Seven Endurance road bikes ridden and rated

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biker jk
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Seven Endurance road bikes ridden and rated

Postby biker jk » Wed Apr 09, 2014 5:42 pm

Here's a nice review of seven endurance road bikes for those of you that may have missed it.

http://rideons.wordpress.com/2014/03/19 ... oad-bikes/

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queequeg
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Re: Seven Endurance road bikes ridden and rated

Postby queequeg » Wed Apr 09, 2014 6:40 pm

Food for thought. The R255 is tempting. I am thinking about a Sportive as my next bike, as my Hillbrick is a pure racing frame and does get a bit painful to ride after 5 hours. That is at least in part to the fact it is slightly the wrong size for me (due to it being a freebie).
Ah well, not really doing anything until next year anyway, and still waiting to see where the whole road disc thing ends up!
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slowK
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Re: Seven Endurance road bikes ridden and rated

Postby slowK » Wed Apr 09, 2014 8:48 pm

biker jk wrote:Here's a nice review of seven endurance road bikes for those of you that may have missed it.

http://rideons.wordpress.com/2014/03/19 ... oad-bikes/
Thanks for the link - very interesting reading. There's so many bikes in this category, and while there are lots of reviews, there aren't many direct comparisons.

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Dragster1
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Re: Seven Endurance road bikes ridden and rated

Postby Dragster1 » Wed Apr 09, 2014 9:46 pm

Good reviews bjk Thought the trek frame with the IsoSpeed decoupler would be better to ride over long distances

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rodneycc
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Re: Seven Endurance road bikes ridden and rated

Postby rodneycc » Thu Apr 10, 2014 2:12 pm

Yeah great article when someone tests them side by side like that. Shame they didn't get a 'dale Synapse to compare with the Domane and the Bianchi Infinito CV along side.
Cheers!

PS: I'm really happy with my Bianchi Infinito CV purchase (even happier when you only pay $3k instead of 5k! ;-)
(I actually find it a real shame I don't recommend the bike I ride, only because its so expensive in the shops. Kind of makes sense the Domane is the winner here).
Last edited by rodneycc on Thu Apr 10, 2014 2:22 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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rjk
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Re: Seven Endurance road bikes ridden and rated

Postby rjk » Thu Apr 10, 2014 2:17 pm

more than happy with my trek domane, i also put head ardennes plus on it.

i have done 100km and 150km rides on it, i love the comfort of the bike and it feels as comfortable as my steel salsa triple casseroll.

Actually i would have to say more comfortable
Boardman CX pro now the commuter, Salsa Casseroll, Trek Domane

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biker jk
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Re: Seven Endurance road bikes ridden and rated

Postby biker jk » Thu Apr 10, 2014 3:27 pm

rjk wrote:more than happy with my trek domane, i also put head ardennes plus on it.

i have done 100km and 150km rides on it, i love the comfort of the bike and it feels as comfortable as my steel salsa triple casseroll.

Actually i would have to say more comfortable
Good idea to replace the stock wheelset on the Domane which looks to be the only weak point of the package (I know of quite a few who have broken spokes on the stock wheelset).

hudnut
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Re: Seven Endurance road bikes ridden and rated

Postby hudnut » Thu Apr 10, 2014 4:56 pm

I don't see the sense in limiting the review to only bikes that have full ultegra.
There are endurance bikes with mainly ultegra available with a different crank etc where the thoughts on the frame are just as valid.

Also, if theybare only available in oz with a non shimano crank then that's the local offering to be compared.

I'd like to have seen a Fuji gran fondo (oval crank and praxis rings), the cannondale, the Roubaix included.

If I'm in the market for an endurance bike in oz with ultegra gruppo, then they are in the mix, whether they have a different crank or not. I'd like to know how they stack up.

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rodneycc
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Re: Seven Endurance road bikes ridden and rated

Postby rodneycc » Thu Apr 10, 2014 5:08 pm

hudnut wrote:I don't see the sense in limiting the review to only bikes that have full ultegra.
There are endurance bikes with mainly ultegra available with a different crank etc where the thoughts on the frame are just as valid.

Also, if theybare only available in oz with a non shimano crank then that's the local offering to be compared.

I'd like to have seen a Fuji gran fondo (oval crank and praxis rings), the cannondale, the Roubaix included.

If I'm in the market for an endurance bike in oz with ultegra gruppo, then they are in the mix, whether they have a different crank or not. I'd like to know how they stack up.
Think they were just trying to make the comparison easier there with just ultegra 6800 across the board. I actually would of liked them to have used all the same wheelsets as well (all bikes just on standard Fulcrum 5s). I guess you can't review every bike out there (and there was a note about the missing Synapse in the comments). But its actually a pretty good review and backed up my thoughts that I had read and have seen.
Edit: But yeah would of been nice to of seen a Specialized Roubaix in there along with the Synapse (probably at the expense of the Scott or the Avanti).
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li2099
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Re: Seven Endurance road bikes ridden and rated

Postby li2099 » Thu Apr 10, 2014 5:22 pm

I don't know a great deal about bikes but was actually quite surprised with the quality score for the Giant Defy.

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rodneycc
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Re: Seven Endurance road bikes ridden and rated

Postby rodneycc » Thu Apr 10, 2014 6:32 pm

I have a soft spot for the Defy. On a budget its a great first bike (and got top marks for value as it should in the review I see). And its not only the Advanced thats good. The geo across the whole range is what makes them ideal for first bike buyers and unfit/unflex oldies like me!
(Well actually not that old)
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macca33
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Re: Seven Endurance road bikes ridden and rated

Postby macca33 » Thu Apr 10, 2014 6:53 pm

Yep, no denying the Defy is a decent jigger.

cheers
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flashpixx
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Re: Seven Endurance road bikes ridden and rated

Postby flashpixx » Fri Apr 11, 2014 12:00 am

great article. helped me narrow down the field :-)
Gordon

Riding: Trek Domane SLR 7

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Duck!
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Re: Seven Endurance road bikes ridden and rated

Postby Duck! » Fri Apr 11, 2014 9:20 pm

I'm somewhat flummoxed by their geometric comparison of the Bianchi and the Giant (the two out of the test batch that I have professional involvement with). My own measurements of those two models have the Defy substantially longer and lower, therefore more "racy", than the Infinito for an equivalent size - completely the opposite of what the article says. :? In fact, the almost stratospheric head-height of the Infinito, even with the stem slammed, was the one particular feature about the bike that I did not like when I tested it.
I had a thought, but it got run over as it crossed my mind.

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rodneycc
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Re: Seven Endurance road bikes ridden and rated

Postby rodneycc » Fri Apr 11, 2014 10:13 pm

I actually don't find much difference between the head tube heights of the defy and the Infinito cv. According to the specs for the M size defy 16.5 vs infinito 17.0 and after spacers and tilt and rotate of the headset/stem/bars there isn't a lot of difference. But then again I took both bikes to my LBS and asked them to set them up the same so I can understand in my case why!

Edit: I will have to clarify with my LBS but I remember them saying something about the tilt on the Infinito was the main difference to getting it similar. ??
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nezumi
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Re: Seven Endurance road bikes ridden and rated

Postby nezumi » Tue Apr 15, 2014 12:28 pm

I would love to see a broader range of bikes included - Focus Cayo, Cannondale Synapse, Specialized Roubaix and Merida Ride.

I would also like to see the RRP augmented with a "street price" as I have observed in computing mags - e.g. the Merida Carbon Ride 97 has a RRP of $4,199 but is available from 99 bikes at 20% off most of the time. (http://99bikes.com.au/merida-ride-carbon-97-2014" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;).

It's easy enough to use bike exchange or similar to find the standard discounted price of a particular bike.
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lobstermash
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Re: Seven Endurance road bikes ridden and rated

Postby lobstermash » Tue Apr 15, 2014 1:38 pm

So much effort trying to distinguish between seven almost identical bikes. But they did say that they were comparing apples with apples...
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biker jk
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Re: Seven Endurance road bikes ridden and rated

Postby biker jk » Tue Apr 15, 2014 1:50 pm

lobstermash wrote:So much effort trying to distinguish between seven almost identical bikes. But they did say that they were comparing apples with apples...
Identical in what way? Trek Domane seat tube/top tube pivot versus Lynskey titanium. Sure, identical.

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Re: Seven Endurance road bikes ridden and rated

Postby lobstermash » Tue Apr 15, 2014 2:04 pm

The Lynskey is the only one with a tangible distinction from the others.
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rodneycc
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Re: Seven Endurance road bikes ridden and rated

Postby rodneycc » Tue Apr 15, 2014 2:26 pm

lobstermash wrote:So much effort trying to distinguish between seven almost identical bikes. But they did say that they were comparing apples with apples...
Yep and Lovin' it :-) :D

Edit: C'mon Edoardo, knock a few extra $$ off and we'll see who is No1 in the next test! :-)
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biker jk
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Re: Seven Endurance road bikes ridden and rated

Postby biker jk » Tue Apr 15, 2014 2:39 pm

lobstermash wrote:The Lynskey is the only one with a tangible distinction from the others.
No really. Among the carbon frames there are different approaches to producing more rear end compliance, from elastomers, to decouplers to thin (flexible) seat stays.

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