Back by popular demand, the general all-things Road forum!
Moderator: robbosmans
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Stueys
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by Stueys on Wed May 15, 2019 4:09 pm
cyclespeed wrote: ↑Wed May 15, 2019 1:33 pm
I am wary of anything that deadens feel or makes climbing uncomfortable. Of course I haven't tried all aero bikes, but a few, and I have heard many stories from friends that find them unresponsive when climbing (and descending).
Ultimately this is a geo and weight question. i.e if you want something that feels like a punchy climbing bike then go light with short chain stays. I think what we are seeing now with the latest iteration of aero bikes the line is getting very blurred, if you compare Venge geo to Tarmac geo, there isn't much difference, certainly nothing I can see that's going to make the Venge feel dead on climbs. Likewise the weight is pretty close.
I think the early iterations of aero bikes certainly struggled, likewise some manufacturers are deliberately chosing to keep clear air between their 'aero' bikes and their 'climbing' bikes. But certainly that's not all of the current crop.
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RyanH
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by RyanH on Wed May 15, 2019 4:41 pm
I don't think it's just a geo and weight issue. I think for a long time due to the shape of the tubes, manufacturers just added a bunch of extra carbon to get the stiffness on par (or close to) what a traditional round tube would be. This resulted in the bike feeling dead I think. However, at least with the Bianchi XR4 and the Wilier Cento10Air, they did not feel any different climbing than my Focus Izalco Max and descending the Bianchi felt on par with the Max while the Wilier was a step above.
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Calnago
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by Calnago on Wed May 15, 2019 4:54 pm
It’s not the geo... for example, both the Madone and the Emonda have exactly the same geo. Despite the Madone having isospeed (which is not that effective when you consider the tube shapes it’s trying to overcome), and doesn’t affect the front end at all, the Emonda still has a much nicer and more nimble feeling to it. When you look at the downtube differences it’s hard to imagine the Madone being anything but relatively harsher, despite isospeed. The downtube, with its aero shape just has very little, if not zero vertical compliance at all. Isospeed can’t overcome that, just tries to isolate the rider above from it a bit. Whereas the Emonda downtube and relevant stays to top tube transition just translates into a much nicer ride overall. It’s a nicer riding/feeling bicycle.
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Noctiluxx
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by Noctiluxx on Wed May 15, 2019 7:07 pm
AJS914 wrote: ↑Wed May 15, 2019 5:29 pm
I'm seeing that Roglic is riding an aero Bianchi with disc brakes. I wonder if he will switch off to a climber's bike later.
First time seeing him ride a disk XR4. Pretty sure the rain had something to do with it.
Bianchi Oltre XR4, De Rosa SK Pininfarina, Trek Madone SLR, Giant TCR Advanced SL, Cervelo R5 Disk, Giant Revolt
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TobinHatesYou
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by TobinHatesYou on Wed May 15, 2019 8:14 pm
I personally do not feel a meaningful difference in my Madone and Emonda when descending technical stuff, but as soon as I got my Madone I started smashing all of my downhill segment PRs. The aero benefits just get magnified at 35-50mph. I fully admit it’s possible that my ability to detect subtle handling differences isn’t as developed as others.
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RyanH
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by RyanH on Wed May 15, 2019 8:25 pm
If I recall correctly, all of Lotto solely rode the XR4 last year. I don't think they ride the Speciallisima.
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hannawald
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by hannawald on Wed May 15, 2019 10:36 pm
Someone from young junior riders sponsored by Bianchi won some race on Specialissima and there is a team whose riders make videos on youtube and just one of them is on Specialissima while others on Oltre. Hard to say why there is no love for Specialissima, reviewers were pretty excited about it and my Bianchi dealer says that most of the local hobby racers prefer Specialissima to Oltre when they have chance to try both bikes. But they sell more Oltres. Specialissimas head tube and fork is aero inspired so with proper bars and wheels it should not be aero disaster but Lotto is solely on Oltre. I have read an oppinion that Oltre is so good climbing that there is no need to change bikes for mountaneous stages and get used to something else..but would really like to know real reasons.
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CAAD8FRED
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by CAAD8FRED on Wed May 15, 2019 11:51 pm
hannawald wrote: ↑Wed May 15, 2019 10:36 pm
Someone from young junior riders sponsored by Bianchi won some race on Specialissima and there is a team whose riders make videos on youtube and just one of them is on Specialissima while others on Oltre. Hard to say why there is no love for Specialissima, reviewers were pretty excited about it and my Bianchi dealer says that most of the local hobby racers prefer Specialissima to Oltre when they have chance to try both bikes. But they sell more Oltres. Specialissimas head tube and fork is aero inspired so with proper bars and wheels it should not be aero disaster but Lotto is solely on Oltre. I have read an oppinion that Oltre is so good climbing that there is no need to change bikes for mountaneous stages and get used to something else..but would really like to know real reasons.
Wonder what makes it a good climber? I've personally noticed many aero bikes used on climbs like the Foil, Madone, and Oltre are heavier but have higher seat stays than the Venge and SysSix.
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spdntrxi
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by spdntrxi on Thu May 16, 2019 12:05 am
if the specialissma was direct mount brakes .. I probably would have bought one a few years ago
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Noctiluxx
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by Noctiluxx on Thu May 16, 2019 3:28 am
CAAD8FRED wrote: ↑Wed May 15, 2019 11:51 pm
hannawald wrote: ↑Wed May 15, 2019 10:36 pm
Someone from young junior riders sponsored by Bianchi won some race on Specialissima and there is a team whose riders make videos on youtube and just one of them is on Specialissima while others on Oltre. Hard to say why there is no love for Specialissima, reviewers were pretty excited about it and my Bianchi dealer says that most of the local hobby racers prefer Specialissima to Oltre when they have chance to try both bikes. But they sell more Oltres. Specialissimas head tube and fork is aero inspired so with proper bars and wheels it should not be aero disaster but Lotto is solely on Oltre. I have read an oppinion that Oltre is so good climbing that there is no need to change bikes for mountaneous stages and get used to something else..but would really like to know real reasons.
Wonder what makes it a good climber? I've personally noticed many aero bikes used on climbs like the Foil, Madone, and Oltre are heavier but have higher seat stays than the Venge and SysSix.
I have three aero bikes, 2019 Madone SLR, De Rosa SK Pininfarina, and the Oltre XR4. The Bianchi is by far the best of the bunch for any type of climbing. The frame with the Vision Metron 5D bar are so stiff that you get a feel of propulsion unlike the other bikes. Its a brilliant bike.
Bianchi Oltre XR4, De Rosa SK Pininfarina, Trek Madone SLR, Giant TCR Advanced SL, Cervelo R5 Disk, Giant Revolt