Weight Weenies

Ah, ubiquitous title.

I currently ride a titanium road frame with etap groupset and ksyrium sl wheels. 7.8kg.

I’m looking for a high end carbon frameset to switch my components to (I’ll keep the ti for commuting).

I mainly want it to be as light and fast as possible for short strava climbs. But I also do longer club rides - 60 miles or so, so don’t want to suffer too much against an aero bike.

Currently considering; tcr advanced sl, aeroad, ultimate cf slx, supersix hi mod, tarmac.

I feel like there must be somewhere you can get last season’s framesets at a good price, but don’t know where other than eBay. Any ideas?

Any experience / advice regarding the above framesets would be great, or any other you’d recommend?

Budget - £2000 (hopefully less)

I’m 5f8; about 72kg (52cm top tube) and cycle 120 miles a week.

How much would the tcr lose to an aeroad over 60 flattish miles?

How much would the aeroad lose to a tcr over a half mile 9 % climb?

Oh, and I’m doing an Ironman in August, so if you can factor that into the same frame that’d be great

Cheers

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FWIW, Canyon Ultimate CF SLX are currently on discount, and running for USD 1800 for the frameset (prices might be slightly different depending on VAT / currency)

Sounds like aero is a secondary thing for you and hills being number one.

In this case I would recommend an evosix with some aero wheels. Get your own position dialed in for aero gains and you got the aero covered while still being able to be a nimble climber.

Aero frames are otherwise a good middle ground but one needs to decide what comes first. Flats or climbs.

As much as an aero frame would be faster on flats and descents the difference is not huge. It could very well be that the gains nearly all come from the more extreme position an aero frame presents.

So in the end it could all be about how extreme a position you are willing to get into. (I'm not a fitter, just an amateur rider. Speaking from personal experience.)

/a

Ultimate SLX makes a lot of sense here, the best semi-aero frames aren't giving up much to full aero, especially if you go with one of the integrated cockpits. Its also competitive on weight and price and you should be able to get reasonably aggressive on it.

calv1n wrote: ↑

Wed Jan 17, 2018 1:48 pm

How much would the tcr lose to an aeroad over 60 flattish miles?

Absolutely nothing on a club ride, you’ll either be behind your mate on an aero bike and gain vastly more aero advantage, or you’ll be in front and your mate is going at your pace.

Zakalwe wrote: ↑

Wed Jan 17, 2018 3:27 pm

calv1n wrote: ↑

Wed Jan 17, 2018 1:48 pm

How much would the tcr lose to an aeroad over 60 flattish miles?

Absolutely nothing on a club ride, you’ll either be behind your mate on an aero bike and gain vastly more aero advantage, or you’ll be in front and your mate is going at your pace.

+1 Just what I thought, sitting on a back wheel is a key skill, so practise it by sitting on the back wheel of anyone using an aero bike on a club run.

calv1n wrote: ↑

Wed Jan 17, 2018 1:48 pm

Oh, and I’m doing an Ironman in August, so if you can factor that into the same frame that’d be great

If you're doing the IM with clip-on aerobars the Giant Propel is a great choice for easily being able to flip the saddle clamp forwards for a TT bike-ish seatpost angle. For that particular non-drafting event an aero frame would also be better.

Otherwise the aero bike on the club run is fairly irrelevant as stated above, and for faster climbing on short hills the lightweight frame over the aero frame will have an immeasurably small benefit (dropping a few kilos from your stated height/weight should be pretty easy and would have so much more impact) so for that just go with whichever one feels right.

AndreLM wrote:FWIW, Canyon Ultimate CF SLX are currently on discount, and running for USD 1800 for the frameset (prices might be slightly different depending on VAT / currency)

Certainly tempting, but the earliest delivery is July in the UK

Thanks for your thoughts everyone. I think between a climbing and aero frame I would tend towards the former - I’m pretty tempted by the 2018 tcr advanced sl. There’s a nice pic of the frame a few threads above.
Anyone owned an sl and can comment on the isp with regards to travel, can you still pack in a bike case? Could be a major drawback..

Also, does anyone know a good place / website to source second hand / previous seasons frames (other than the bay) - I’m not previous about getting the latest and greatest.. pretty sure the 2015 frame is all but as good as 2018?

Thanks again

112 miles on the bike (after the 2.4 miles swim and before the marathon) for your Ironman would maybe need an aero/ triathlon bike.

So another option is the new Bianchi Aria. Aero Road bike and Triathlon bike in one. Quite cheap for a Bianchi.

Good point about the seat post being reversible. If you get an aero frame (not tt/tri frame) you will desperately need this. Make sure the clamp will work with the seat post reversed.

A round seat tube is easy to find all kinds of seat posts for but an aero frame I imagine is very complicated to get good aero bar position. Could be impossible.

I wouldn't optimize the bike with iron man in mind. Optimize for what is most important to you.

/a

you are 5 foot 8 and ride a 52cm? .... I'm 5 foot 7 and ride a 54 ... (I find a 52cm too cramped, and I don't have long legs)

I'd look at the TCR SL or a Scott Addict SL

TonyM wrote: ↑

Fri Jan 19, 2018 7:28 am

So another option is the new Bianchi Aria. Aero Road bike and Triathlon bike in one. Quite cheap for a Bianchi.

Hmm, not really though, marketing aside. It has a slightly steeper seattube angle than the average race bike, but then it comes with a non-reversible, 20mm setback proprietary seatpost. So in practice it’s going to be harder to get a genuinely TT like saddle position than on a bike like the Propel.

dim wrote: ↑

Fri Jan 19, 2018 10:00 am

you are 5 foot 8 and ride a 52cm? .... I'm 5 foot 7 and ride a 54 ... (I find a 52cm too cramped, and I don't have long legs)

Tbh that makes you the outlier rather than him. 5’7” on a M is pretty unusual. 5’8” can go either way.

Tifosi Mons?

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