On Paper vs. In Practice

[cmg]

Originally Posted by jtbadge

I don't get owning a stack of bikes that don't suit your riding style.

Bike hoarding is so weird.

They all suit my riding style. club ride is the IF, club ride with mainly hills, one of the ti bikes, club riding rollers at fast pace, the cervelo, solo rides the IF or the KISH. On the grocery ride, Siclovio, the Fuji 1 spd. It's easy.

[Tony]

Originally Posted by weisan

Cervelo R3, Cyfac Absolu
Both Carbon

On paper....they are lighter...much lighter. Stiffer in the right places. Compliant too. Super bike category. In the eyes of some, probably even look nicer from an aesthetics standpoint. Definitely more up to date. 11 speed. Tubulars. Carbon wheels. Low spoke count . 25 mm tires. Racing geometry.



Now moving over to this corner, we got two older gentlemen.

2003 Merlin Agilis Titanium
(Year unknown) Jamis Quest Elite, Reynolds 631 steel



In practice...heavier. By at least 3-4 pounds. 9 & 10 speed. cables sticking out in front. 32 hole alloy wheels built by yours truly. 25-28mm tires. Endurance geometry. handlebar installed mile high.

This is NOT about which is superior.

This is NOT in support of curmudgeon.

This is NOT putting down carbon and new tech.

So what's this about?

Simple.

The Merlin and the Jamis are my two favorite bikes at the moment.

It suited my kind of riding better.

If I had just walked into a bike shop today to buy a bike, more likely than not, I will walk out with a carbon bike more like the Cervelo and the Cyfac, and I will miss out the opportunity to try a Merlin or a Jamis...which is a shame. That is all.

Why these two carbon bikes? Knowing your preference why not something like a Domane SL 7. Lighter than the two older gentlemen, stiff in the right places, compliant, 28 mm + tires and endurance geometry all in a package that weights in at 16.78 lbs

I think I misunderstood this post, OK not knowing and making a purchase, missing out on the bike that best fits you.

[Davist]

the cynic in me says the two you ride more fit better, plain and simple...

nearly every bike store I know, if you're under 40, have some experience and want a race bike, they give you a race bike, over 40 (or new to "road" biking) they go to the endurance bike, could it be as simple as that?

[Burnette]

Originally Posted by weisan

Cervelo R3, Cyfac Absolu
Both Carbon

On paper....they are lighter...much lighter. Stiffer in the right places. Compliant too. Super bike category. In the eyes of some, probably even look nicer from an aesthetics standpoint. Definitely more up to date. 11 speed. Tubulars. Carbon wheels. Low spoke count . 25 mm tires. Racing geometry.



Now moving over to this corner, we got two older gentlemen.

2003 Merlin Agilis Titanium
(Year unknown) Jamis Quest Elite, Reynolds 631 steel



In practice...heavier. By at least 3-4 pounds. 9 & 10 speed. cables sticking out in front. 32 hole alloy wheels built by yours truly. 25-28mm tires. Endurance geometry. handlebar installed mile high.

This is NOT about which is superior.

This is NOT in support of curmudgeon.

This is NOT putting down carbon and new tech.

So what's this about?

Simple.

The Merlin and the Jamis are my two favorite bikes at the moment.

It suited my kind of riding better.

If I had just walked into a bike shop today to buy a bike, more likely than not, I will walk out with a carbon bike more like the Cervelo and the Cyfac, and I will miss out the opportunity to try a Merlin or a Jamis...which is a shame. That is all.

And if a bike shop put you on carbon bike, in today's world you would probably be fine. It's a bicycle. In our shared activity and just like in other sporting goods people dicker over the gear to the tenth degree but truth be told you could accomplish the same feat with an almost infinite number of bikes of different weights and materials and in the end it wouldn't mean anything to anyone other than yourself. Personal preference is personal.

[Blown Reek]

Originally Posted by Burnette

It's a bicycle.

But, but, it ain't no mythical Tom Kellogg associated bike, nor is it the finest of English heritage tubeset-equipped bikes!

It is a bicycle. Some people are stoked to ride the newest and greatest, and some people are stoked to ride something that isn't the newest and greatest. But to think that the newest and greatest is somehow less than something that isn't the newest and greatest, is a poor justification for why you don't have the newest and greatest.

We each have our own reasons for riding, and what works for one might not work for someone else. But that's why there are B (and C!) groups and A groups. It's easy to tell who belongs in their respective groups.

[Burnette]

Originally Posted by Blown Reek

But, but, it ain't no mythical Tom Kellogg associated bike, nor is it the finest of English heritage tubeset-equipped bikes!

It is a bicycle. Some people are stoked to ride the newest and greatest, and some people are stoked to ride something that isn't the newest and greatest. But to think that the newest and greatest is somehow less than something that isn't the newest and greatest, is a poor justification for why you don't have the newest and greatest.

We each have our own reasons for riding, and what works for one might not work for someone else. But that's why there are B (and C!) groups and A groups. It's easy to tell who belongs in their respective groups.

Oh, I agree. There is no magic, it's a tool. And I agree too that if someone only rode the latest and greatest that they wouldn't be missing much from the past that couldn't be done without. Again, it's more about personal preference than actual attributes.

[oldpotatoe]

Originally Posted by Tony

Why these two carbon bikes? Knowing your preference why not something like a Domane SL 7. Lighter than the two older gentlemen, stiff in the right places, compliant, 28 mm + tires and endurance geometry all in a package that weights in at 16.78 lbs

I think I misunderstood this post, OK not knowing and making a purchase, missing out on the bike that best fits you.

None available in the scratch and dent section of the local co-op..

[Blown Reek]

Originally Posted by oldpotatoe

None available in the scratch and dent section of the local co-op..

Yes, but 10 years from now, we'll hear every superlative in the book regarding its performance and cost-to-performance ratio of it at the time, making it leaps and bounds better than anything at the time. Then we'll revel at the fiscal fortitude and prescience of the person who had such insight to purchase said 10-year bike.

And your dum for thinking otherwise.

[Burnette]

It feels like being at a couple's house and they are arguing about toothpaste, but you get the feeling it's something more than the just toothpaste going on here.

[rustychisel]

Originally Posted by Burnette

It feels like being at a couple's house and they are arguing about toothpaste, but you get the feeling it's something more than the just toothpaste going on here.

he he

you do that often?

[Burnette]

Originally Posted by rustychisel

he he

you do that often?

Hang around arguing couples? It's Paceline, so yes.

[oldpotatoe]

Originally Posted by Blown Reek

Yes, but 10 years from now, we'll hear every superlative in the book regarding its performance and cost-to-performance ratio of it at the time, making it leaps and bounds better than anything at the time. Then we'll revel at the fiscal fortitude and prescience of the person who had such insight to purchase said 10-year bike.

And your dum for thinking otherwise.

It was directed at the guy who seems to only look for ‘lonely’ bikes who seem abandoned cuz they are beat up/dented up/scratched up that need a new home...not you