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Rose road bike new X-Lite for 2018

by jimbobule
Sat, Jan 27, 2018 18:28
7

Fairly new to biking but finding itgreat and am adapting well to the physicality.

Currently riding  my GT Grade carbon as my winter training bike and I want to switch to a road bike that will help me climbing. I’m age 46, 85kg over 6ftso I’m discovering my times on the flat are pretty good but climbing is only OK. In pretty good shape doing training rides 30-50 miles usually once a week in winter. Will be twice in summer. I can tap out 17mph average on fairly flat 30mile runs (1000ft climbs) and around 14.5mph on hillier 50 mile routes (3,500ft climbs). I did the Sustrans C2C over 2 days last year too.

The new Rose X-Lite looks astounding for the money.

https://www.rosebikes.co.uk/products/bikes/road/race/x-lite-four/

If I spec it with the lighter Rose Wheels @£2k it comes in at around 6.5-6.6kg with Force and 6.7kg with new Ultegra 8000. It can also take 28mm straight out of the box even with Force calipers!

Currently using the GT with Ultegra 6800 with discs and heard the new Ultegra rim brakes are fantastic. But I like the idea of a lighter force set and possibly easier upgrade to etap.

What  would you do? Is this bike on the money? Is the geometry overkill or OK. Would you Go Force or Ultegra? Are Force brakes that crap?

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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7 comments

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jimbobule | 6 years ago
1 like

Rose were spot on start to finish. Bike arrived very well packaged and put togethert

Avatar
ibr17xvii | 6 years ago
0 likes

How did you find the service with Rose?

Must admit I know next to nothing about them but read the usual about delays in bike ordering & stuff not being in stock when the website says it is.

On my quest for a disc braked bike, with as much Shimano 105 as I can get, reasonably light & decent (ish) wheels for winter use I've stumbled upon this which on face value seems better value than the Canyon Endurance AL Disc at £1349:

https://www.rosebikes.co.uk/bike/rose-pro-sl-disc-105-hydraulic-bike-now...

Avatar
jimbobule | 6 years ago
0 likes

Yes and No!

I did buy a Rose but the older version because it was an outgoing Bargain at £1480, for a 6.66kg bike with Force. Rolling on Rose 1400g clinchers with GP-II’s at 25mm

Great bike, light, responsive and Strava PBS..

Real stealth weapon but surprisingly  comfortable and I got them to build up the stack (I’m nearly 50).

What struck me so far is the comfort, acceleration and excellent braking. Compared to Ultegra, yes the front chain change isn’t quite so smooth and downshifts are a little more vague BUT changing in the drops is easy and you can brake and change down at the same time more easily

 

 

Avatar
Bob's Bikes | 6 years ago
0 likes

To answer the brakes question I have had bikes one fitted with force the other had generic calipers that I changed to force (left the levers as was) and I found them to be excellent.

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jimbobule | 7 years ago
0 likes

Thanks Sergius. Guess its a Force v Ultegra question!

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AndyL replied to jimbobule | 6 years ago
0 likes

jimbobule wrote:

Thanks Sergius. Guess its a Force v Ultegra question!

 

Jimbobule, did you get around to buy one in the end?

Avatar
sergius | 7 years ago
0 likes

I've got a Rose Xeon CDX, I love it for the reasons you mentioned (light, excellent value).  I've done 13000km on mine now and have no complaints.

I was actually looking at the new x-lite this afternoon - it does look like good value.  I didn't like the paint job (matt black, yawn) and I'm after something with more aero credentials for my next n+1.

Roses' aero bikes have been hit with the ugly stick unfortunately.

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