Top 5 frames you have ever ridden

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OrPe
Posts: 255
Joined: Wed Oct 18, 2006 10:15 am

by OrPe

Excellent riding bikes:

- Look 585 (tried extensively)
- Look 595 ultra(current ride)
- Parlee Z4 (owned)
- Look 381 (owned)

Good riding bikes
- Cervelo soloist AL, first generation
- Cervelo R2.5

Less
- Cervelo R3 (First generation with the 32.4 seatpost. light, stiff but wayyy too harsh)
- Giant TCR vintage 99' (noodle)

obviously, this is highly subjective...

Oren
Last edited by OrPe on Thu Oct 03, 2013 3:37 am, edited 1 time in total.

by Weenie


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Pugrot
Posts: 74
Joined: Wed May 12, 2010 11:52 am

by Pugrot

But where are all the dogma owners proclaiming the asymmetric design and curvy bits gives the most latterly stiff / vertically compliant ride and was the best money ever spent?

scamper
Posts: 50
Joined: Wed Dec 31, 2008 3:52 pm
Location: BIG BLUE MARBLE
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by scamper

Been on the bikes fo 25yrs but can only remember the last 5yrs worth

I will prob get a shelling for this but honestly here they are :

1st place best so far is a custom painted 65.1

2nd place limited Giro David arroyo 60.1

3rd place wilier cento uno Petacchi edition (not superleggera)

4th place Prince Di2

5th place goes to specalised sl2 (vino's old bike from Tour of langkawi)

sawyer
Posts: 4485
Joined: Fri Dec 15, 2006 7:45 pm
Location: Natovi Landing

by sawyer

Haven't owned all that many more than 5, but the top 5 of the bunch I've owned ...

1. Look 585 Ultra (a keeper)
2. Canyon Ultimate SLX (smooth roads please)
3. S-Works E5 (one of the be alu frames ever)
4. CAAD 10
5. Giant TCR Advanced 2008 (before they oversized the front end)

Have a Venge ready to build up so will be interesting to see how that compares.

Interesting that the lugged thin-tubed carbon frames such as Collies and Looks score so highly with many people.
----------------------------------------
Stiff, Light, Aero - Pick Three!! :thumbup:

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PSM
Posts: 1706
Joined: Tue Aug 28, 2012 2:45 pm
Location: Stockholm, The Arctic...

by PSM

1. Colnago M10
2. R3
3. R3
4. R3
5: Giant TCR Alliance
6. Crescent "Bambino".

Image

:D :thumbup:

topflightpro
Posts: 829
Joined: Tue Jan 13, 2009 2:35 am

by topflightpro

I've only owned five frames, but I think this is how I would put them in order:

1. 2007 Cannondale System 6
2. 2005 Cannondale Six-13 (original three-tube design)
3. 2013 Argon 18 Gallium Pro
4. 2003 Specialized S-Works E5 aluminum
5. 2010 Cannondale Caad 9

I really can't say enough about the System 6 though. It's a big jump above everything else. I still race on it, though it is fairly worn out.

thegunner
Posts: 164
Joined: Sat Jan 16, 2010 9:38 am

by thegunner

i think this thread might be better served as a 'your personal ranking of the bikes you've ridden'

1) moots vamoots (like butter on chipseal with 25's)
2) scott addict sl
3) ridley damocles
4) caad10 / caad9 (couldn't really tell the difference here...)
5) cervelo r3
6) cervelo s2

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rico
Posts: 952
Joined: Thu Jan 01, 2004 3:49 am
Location: Kingston, the heart of UK weenie-ism

by rico

Best:

1. Colnago EPS. Lighter stiffer, but same geo as the 40 and 50. Just a perfect blend of things for me.
2. Colnago C40. The best all-day frame ever. Wish I'd never sold mine
3. Principia RS6 Pro. Obviously a bit different to the above. A complete rocket and probably the best alu I've ridden.
4. Casati m:U2. If I still owned it, it would probably feel awful, but at the time it was one of the lightest frames available and it was what I really learned to climb hills on

Not best:

1. Look 595. I'm glad the ISP craze is over, because that thing would beat you up. Other than that, the main thing in the 595's favour was that it wasn't a 585...
2. Look 585. My first try with Look, after mistakenly forming the impression that Colnago were 'behind the times...'. The 585 wasn't horrible, it was just wooden and uninspiring.
3. Colnago C50. They tried to make a stiffer 40 and instead made a frame that felt heavier. It just seemd a bit charmless and clunky.

I know others will disagree, but that's my experience of training and racing all these frames over a period of about 15 years. That said, if I found a s/h 585 or C50 I'd probably snap it up :)

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mrowkoob
Posts: 1472
Joined: Thu Feb 26, 2004 7:35 pm
Location: Middle of nowhere, EU

by mrowkoob

Since I can only post my experiences here goes my own subjective views.

Top 5 alu frames.

1. Principia Rex Pro
2. Klein Quantum Pro
3. Cannondale Caad 4
4. Principia Rex
5. Boreas Aer

Carbon:

1. Scott Addict SL LTD (first edition)
2. Scott C1 2003 (yes before it became the Cr1)
3. Scott Foil Premium 2013
4. Wilier Cento1 Superleggera SL
5. Wilier Zero 7
The unbearable wallet lightness of being a weightweenie

boolinwall
Posts: 195
Joined: Thu Aug 23, 2012 11:19 pm

by boolinwall

I've owned a Boreas Eos. (similar to the Aer, but all aluminum) Unfortunately I broke the hanger after a few short months and never found a replacement. Unreal stiffness. These things are just plain f@#kin fast. The geometry made you nervous, especially at low speed and it beat your fillings loose. But my god was it fast. Not hard to tell that it came from the original Principia designer. I've always wanted a Principia.

konky
Posts: 830
Joined: Mon Dec 14, 2009 6:26 pm

by konky

These lists really are subjective as each frame will have its own characteristics which won't necessarily suit the rider. OrPe for instance thinks the R3 is 'wayyyy too harsh'. Fair enough, everyone to their own, but I found the R3 very comfortable. In fact I prefer the ride of my other bike to the R3 as it has an even harsher ride. This excellent question shows that often it's not a case of one bike being better than another but more if its characteristics suits the rider. It tells us that you shouldn't buy a bike for what it represents, for example a Colnago because you like the traditional Italian style, but you should buy a bike because it has the riding characteristics that suits you.

This proposition may seem obvious but it is amazing how many people choose a bike set up based on style rather than substance. I certainly did.

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Zen Cyclery
Shop Owner
Posts: 1244
Joined: Tue Mar 10, 2009 5:27 am
Location: McCall, ID
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by Zen Cyclery

The best frame that I've ridden so far is the Madone 5.9. Now I ain't no Trek fan but that bike is something else. I've never felt a bike that is able to turn power into forward momentum so quickly and efficiently.

It's more compliant than my R3, yet so much stiffer. I need to get rid of my Cervelo seeing as the ride quality is garbage when compared to the Madone.

stang1
Posts: 142
Joined: Mon Jan 30, 2012 8:57 am

by stang1

1) C59 - comfort and ride quality unparalled. - currently owning
2) OltreXR - Power transfer and responsiveness -currently owning
3) Cervelo S3 - speed, handling and comfort -retired
4) Venge - speed machine, sharp handling, but quite harsh to ride (~ settled after 4 rides) -currently owning
5) Giant Tcr Advanced 2011 - dull, boring, just a carbon ride - sold

Trek 6.9 2011- noddly... (so its 6th :P) - based on 84kg rider.. it just doesnt work out for me..

thats my personal experiences from owning these bikes .

Simply couldnt rate the c59 any higher. personally, its the best bike anyone can have. :beerchug:

hasbeen
Posts: 531
Joined: Tue Feb 07, 2012 7:17 pm

by hasbeen

Parlee Z3
Casati Vola
Parlee Z3 SL
Parlee Z5
Parlee Z4
Lemond Vo2
Casati Vola SLi and Dolan Preffisio
viewtopic.php?f=10&t=108931" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;"
btompkins0112 wrote:
It has the H2 geo......one step racier than a hybrid bike

OwenJames
Posts: 166
Joined: Mon Apr 11, 2011 3:16 pm

by OwenJames

1. Cannondale SuperSix Evo; blows everything else out the water. Weight, price-performance, handling, stiffness, comfort, radness, etc.
2. Specialized S-Works Hardtail XC MTB (1997). This was the pinnacle of my MTB experience, and was better than anything else I rode, including the Santa Cruz, Manitou, Giant, Cannondale, Yeti models of the time.
3. TerribleOne Barcode. Best BMX out there at the time, and was based on the Hoffman Taj which was also incredible. 1999 model, which was a refined version of the original 1998 model and made in the Spooky factory. Pretty much set the standard for BMX frames ever since. Looked the absolute business too.
4. Sunday! SoundWave. The current best BMX frame around. Soooo much innovation and development, by my friend who works for Odyssey.

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