 with Ultegra Di2 and hydraulic discs for £4,500. There's a new 2019 Émonda SLR 7 Disc at £5,850.00 which pairs Ultegra Di2 with hydraulic discs.Very impressed....although could have done with discs brakes for the descent....!
I'm happy with my 2015 Emonda SL 6 with mechanical Ultegra and rim brakes, but then again I've not ridden up (nor down) Mt Ventoux. I thought that was expensive when I parted with £2,300 for it.
Beautiful bikes though, if the current ones ride anywhere nearly as nice as the earlier ones. I've spent hundreds of hours and near 10,000 miles on mine, and never felt the need to swap even the saddle. The only "upgrade" it had was better brake pads and nicer, slightly wider tyres when the old ones wore out.
The 2019 range starts at £1,100 for the aluminium framed ALR 4 with ten-speed Tiagra, and tops out at £9,300 for the Émonda SLR 9 (D/A Di2) Disc (with a claimed weight of 6.32 kg - 56cm frame).
I was really impressed with the Emonda, it did ride beautifully, better than I expected, preferred the ride of my Dogma, but thats probably more down to familiarity. Prices points about the same.
Pal has just ordered an F10 Disc and it's £10,500 after a discount!
Well I finally took delivery of my Canyon, an Ultimate CF SLX Disc 8.0 Di2, in Stealth paint job of course. I’ve been looking at getting an Ultimate since about 2014 but could never really justify it so this was pretty exciting for me.
Had this a couple of weeks now and I’m absolutely loving it, so nice to have a bike that actually fits me, I’m 2m tall and this is a 2XL frame. The reach is spot on, but the bars are actually slightly higher than my last bike so I’m going to cut the steerer down a bit.
Di2 is completely unnecessary but absolutely brilliant, you find yourself changing gear much more often. I’ve got it set to synchronous shifting so you don’t need to use the left shifter, it just drops onto the inner ring when it needs to and shifts up two sprockets on the cassette to keep the ratios incremental.
Disc brakes on a road bike are excellent too, so much more confidence and easy to brake hard and change down at the same time. I’m using my old bike when it rains and calipers in the wet after riding this are scarily useless.
I thought the ride was going to be quite harsh but even though the bike feels very stiff, it’s much more forgiving through the saddle. I think the seatpost is responsible for most of this, as you can feel the rough surfaces through the bars and pedals but not the saddle, it flexes quite a bit.
It weighs exactly 8.0kg with pedals, I knew it wasn’t going to be the lightest as the the discs, Di2 and those Cosmics add about a kilo over the rim brake mechanical model, plus it’s the biggest frame size. It feels nice and light to ride though after 5 years on a 9.2kg alloy bike (that started life weighing 10.5kg), and the aero and wheels make a noticeable difference to the top speed.
It makes me want to ride it all the time, and that’s the most important thing.
GSE said:
My new Giant Talon 2 29er in large frame. This replaces a (don't laugh!) 20 year old Giant Alu mountain bike, that I've been using for the last year (aka "old faithful"). I've been doing a 18 mile commute to work, 2 or 3 days a week, for the last year, replacing a horrid 40 mile drive up and down the M11, that thankfully I don't have to do any more, due to being made redundant. I now work 9 miles from home. I set my self a target last year to see if I could ride to work a few days a week, and somehow, I have managed it, despite not being as young as I was, and considerable ribbing for some of the folk at work for riding such an old bike! But old faithful did the job and I feel better for it. So now time for a new bike and here it is, yellow and black, in the same colours as old faithful, which I have fond memories of, I can't throw it out, I shall keep it for sentimental reasons!
I'm on a budget, and am aware the Talon may be not as high end and some of the bikes on here, but so far I'm very impressed with it. Like night and day compared to the old bike, It feels very very much faster with only about 2/3rds of the effort being required. Everything about it is light years ahead of the old bike (it would be really!) I think it will be perfect for my commute, half of which is on paths and through forest.
Happy days ahead, any body else have one of these?
Edited by GSE on Friday 20th July 18:52
A few well chosen upgrades (new bolt thru wheels and then fork maybe?) and you'll be flying!
MiseryStreak said:
Well I finally took delivery of my Canyon, an Ultimate CF SLX Disc 8.0 Di2, in Stealth paint job of course. I’ve been looking at getting an Ultimate since about 2014 but could never really justify it so this was pretty exciting for me.
Had this a couple of weeks now and I’m absolutely loving it, so nice to have a bike that actually fits me, I’m 2m tall and this is a 2XL frame. The reach is spot on, but the bars are actually slightly higher than my last bike so I’m going to cut the steerer down a bit.
Di2 is completely unnecessary but absolutely brilliant, you find yourself changing gear much more often. I’ve got it set to synchronous shifting so you don’t need to use the left shifter, it just drops onto the inner ring when it needs to and shifts up two sprockets on the cassette to keep the ratios incremental.
Disc brakes on a road bike are excellent too, so much more confidence and easy to brake hard and change down at the same time. I’m using my old bike when it rains and calipers in the wet after riding this are scarily useless.
I thought the ride was going to be quite harsh but even though the bike feels very stiff, it’s much more forgiving through the saddle. I think the seatpost is responsible for most of this, as you can feel the rough surfaces through the bars and pedals but not the saddle, it flexes quite a bit.
It weighs exactly 8.0kg with pedals, I knew it wasn’t going to be the lightest as the the discs, Di2 and those Cosmics add about a kilo over the rim brake mechanical model, plus it’s the biggest frame size. It feels nice and light to ride though after 5 years on a 9.2kg alloy bike (that started life weighing 10.5kg), and the aero and wheels make a noticeable difference to the top speed.
It makes me want to ride it all the time, and that’s the most important thing.
I can't decide whether to go for Endurace or Ultimate, what made the decision for you? Interesting about the bar height.
louiebaby said:
As a huge chap, comfortably over 2m, thanks for the write-up. It looks great, and is in the sort of spec I'd love to be able to justify.
I can't decide whether to go for Endurace or Ultimate, what made the decision for you? Interesting about the bar height.
Ah, another massive rower/cyclist! I recognise your username from the rowing threads...I can't decide whether to go for Endurace or Ultimate, what made the decision for you? Interesting about the bar height.
I did toy with the idea of an Endurace for a while, but that was before they released the Ultimate Disc. My first bike is a Scott Speedster, which despite being their budget alloy range, is actually quite aggressive geometry with aero tube profiles. So it didn't really make sense for me to wax 4 grand on what would be a slower bike, even if it would feel lovely to ride and probably better suited to the roads around me. I also like to do 10 and 25 mile TTs on the Preston Park cycle track, as it's 2 minutes from my work, so wanted something more suited to that. The bar height probably makes more difference to the overall aero position than the frame geometry, so if you do lots of big rides/touring then the Endurace is probably the one for you.
I guess I wanted a UCI tour frame too!
The 2XL height range is 196-204cm, so perfect for me, if you're over 204cm then they do a 3XL size in the CF SL range but not the CF SLX.
The Canyon experience wasn't perfect for me. The Di2 battery comes uncharged and they forgot to pack the charger so I had to drive up to Evans in Gatwick to pick one up so I could even put it together (I took the back wheel off and then couldn't get it back on as you can't change gear without juice!). DHL also left the box under a tree in my front garden without a signature and didn't text or email me to say so, despite me signing up to their tracking service!
When I got through to their UK HQ on the Monday, they were really helpful and refunded the charger cost.
shalmaneser said:
Good for you - it's never too late to start cycling! Sounds like you have a fun commute - I wish my 7 odd miles was through forest instead off the cut and thrust of London Traffic!
A few well chosen upgrades (new bolt thru wheels and then fork maybe?) and you'll be flying!
Thank you. Since I acquired the Talon, my mileage has rocketed, and this week I'm on target for a full weeks commuting using the bike. When I started commuting a year or so ago, I used to ache a bit, and I'd be down on energy afterwards, but now I just don't seem to notice it anymore, and I have a lot more energy. My route takes me via a foot bridge over the M11, often I look down at the queued up traffic as I pass over it, and think how lucky I am not to be stuck in it. The biggest obstacles I have to deal with now are rabbits on the path!A few well chosen upgrades (new bolt thru wheels and then fork maybe?) and you'll be flying!
I'm sure some of you are as nerdy as me about keeping an eye on bike sales. I've been looking for an upgrade from my lovely but slightly undersized and quite dated Lapierre X-Flow for a while, and had seriously considered this bike at full price. Then Evans introduced their "Trade in any bike for 10% discount" deal, and I nearly clicked. Then it was dropped by £400 in the summer sale, and an XL size was available. Sold!
It's a Norco Sight A2 29.
Just back in from a maiden buzz round Follow the Dog at Cannock, and it is superb. I was worried the extra travel and beefier frame might lose me pace uphill but PBed the main fire-road climb instead, the 29er wheels do the job! It is far more agile than I would have believed, and actually fitting on the bike is brilliant.
It's a Norco Sight A2 29.
Just back in from a maiden buzz round Follow the Dog at Cannock, and it is superb. I was worried the extra travel and beefier frame might lose me pace uphill but PBed the main fire-road climb instead, the 29er wheels do the job! It is far more agile than I would have believed, and actually fitting on the bike is brilliant.
Edited by Paraicj on Wednesday 8th August 22:31
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