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Bike ideas for epic rides

by consciousbadger
Thu, Apr 30, 2015 14:32
8

Hi all,
I am in the market for a new bike and am fortunate enough to have a pretty healthy budget for this one. This will be a dream bike and I would appreciate any ideas which meet the following criteria:
- a bike/frame on which I can feel comfortable doing some pretty epic and technical one day rides (Marmotte, Tour du Mont Blanc, Alpenbrevet). Will probably go for 25mm tyres in case that helps narrow it down.
- a bike/frame which is good at descending. Descending is my weak point so a bike renowned for stability at speed and good cornering is a must.
- given the above I'm not obsessed with this being a super light bike; ride quality is more important but the bike has to be pretty stiff given the kind of riding I will be doing with it.
Note that some of these rides will involve around 12-14 hard hours in the saddle! My current best bike has a semi-race geometry and I'm fine with that for rides up to around 6 hours. After that everything starts to hurt 3 Do I just have to accept that on the rides above my body will feel battered no matter what bike I am riding?
Thanks in advance.

If you're new please join in and if you have questions pop them below and the forum regulars will answer as best we can.

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8 comments

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Stratman | 9 years ago
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Just bought an equilibrium disc ltd, but the Ti might be better. Nice ride, the discs are excellent

I've done long days on my Defy - stage 1of the TdF in Yorkshire last year, and London Paris the year before, so maybe try one of the new disc Defy models

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Shred | 9 years ago
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I have a Volagi Liscio as my bike. I don't do those distances, but I know the bike is more than capable. The owners of the company often do ultra events.

I got mine from Hoops Velo.

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themartincox | 9 years ago
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Like Dobbsy, I also raced TCR last year, and will do again this year.

I'm going down the Wyndymilla Massive Attack Disc route, for exactly the same reasons - long distance comfort without losing the all the fun characteristics!

Discs for sure, and Di2 for ease of shifting over long distances

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Dobbsy | 9 years ago
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I'm approaching the end of a very similar process,

I raced in the Transcontinental last year on a Giant TCR, Awesome bike, but not the right tool for riding 300km+ back to back to back..... My criteria for the new bike were comfortable, light and fast with stable handling characteristics so you can cover the miles in comfort (and keep going when you're tired) but without it being so slack that it's no fun to ride.

It started as a one bike build but I've ended up going for two framesets

a custom fit Wyndymilla Massive Attack Disc (Carbon) and a custom fit Cielo Rosso (Titanium)

The Wyndymilla is due to be delivered this week and the Cielo Rosso hopefully not long after.

The guys at Wyndymilla are great, David (the bike fit / frame design guy) Put plenty of time into understanding what i was after and ensure both my bike fit and the design of frameset met my requirements.

The Cielo Rosso is being built to the same geometry (bike fit and frame design done at WM) but will run guards year round and generally see service as the commuter / terrible weather bike.

Neil at CR (like David) is very helpful and knowledgeable and happy to work with you on frame geometry to get towards the handling characteristics you're after, though i'd probably recommend getting a bike fit done so you'd have a set of coordinates as a starting point.

Both builders can provide rim / disc brake options, mechanical / electronic shifting routing options, both can provide frameset options or full custom builds if you so wish.

The order process has been great with both builders. Though there is an inevitable lead time getting a custom build frame.

I'd happily recommend either as places to add to your shortlist.

(of course all of this is without yet having ridden my new bikes, but with the pictures, comms etc.. so far, it's looking good!)

Avatar
DeCockburn | 9 years ago
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I'd go for a top notch steel frame, but with modern parts.

Measure yourself up, and use competitivecyclist.com to choose the type of fit you need.

Then get on Ebay or the LFGSS and buy a beautiful steel frame.

Add an all new Campagnolo groupset - just £300 for a gleaming new silver Veloce set on the Ribble website, and wheels, and you'll have a bike for life.

Colnago, Pinarello, Concorde, Gazelle, Gios, Merckx, De Rosa, Contini, Moser, Casati... So many brilliant frame makers out there. There are some pretty good modern British frame makers too. Much more exciting than mass produced carbon shite.

Look at this site for inspiration: http://www.steel-vintage.com/bicycles/

Though I probably wouldn't buy from this site.

Avatar
JoshCroxton1 | 9 years ago
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How big is a "pretty healthy budget"?

http://www.bikesheduk.com/trek-emonda-slr-10-h1-2015?keywords=emonda

http://www.bikesheduk.com/specialized-s-works-roubaix-sl4-disc-di2-2015?...

http://www.bikesheduk.com/specialized-s-works-tarmac-disc-di2-2015?filte...

http://www.bikesheduk.com/bikes/road-bikes/trek-domane-69-disc-compact-2015

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rnarito | 9 years ago
0 likes

Cannondale Synapse Disc

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AJ101 | 9 years ago
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Get a custom Ti build, seriously. Perfect measurements, braze-ons to match and will last you for years and years of hard riding. Other than that I'd have said go and see Chas but he's shutting...

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