Good Road Bike Review Site?

[FunkyPorcini]

I know of Roadbikereview.com but I am looking for something a little closer to the reviews done in Cycle Sport magazine. Something done by a professional reviewer that I can read during lunch.

Anybody know of any?

[JohnS]

I know of Roadbikereview.com but I am looking for something a little closer to the reviews done in Cycle Sport magazine. Something done by a professional reviewer that I can read during lunch.

Anybody know of any?
The Jerk's don't count? :)

[FunkyPorcini]

The Jerk's don't count? :)

Does he have some outside of this forum?

[dnovo]

Most of the online sites are of fairly mixed quality. The more 'common' suffer from too much input by too many people who -- like me -- don't know their butt from a hot rock, but are quick to offer an opinion. The bulk of that noise is peppered, from time to time, by those who may know what they are talking about, but are biased in favor of some arcane areas, like Dr D who loves DT shifters (and is still waiting for 78rpm records to return ;)

Still think the best reviews are Cycling Plus, but they aren't on line. Dave N. (who still owns the Velocette Thruxton he assembled in the 60s working as a part time motorcyle mech to earn college money, and can't understand those who prefer those new-fangled bikes without kick starters or magneto, or that have more than one cyclinder, so why listen to me?)

[dnovo]

By the way, since the free issues of BICYCLING stopped coming (years after I let my subscription to that rag laspse) have the 'professional' reviews that used to appear there (mercifully no longer than a few lines of drivel) improved at all, or are they still one step below self-abuse? Dave N. (who gave up self abuse years ago, he gets his abuse the old fashioned way, it is inflicted on him by life.)

[andy mac]

there are some higher end reviews on:


http://www.pezcyclingnews.com/


subjective is always difficult. can't beat a test ride.

cheers,

andy

[The Spider]

Today I just got an older issue of Bicycling magazine (May 2005)...In an ironic twist it has a review of the Pegoretti Marcelo in it (p98) about 2 hours after I sent an email request to Dario for a custom Marcelo frame...I read with baited breathe!

"I can't remember the last time I advised someone to buy a steel bike"

"What's not to like? Weight."

"our tester slipped over 17 pounds"

"There aren't many racers willing to sacrifice grams for groovy feelings"

"If you want this bike, I don't know who you are, but your beuatiful"

All quotes by Bill Strickland.

What's worse...someone who thinks 17 pound bikes are heavy and can't be raced or the idiot who subscribes to this drivel?

My only defence is that I believe I'm knowlegable to be able to read the reviews and not take them as fact, I would be a sorry site if I believed it all and let that form MY opinion. Steel bikes, sheeessss, there heavy!

Having said that Joe Lindsey is one of my favorite journalists and so was Zapata Espinoza.

[dnovo]

Their 'review' really used the 'g' word? "groovy feelings?" Didn't groovy blip off the 'cool-o-meter' many decades ago? Don't recall seeing that term in a review in the NY Times or any bit of high end media of late (or in the last thirty years) or even in a food store tabloid. I see BICYCLING has maintained the high standards I came to expect and as existed at the time I decided not to use my last issue to wrap up some cat puke --- as an insult to the cat puke. Dave N.

[Wayne77]

www.bicycletest.com has some pretty decent reviews. They've got reviews of a Strong foco, Serotta CDA, among others. Only about 20 bikes reviewed, but at least they are longer than a few lines of brown-nosing.

[spiderlake]

Man, this group hates Bicycling magazine! It never gets a break! : ) As an idiot that happily subscribes to that drivel, all I can say is that the magazine, imho, has at least one interesting article each month. The feature on Davis Phinney was well done. The "biketown USA" project is compelling and always a good read. Give a community some bikes and see how they react. Simply owning a basic bike seems to have really transformed the lives of some people and that can't be a bad thing, right?

I guess what I'm saying is that I'm happy to read anything bike related and Bicycling magazine is no exception. It's kind of interesting that everyone that trashes the magazine always seems to have a copy laying around their house. ; ) Not trying to bust on the Spider!

Okay, to steer back on course - has anyone checked out gearhead.com for reviews? Not on the scale of RBR but there are some interesting reviews on a wide range of bikes.


What's worse...someone who thinks 17 pound bikes are heavy and can't be raced or the idiot who subscribes to this drivel?

Having said that Joe Lindsey is one of my favorite journalists and so was Zapata Espinoza.

[RichMc]

Thank you Spiderlake.

Bicycling magazine almost always has more than a couple interesting articles.

I found the road test of the Marcelo to be pretty spot on and I own a Marcelo. The gist of the article, if one can read and interpret it properly, is that given the overall weight & stiffness, compared to other bikes which cost less, the Marcelo is not the kind of bike that would appeal to most folks. A very accurate assessment if you ask me. They also raved about the bikes downhill handling and acceleration. Also accurate. There were other glowing comments as well so I don't know where the "drivel" characterization comes from unless it's just the usual knee jerk reaction to hammer Bicycling. For crying out loud, if you don't like the rag, don't read it!

BTW, I also read and enjoy Cycle Sport World and ProCycling. All of them almost always have positive comments about the bikes they test and rarely anything negative, other than price. You have to take the reports with the appropriate grain of salt. No matter what source is reporting on a test ride nothing beats your own experience on the bike. That's not always possible.

[The Spider]

Oh, yeah, when I said the idiot, well that was self-reference guys....I'm admitting that I've actually paid for something that has a tendency to annoy. I'd never call anyone else that, I was going to put (me) next to it!

I also listed the parts I enjoy (Zap is unfortunetly gone and works at Trek now where his media presentations are quiet boring compared to his opinionated rants in the editorial!).

Mark Riedy and Matt Phillips (both ex-Mountain Bike) are really great reviewers, however they have such small word limits that they quite simply cannot shine. Picasso with 2 colours is still good...but give the man some room to move. Back at MB the boys used to write reviews on bikes for 5 pages, now they get a paragraph. They seem to "dumb-down" instead of "educate".

Weight = goodness however is a very simple equation, one that alot of folks (me too) have fallen into, that's one of the reasons I like aero wheels & rims...teaches folks that light doesn't equal fast (not all the time).

Anyway saying that ANY bike is heavy at 17 pounds is just ridiculous...what would Mr Strickland think if he rode my Santa Cruz Blur? When you pick it up you think "hmph" but when you pedal you just smile. Same with steel.

[spiderlake]

Hey Spider,

No offense taken and everything I said was in good fun. I enjoy the magazine and it sounds like there are elements you enjoy too. I have done some writing for a monthly international publication and the published article has NEVER been close to what I actually submitted to my editor. 600 or 1000 word articles are boiled down to the absolute essentials that will get the message across and fit within the alloted space of the magazine.

I always tell people that if they liked the article then I take all the credit but if they hated it then I blame the editor!! : )

[Frustration]

I like Cyclesport for the review. And it's "review", cause they only do one per episode... Other than that, "Road" (not roadie) is getting along nicely as magazines go... And ProCycling is another version of Cyclesport. On line, I kinda have a bias.