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A bike I want. Manufactures take note.

by gandberg
Wed, Sep 15, 2010 20:11
11

I'm after a drop bar bike with discs and hub gears. Hydraulic discs, and a wide range of gears. Not for touring, but for my usual use, that is a couple of sportives a year, a trip to the mountains of Europe, and thrashing about the lanes where I live. Why can't I buy one?

I understand that at the moment no bike manu is making hydraulic drop levers, but why not? I also realise that UCI regs dont permit discs at the moment, but how long will this last? Already in CX....

Anyone have an 11 speed alfine? What ratios does is cover? I like the clean likes and reliability hubs offer, but my budget doesn't stretch to a rolhoff.

So, bike makers, take note and get to work! Please.

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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11 comments

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Tony Farrelly | 14 years ago
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Basically there isn't much in it in the overall weight difference Gandberg, it's just that you are concentrating all the weight in the centre of the wheel - so it feels a bit different - might need to give the back end a bit more lift if you're bunny-hopping potholes.

Just pondering whether to go the hub route this winter, and if so whether to go drop bar or flat… and which bike to use, my old Genesis frame or the Cotic Roadrat. I'd like to have one flat bar and singlespeed and one maybe one hub and drops, and discs… or maybe flat/hub/discs with some nice mudguards… possibly that sounds like the Roadrat then.

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TheHatter replied to Tony Farrelly | 14 years ago
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tony_farrelly wrote:

Just pondering whether to go the hub route this winter, and if so whether to go drop bar or flat… and which bike to use, my old Genesis frame or the Cotic Roadrat. I'd like to have one flat bar and singlespeed and one maybe one hub and drops, and discs… or maybe flat/hub/discs with some nice mudguards… possibly that sounds like the Roadrat then.

Be good to know the overall weight of the Roadrat when you build it up. I know it won't be light but interested in how heavy it is with hub gears.

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Tony Farrelly | 14 years ago
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Been through all the pics I took at Eurobike Vorsprung and I can't see anything like that, there are high end carbon framed trekking/leisure bikes - just stuck a picture of the Peugeot Moov'it in the Touring bikes gallery, although I'd have to say it isn't a touring bike (might amend the name of that gallery then). It does have both a sporty look and a more upgright postion - but that's achieved by fitting flat bars and and adjustable stem and while there was a fair bit of tyre clearance there's no mudguard mounts. Lapierre had something similar the Shaper 900 and so did Trek although there's was a more heavy duty looking affair.

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gandberg | 14 years ago
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What is the weight if a alfine wheel compared to a standard with 10 speed cassette? What about the other weight you dont carry on an alfine bike - derailleurs, cassette, a couple of front chain rings....ha, not much weight in those I guess. But anyway, its how a bike feels when you ride it not how light it is on the scales, surely?

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TheHatter replied to gandberg | 14 years ago
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gandberg wrote:

But anyway, its how a bike feels when you ride it not how light it is on the scales, surely?

That's what I tell myself on my steel bike ......as I watch someone on a carbon bike disappear ahead of me on a killer climb
22

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Simon E replied to TheHatter | 14 years ago
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TheHatter wrote:
gandberg wrote:

But anyway, its how a bike feels when you ride it not how light it is on the scales, surely?

That's what I tell myself on my steel bike ......as I watch someone on a carbon bike disappear ahead of me on a killer climb
22

IMVHO the differences are overrated. Our insecurities are nourished by magazine reviews and adverts. Since a carbon frame is probably less than a kilo lighter than an equivalent steel frame (and maybe 500g less than alu) a lot of it is in the mind. Or the legs. In my view there's a lot to be said for trying your best with what you have. Or as Eddy Merckx said, "Don't buy upgrades, ride up grades".

500ml of water weighs 500g, so one way to save weight is to have a pee before starting the climb 3

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TheHatter replied to Simon E | 14 years ago
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Simon E wrote:
TheHatter wrote:
gandberg wrote:

But anyway, its how a bike feels when you ride it not how light it is on the scales, surely?

That's what I tell myself on my steel bike ......as I watch someone on a carbon bike disappear ahead of me on a killer climb
22

IMVHO the differences are overrated. Our insecurities are nourished by magazine reviews and adverts. Since a carbon frame is probably less than a kilo lighter than an equivalent steel frame (and maybe 500g less than alu) a lot of it is in the mind. Or the legs. In my view there's a lot to be said for trying your best with what you have. Or as Eddy Merckx said, "Don't buy upgrades, ride up grades".

500ml of water weighs 500g, so one way to save weight is to have a pee before starting the climb 3

No it's definitely their bikes that makes them quicker than me. 3

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Simon E replied to TheHatter | 14 years ago
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TheHatter wrote:

No it's definitely their bikes that makes them quicker than me. 3

OK, I believe you.

3

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vorsprung | 14 years ago
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I have a Cotic road rat with drops and a alfine 8 speed

The frame/hubs/levers will take mechanical disk brakes but I have V brakes on it

The gear shifter for the Alfine is a MTB "pod" with a indicator window. To fit it on road bars it had to be filed but this was easy to do.

The bike I'd like to see that no manufacturer makes is a proper long distance road bike in carbon fibre.

Big long head tube, even longer than current "sportive" style bikes like the Colnago Ace, Specialized Roubaix or Eddy Merckx EMX1. Clearance for 28mm tyres+ guards like a Racelight T. Slightly more relaxed head angle. Mudguard and rack mounts.

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TheHatter replied to vorsprung | 14 years ago
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vorsprung wrote:

The bike I'd like to see that no manufacturer makes is a proper long distance road bike in carbon fibre.

Big long head tube, even longer than current "sportive" style bikes like the Colnago Ace, Specialized Roubaix or Eddy Merckx EMX1. Clearance for 28mm tyres+ guards like a Racelight T. Slightly more relaxed head angle. Mudguard and rack mounts.

Spot on Vorsprung. There are so few bikes that take wider tyres and those that exist are heavy, unsexy things. Even dedicated winter bikes don't usually take 28mm's AND guards.

Essentially I want a fast, pretty bike that won't break my back nor spray it with road poo.

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dave atkinson | 14 years ago
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there were at least four people showing cable/hydraulic interface boxes at Eurobike which allow you to run hydraulic discs from a cable brake.

Alfine has a 400% range, not quite as much as Rohloff but plenty. We saw one bike at Eurobike with an 11spd hub and a drop bar lever, but when we went back it had mysteriously disappeared...

Alfine 11 isn't going to get a Shimano STI lever any time soon if the people we talked to are to be believed. The hub is still too heavy to be taken up en masse as a road bike solution, and there aren't that many ways to make it lighter. That's what Shimano said, anyway...

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