New road bike, the fun of choosing
Discussion
I'm looking for a new road bike in the next 12 months and am in the very fortunate position to be able to afford something quite special.
My current criteria is that it should be new, beautiful, use Campagnolo Super Record, have sharp handling and feel special to own.
I currently have a 2014 Wilier GTR with Dura Ace, and the current Wilier line up has the Filante SLR with Super Record 13. This has the same reach and stack as my GTR (as what was 'endurance' is now 'race') and at £12k looks to be the front runner.
However as it's a fair weather bike I do wonder if it's the last chance saloon to build something truly special as a 'last rim braked' top level bike.
Colnago still list a C68 Rim model, and I could find enough New Stock Campagnolo Super Record 12 EPS (or even mechanical Super Record) to make a wonderful bike.
The thing is I'm not sure if I can be bothered with 'charging my gears' before a ride or using an app to fine tune my mechs.
Has anyone got any other suggestions on a similar budget?
My current criteria is that it should be new, beautiful, use Campagnolo Super Record, have sharp handling and feel special to own.
I currently have a 2014 Wilier GTR with Dura Ace, and the current Wilier line up has the Filante SLR with Super Record 13. This has the same reach and stack as my GTR (as what was 'endurance' is now 'race') and at £12k looks to be the front runner.
However as it's a fair weather bike I do wonder if it's the last chance saloon to build something truly special as a 'last rim braked' top level bike.
Colnago still list a C68 Rim model, and I could find enough New Stock Campagnolo Super Record 12 EPS (or even mechanical Super Record) to make a wonderful bike.
The thing is I'm not sure if I can be bothered with 'charging my gears' before a ride or using an app to fine tune my mechs.
Has anyone got any other suggestions on a similar budget?
With that sort of budget I would be tempted to go for something like this, which I think would feel truly special.....
https://www.quirkcycles.com/ratpenat
Put this away after a ride and I would definitely be doing a lookback before closing the garage door.
https://www.quirkcycles.com/ratpenat
Put this away after a ride and I would definitely be doing a lookback before closing the garage door.
Pablo16v said:
With that sort of budget I would be tempted to go for something like this, which I think would feel truly special.....
https://www.quirkcycles.com/ratpenat
Put this away after a ride and I would definitely be doing a lookback before closing the garage door.
That's the kind of thing I'm after, great suggestion. https://www.quirkcycles.com/ratpenat
Put this away after a ride and I would definitely be doing a lookback before closing the garage door.
How about a Feather ? I know Ricky has announced he’s shutting up shop but I wonder if he has any build slots left. A Condor Acciaio stainless is available with rim brakes & custom fit & paint.
Saffron Frameworks make beautiful looking frames & would be worth a look also.
Saffron Frameworks make beautiful looking frames & would be worth a look also.
Edited by andySC on Saturday 27th September 23:36
andySC said:
How about a Feather ? I know Ricky has announced he s shutting up shop but I wonder if he has any build slots left. A Condor Acciaio stainless is available with rim brakes & custom fit & paint.
Don’t want to hijack the thread, but I’ve been thinking of ordering a gravel bike from Condor with an Accacio stainless frame? How do they ride compared to a standard steel or aluminium frame? Or are they really about longevity?Edited by andySC on Saturday 27th September 23:36
No problem with the hi-jack as frame material is part of my thought process too.
I have ridden everything from gas pipe steel to the latest Carbon frames.
In my opinion the best road frames were (in order)
Scandium 2006 Wilier Easton 7000 series Scandium (Aluminium) frame.
Monocoque Carbon 2014 Wilier.
Tig welded Ti, 1994 Eddy Merckx Titanium Ax (Litespeed built).
Lugged steel, 1992 Eddy Merckx Corsa Extra.
1990 Peugeot 531c.
Bonded Titanium, 1992 Raleigh Dyna-Tech.
Welded Aluminium, 1993 Cannondale 2.8 series.
Modern oversize steel frames have that springy ‘alive’ quality that the Scandium frames posessed. Actually that’s the wrong way around as the Scandium tube sets were trying to emulate steel & remove the ‘dead’ and overly stiff feeling that the Cannondale had.
Titanium is interesting but honestly both Ti road bikes I owned were overly flexy in the bottle bracket area, modern frames are probably better.
Ti is very comfy & corrosion resistant so I always felt it was better suited to mountain bikes, or gravel bikes.
Modern monocoque carbon is brilliant, especially as it gives control over where the frame is stiff. You can get something with a bottom bracket & head tube that feel set in stone & still dial out road buzz.
Choices eh!
I have ridden everything from gas pipe steel to the latest Carbon frames.
In my opinion the best road frames were (in order)
Scandium 2006 Wilier Easton 7000 series Scandium (Aluminium) frame.
Monocoque Carbon 2014 Wilier.
Tig welded Ti, 1994 Eddy Merckx Titanium Ax (Litespeed built).
Lugged steel, 1992 Eddy Merckx Corsa Extra.
1990 Peugeot 531c.
Bonded Titanium, 1992 Raleigh Dyna-Tech.
Welded Aluminium, 1993 Cannondale 2.8 series.
Modern oversize steel frames have that springy ‘alive’ quality that the Scandium frames posessed. Actually that’s the wrong way around as the Scandium tube sets were trying to emulate steel & remove the ‘dead’ and overly stiff feeling that the Cannondale had.
Titanium is interesting but honestly both Ti road bikes I owned were overly flexy in the bottle bracket area, modern frames are probably better.
Ti is very comfy & corrosion resistant so I always felt it was better suited to mountain bikes, or gravel bikes.
Modern monocoque carbon is brilliant, especially as it gives control over where the frame is stiff. You can get something with a bottom bracket & head tube that feel set in stone & still dial out road buzz.
Choices eh!
FazerBoy said:
Don t want to hijack the thread, but I ve been thinking of ordering a gravel bike from Condor with an Accacio stainless frame? How do they ride compared to a standard steel or aluminium frame? Or are they really about longevity?
I’ve never ridden a stainless frame but it looks fantastic ! I have a Condor Super Acciaio with Campagnolo Record bits, carbon wheels etc. No lightweight (8.5kg) but it rides brilliantly & I’ll never part with it. It’s very stiff, feels fast, it is fast ! I used it lots on my local chain gang & it felt mega. Aluminium? I’ve just bought a Caad 13 to be used as a winter bike & tbh it feels like I’m riding carbon, no buzz or harshness, only a few rides in but I’m impressed with it. Stick Legs said:
No problem with the hi-jack as frame material is part of my thought process too.
I have ridden everything from gas pipe steel to the latest Carbon frames.
In my opinion the best road frames were (in order)
Scandium 2006 Wilier Easton 7000 series Scandium (Aluminium) frame.
Monocoque Carbon 2014 Wilier.
Tig welded Ti, 1994 Eddy Merckx Titanium Ax (Litespeed built).
Lugged steel, 1992 Eddy Merckx Corsa Extra.
1990 Peugeot 531c.
Bonded Titanium, 1992 Raleigh Dyna-Tech.
Welded Aluminium, 1993 Cannondale 2.8 series.
Modern oversize steel frames have that springy alive quality that the Scandium frames posessed. Actually that s the wrong way around as the Scandium tube sets were trying to emulate steel & remove the dead and overly stiff feeling that the Cannondale had.
Titanium is interesting but honestly both Ti road bikes I owned were overly flexy in the bottle bracket area, modern frames are probably better.
Ti is very comfy & corrosion resistant so I always felt it was better suited to mountain bikes, or gravel bikes.
Modern monocoque carbon is brilliant, especially as it gives control over where the frame is stiff. You can get something with a bottom bracket & head tube that feel set in stone & still dial out road buzz.
Choices eh!
I loved my Scandium Rocky Mountain Vertex I have ridden everything from gas pipe steel to the latest Carbon frames.
In my opinion the best road frames were (in order)
Scandium 2006 Wilier Easton 7000 series Scandium (Aluminium) frame.
Monocoque Carbon 2014 Wilier.
Tig welded Ti, 1994 Eddy Merckx Titanium Ax (Litespeed built).
Lugged steel, 1992 Eddy Merckx Corsa Extra.
1990 Peugeot 531c.
Bonded Titanium, 1992 Raleigh Dyna-Tech.
Welded Aluminium, 1993 Cannondale 2.8 series.
Modern oversize steel frames have that springy alive quality that the Scandium frames posessed. Actually that s the wrong way around as the Scandium tube sets were trying to emulate steel & remove the dead and overly stiff feeling that the Cannondale had.
Titanium is interesting but honestly both Ti road bikes I owned were overly flexy in the bottle bracket area, modern frames are probably better.
Ti is very comfy & corrosion resistant so I always felt it was better suited to mountain bikes, or gravel bikes.
Modern monocoque carbon is brilliant, especially as it gives control over where the frame is stiff. You can get something with a bottom bracket & head tube that feel set in stone & still dial out road buzz.
Choices eh!
S100HP said:
Having moved to discs after spending decades riding rim brakes, I've literally no idea why you'd spend that kind of money on a rim brake bike. Discs are far superior imho.
In all weathers then I agree. My 'winter' bike is a Giant Revolt with hydraulic discs and on Somerset country roads not having the grinding paste of pad material, mud & water is a delight. I wore out a set of Mavic Aksium wheels over the course of a few winters, grim.My 'summer' bike, which only comes out when it's nice is using Mavic Exalith rims and Dura Ace 9000 calipers. At the beginning of the month I was in the Alpes and there was no difference in braking performance between my bike and my friend's running Ultegra discs.
The reasons for considering rim brakes and mechanical drivetrain are primarily aesthetic, as well as the chance to own the last of something, much like the last air cooled 911 or the last gated manual Ferrari. The cars that replaced them were in both cases superior, but the nostalgia and romance of the older technology remains strong.
In reality no-one NEEDS anything more than a Giant TCR Advance with Shimano 105. In fact I'd go out on a limb and say if a team in the pro peleton rode them then the bicycles would not be the limiting factor on their performance.
As it is £12k would probably be better spent on taking more time of work to train, or a few cycling holidays with dedicated training camps, or liposuction
.I may yet just buy something completely modern (like the Wilier Filante) and then set about building a neo-retro steed around something like a Tommassini steel frame and some new old stock Campagnolo Record 11 components.
I do find it funny that many people wince at the idea of a £10+ bicycle, which if carefully chosen will give 10+ years of pleasure and reliable enjoyment with negligible running costs, but will gladly lose £10k a year in interest payments, depreciation and servicing on a very humdrum car that will ultimate go back to the dealer after a few years.
The inverse snobbery of the cycling world where having something nice for it's own sake is looked down upon if your legs can't shout as loudly as the bike is another thing. But I have a thick skin, and like beautiful things. So there.
https://www.instagram.com/saffronframeworks/?hl=en
Would be top of my list. I had a custom Colobus XCr frame built with the chap he shared a workshop with and he's a really lovely bloke, and his work is top drawer.
Custom Ti is worth a look - https://burls.co.uk
Field and Demon do some lovely stuff
http://www.fieldcycles.com/works/
https://demonframeworks.com
I'd go metal over carbon myself, and that's from someone with a C64, Enigma Ti and Rusby steel.
That Quirk above is stunning - you'll see a Dogma on every ride. Not so with these.
Would be top of my list. I had a custom Colobus XCr frame built with the chap he shared a workshop with and he's a really lovely bloke, and his work is top drawer.
Custom Ti is worth a look - https://burls.co.uk
Field and Demon do some lovely stuff
http://www.fieldcycles.com/works/
https://demonframeworks.com
I'd go metal over carbon myself, and that's from someone with a C64, Enigma Ti and Rusby steel.
That Quirk above is stunning - you'll see a Dogma on every ride. Not so with these.
Field cycles look to be doing some really cool stuff also. Ive just looked at their website which is pretty clunky, but the istagram account has some wild pictures of their work.
Edit:Ah rats, Galibier beat me to it, but saffron are another brand i follow, i'd happily take either.
Edit:Ah rats, Galibier beat me to it, but saffron are another brand i follow, i'd happily take either.
Edited by craigthecoupe on Sunday 28th September 14:04
Stick Legs said:
...the nostalgia and romance of the older technology remains strong.
I fully agree on the £10k pedal bike versus car man maths justification and I feel lucky enough to even think about about a £5k pedal like let alone a £10k one. However my idea of nostalgia and romance is something like this...Disc brakes are the last thing you need to worry about....Mid drive motor, 290Wh battery, built in GPS and lights, total weight is sub 10kg.
I might even be able to get it on Salary sacrifice so essentially a 45% discount, it'll get ridden once in a lunar eclipse as I have 2 other eBikes already, but it's the absolutely pinical of eBike technology in 2025, and it looks like a bike versus unbalanced moped
.I think now that I'm so use to only riding eBikes, my legs wouldn't know what to do on an analogy bike
.
https://racycles.com/products/time-scylon-campy-su...
European made frame & groupset, a work of contemporary art, 7.3 kilos.
I'll stave off e-Bikes as long as I can, though I do see the appeal!
European made frame & groupset, a work of contemporary art, 7.3 kilos.
I'll stave off e-Bikes as long as I can, though I do see the appeal!
Edited by Stick Legs on Sunday 28th September 21:12
Earlier this year I had a similar dilemma and was looking at some beautiful custom frames and still own a couple of older custom steel frames.
In the end, I got a Fairlight Strael. The reviews got me interested but looking at the engineering they put in to the frames really sold me. I got a bike fit to decide on the correct sizing for me, the compromise is the paint, it's not the same as a custom job which I've spec'd.
The ride though is something else. I got a frame and built to my own spec, you cannot get it with rim brakes but you may come to your senses on that one
I still have one of my old custom frames built up with rim brakes, it's still lovely to ride but the Fairlight is something else.
In the end, I got a Fairlight Strael. The reviews got me interested but looking at the engineering they put in to the frames really sold me. I got a bike fit to decide on the correct sizing for me, the compromise is the paint, it's not the same as a custom job which I've spec'd.
The ride though is something else. I got a frame and built to my own spec, you cannot get it with rim brakes but you may come to your senses on that one
I still have one of my old custom frames built up with rim brakes, it's still lovely to ride but the Fairlight is something else.
Correvor said:
Earlier this year I had a similar dilemma and was looking at some beautiful custom frames and still own a couple of older custom steel frames.
In the end, I got a Fairlight Strael. The reviews got me interested but looking at the engineering they put in to the frames really sold me. I got a bike fit to decide on the correct sizing for me, the compromise is the paint, it's not the same as a custom job which I've spec'd.
The ride though is something else. I got a frame and built to my own spec, you cannot get it with rim brakes but you may come to your senses on that one
I still have one of my old custom frames built up with rim brakes, it's still lovely to ride but the Fairlight is something else.
Rim brakes aren't a deal breaker, and if I want Campagnolo Super Record 13 I'll have to run discs. In the end, I got a Fairlight Strael. The reviews got me interested but looking at the engineering they put in to the frames really sold me. I got a bike fit to decide on the correct sizing for me, the compromise is the paint, it's not the same as a custom job which I've spec'd.
The ride though is something else. I got a frame and built to my own spec, you cannot get it with rim brakes but you may come to your senses on that one
I still have one of my old custom frames built up with rim brakes, it's still lovely to ride but the Fairlight is something else.
S100HP said:
Having moved to discs after spending decades riding rim brakes, I've literally no idea why you'd spend that kind of money on a rim brake bike. Discs are far superior imho.
Because rim brakes look miles better (especially on a nice steel frame) , are lighter, easier to service, 90% as good at braking most of the time, easier to modulate and don't make the worst noise known to man when ever it's damp or wet - which in my experience was also impossible to stop. Gassing Station | Pedal Powered | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff