2018 World Tour Pro bikes

[Burnette]

Originally Posted by choke

I remember the days when I would drool over the latest pro bikes and wish that I had something similar. It's been a very long time since that is the case, so long that I'm not even sure what the last pro bike was that I coveted.

There's not a single bike in that bunch that I would want to own even if it was given to me. As for the Lapierre, I don't find its appearance to be worse than any of the others.

I like a few of them but I get what you're saying. There are some wonky designs in the pro peloton now, like the BMC, ugh!

To your point, I think that pro bikes only serve to polarize people with these radical designs. I don't care if one of these wins the Dope De France if it looks just terrible. It didn't win on merit anyway, so a victory is meaningless.

[choke]

Originally Posted by Burnette

I like a few of them but I get what you're saying. There are some wonky designs in the pro peloton now, like the BMC, ugh!

To your point, I think that pro bikes only serve to polarize people with these radical designs. I don't care if one of these wins the Dope De France if it looks just terrible. It didn't win on merit anyway, so a victory is meaningless.

This forum is pretty metal bike oriented so I'm not so sure that the opinions here are the same as those of cyclists in general. I imagine that on other forums there are loads of people who think that these new bikes are the cat's meow and are eager to get their hands on one.

[MattTuck]

Originally Posted by choke

This forum is pretty metal bike oriented so I'm not so sure that the opinions here are the same as those of cyclists in general. I imagine that on other forums there are loads of people who think that these new bikes are the cat's meow and are eager to get their hands on one.

I think you have a point. Not so much about metal, as I think there are plenty of people on here with carbon. But I think there is more of a tendency here to prefer traditional shapes and proportions that metal bikes usually have. There are plenty of oversized metal head tubes that get lambasted on here because of the proportions -- regardless of the materials.

I view the newer carbon shapes to be an absolute technical improvement for racing bikes. I just happen to think they don't look as good.



vs.

[zambenini]

Originally Posted by cadence90

And, for yet another year, 2/3 of the Paceline Image Gallery bicycles look better than all of the ProTour rides....
.
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strong agree. the trend in narrow toothpick fork blades is surely to tune the ride just so, but it's a big part of the visual snag for me. looks like dog p**p. was bummed caad12s went that way.

[Burnette]

Originally Posted by choke

This forum is pretty metal bike oriented so I'm not so sure that the opinions here are the same as those of cyclists in general. I imagine that on other forums there are loads of people who think that these new bikes are the cat's meow and are eager to get their hands on one.

Like I said, I like a few, some less so. Like Matt says, I'm sure the shapes are warranted but are hard on the eyes.

One bright spot for me is that most aero bikes look awesome in S and XS sizes compared to how they look in larger sizes. So got that going for me.

I think they should just go ahead and call the tour the trade show that it is, nobody or at least fewer now are fooled by "the show".

I watch to see new tech, the scenery, it's quite a spectacle. But the results have no bearing on my buying.

[kppolich]

Is Dimension Data really rolling King Hubs?

[dustyrider]

Quite a few of those bikes have direct mount brakes. Interesting.

[Burnette]

Originally Posted by dustyrider

Quite a few of those bikes have direct mount brakes. Interesting.

Isn't that due to the wider wheels/tires?

[dustyrider]

Originally Posted by Burnette

Isn't that due to the wider wheels/tires?

Not sure. Just an interesting, to me, trend I’ve been noticing lately.

[sales guy]

I like seeing horizontal toptubes. Such a good look.

[Burnette]

Originally Posted by sales guy

I like seeing horizontal toptubes. Such a good look.

Being short as I am, yes, even in my size a level top tube is easy to have with some of these bikes. And again, the aero bikes in my size are the bomb!

[jumphigher]

I've never been crazy about the mega graphics bikes have had in the last 20 years or so, but that aside I like all the bikes shown.

Also, what is everyone's take on the current trend of low seat stays - is this design feature here to stay?

[Burnette]

Originally Posted by jumphigher

I've never been crazy about the mega graphics bikes have had in the last 20 years or so, but that aside I like all the bikes shown.

Also, what is everyone's take on the current trend of low seat stays - is this design feature here to stay?

I think so. In steel, Rob English says that his seat stays can be thin because they don't bear much weight. Nate Zukas makes awesome steel and aluminum bikes with thin stays too. I love the way he curves his seat and chain stays btw, awesome.

To your point, on why the seat stays are low on these carbon bikes, I have reads that bike makers use the long seat tube now to soften the ride. Lower seat stay, the longer exposed seat tube is allowed to flex and improve comfort.

And like the steel examples, even in carbon the seat stay isn't as loaded as the rest of the frame.

[colbyh]

Originally Posted by 72gmc

The Cannondale has nice lines but that livery looks like a rocket model built by a 9-year-old boy.

Couldn't agree more. Seems like the best looking frames have the worst paint/kit (Cannondale, Astana) and the ugliest frames are made up the best (Sky, Trek, Mitchelton-Scott). That Factor frame is almost there but the crank setup breaks the clean lines and that fork is way out of proportion to the rest of the bike. I also really wish someone made a Campy power meter that didn't look so horrible.

[ceolwulf]

Not World Tour but Israel Cycling Academy's De Rosa SK Pininfarina looks pretty good to me.