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Davy1985
Posts: 6
Joined: Wed Sep 11, 2013 9:02 am

by Davy1985

Hello,

i am Davy. Born & raised in a small town in small country called Belgium. I'm 28years and a starting race cyclist since a few months.
I am starting out with a Cannondale CAAD8 Tiagra. So far i upgraded the wheels to Mavic Cosmic Elite's and a Fizik Arione saddle with carbon rails.
I am looking for a new bike though and can't make my choice between Carbon or Alu. my options right now are:

- Cannondale SuperSix 105
- Cannondale Synapse Carbon 105
- Cannondale CAAD10 Ultegra
- Cannondale CAAD10 105

- BMC GF01 105
- BMC GF02 Ultegra
- BMC GF02 105

Can't make up my mind

by Weenie


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mrfish
Posts: 1749
Joined: Wed Mar 28, 2007 12:49 pm
Location: Near Horgen, Switzerland

by mrfish

I think the right bike depends on the following:

1) What bars you like
2) Whether the bike fits you
2) How / where you ride

Different bars offer a completely different position - e.g. A Merckx bend deep bar will mean you can use a 2cm taller frame for a given position compared with a shallow drop bar. Similarly bars vary hugely in length, so for instance an 3T Ergosum bars plus shimano mechanical shifters is 2-3cm longer than a Stealth Evo bar and Campag shifters. So first step is to decide the bars you like, based mainly on how big your hands are and how much of a difference between drops, hoods and bar tops you like.

Then the rest of the bike needs to fit you. Basically the limiting factor is the height of the bike, with something like a supersix or Caad 10 has a relatively short headtube for a given size, whereas a more comfort oriented bike will be taller.

I'd advise measuring the bike you have now to calculate stack and reach if you're comfortable with it and using that as the starting point for a good bike fit, Retul or similar with an experienced fitter. This will use up a good portion of your budget, but will save a lot in the long term, e.g. buying 2 frames as you aren't sure you got the right one.

Assuming you can fit to both a Granfondo or an Evo, the choice then drops down to the sorts of roads you ride. If you ride Swiss tarmac, then an Evo with 120psi tyres is great. If however you ride Belgian cobbles, then something softer like the BMC would be good.

Finally the choice is around the balance to spend on frames, groupsets and wheels. My recommendation would be to buy a "balanced" bike, with roughly mid range frame, groupset and wheels. Then if you have extra money it's easy to upgrade the wheels to achieve a step change in performance.

Davy1985
Posts: 6
Joined: Wed Sep 11, 2013 9:02 am

by Davy1985

Okay thx.

So i now ride a CAAD8 that's to small, a 48. The bikefitter at my work told me i would need a 52 (or a 51 BMC.)
I i'm a small guy, aprox. 162cm. And i have small hands. :)

What about my riding style? Well, since i'm a Belgian, we'll i like riding the belgian cobbles, i like Climbing, and i like riding at 26km/h.
I'm participating in a team ride from italy (Bardonnechia) to Belgium (Geraardsbergen) in 2014 for "Artsen zonder Grenzen", it's a ride of about 2000km and 20.000HM. So i think i will need to go for a Carbon frame with 105 and my cosmic wheels

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