Topic: What cycle have you been drooling over

[quadzilla]

True, BMC are priced high here, too. You can usually pick them up at a sale at 20% off, which helps to bring them closer to other marques.

We were just in Spain and I rented a BMC Roadmachine 02 for a week and after that a Teammachine SLR02 disc for a day. Both were great bikes, but I feel no temptation to change my bike to the new SLR 02. I actually prefer the old model as it is totally quiet, unlike the new bike that was rattling a bit sometimes. I was kinda falling for the Roadmachine, mostly thanks to its more forgiving riding position that was a relief for my back that has been a bit stiff lately.

I will say though that I'm totally convinced by disc brakes in mountainous areas. The latest Ultegra disc groupset is just awesome when bombing down twisty roads at +50 km/h, the brakes inspire total confidence and you can just let rip. Awesome fun!

Your Spain rides looked incredible. One of my buddies was in that same area in the spring and got to ride with David Millar and another pro or ex pro.

Nice to be able to rent high end bikes and see what they are really like. My next bike will also be disc, I'll gladly exchange better all weather stopping power for that extra second over a 5K climb due to the slight increase in weight.

[Jaeger]

The most basic of disc brakes that I had on my inexpensive hybrid were better by far than any rim brakes I have tried.  Sooooo much easier to modulate at threshold, vastly better feel and stronger stopping power.  Only downside is you really had to pay attention to how much force you were applying to the front brakes or risk an unscheduled flight over the handle bars.

For my riding though, rim brakes are more than adequate.

[huota]

Your Spain rides looked incredible. One of my buddies was in that same area in the spring and got to ride with David Millar and another pro or ex pro.

Thanks - I loved it there and am already planning a trip back. My only regret is that I never made it to the Pyrenees, but this was a family holiday and riding was secondary.

Funny you mention Millar. I ran into him and ex-pro Dave Everett at the summit of Els Āngels on a Sunday morning before eight. Everett was interviewing Millar, probably for cyclintips.com. It was one of those unexpected moments early in the morning in a remote place with nobody else around except them, their photographer and myself and the bees buzzing around.

[HeliDriver]

Haven't even given road bikes a second glance in ages, but have recently found myself checking out the websites to see what's new and interesting.    Yeah, discs are cool, but there's nothing that makes me want to trade in my old Cannondale CAAD9.

However... gravel bikes are something I've never considered before, and I'm intrigued. Love this Cannondale Topstone, with a flexy carbon frame to give a bit of rear suspension. I think Lightspeed used to do something like this on their titanium mtb frames way back when?



I'd love to have one of these, but I think it's a fantasy that is never going to happen. I don't think there are enough mellow gravel roads/trails around here to make owning one of these worthwhile. We do have one really good gravel road climb, but 95% of the time it's choked with dust from all the cars, and basically unrideable. 

[quadzilla]

Haven't even given road bikes a second glance in ages, but have recently found myself checking out the websites to see what's new and interesting.    Yeah, discs are cool, but there's nothing that makes me want to trade in my old Cannondale CAAD9.

However... gravel bikes are something I've never considered before, and I'm intrigued. Love this Cannondale Topstone, with a flexy carbon frame to give a bit of rear suspension. I think Lightspeed used to do something like this on their titanium mtb frames way back when?

I'd love to have one of these, but I think it's a fantasy that is never going to happen. I don't think there are enough mellow gravel roads/trails around here to make owning one of these worthwhile. We do have one really good gravel road climb, but 95% of the time it's choked with dust from all the cars, and basically unrideable. 

That is the problem when you by a nice bike like the CAAD9, there really isn't a need to upgrade it. I had a CAADX I used for commuting and gravel, really like it a lot and part of me wishes I never sold it. Oh well.

I'm pro disc brakes with road bikes especially if you want to run carbon wheels. I've seen guys ruin a carbon wheel with rim brakes coming down a steep mountain. Plus reduced wet braking and I'm not taking those chances. Discs FTW.

Gravel riding is a lot of fun, I still do it now and then on my road bike with 28mm tires. When the gravel gets chunky it isn't much fun but I can usually find good gravel roads around here to enjoy.  We have a nice big 700 km loop here that even got an award from Bikepacking.

https://bikepacking.com/plog/2019-bikepacking-awards-people-routes/

Scroll down to Best New Event.

So buy that bike, you know you want to.

[Brig]

Scroll down to Best New Event.

So, are you doing the BT700 this year, Quad?   

Love the looks of that bike, Heli!  DO IT!  Then go find a nice place to ride.  That's what I do.  Mind you, we are surrounded by rail trails, so it's never a long way to go.

[quadzilla]

So, are you doing the BT700 this year, Quad?   

Not this year, plus don't have the bike for it. You really need big tires, 50mm+. One of my friends who has the same fitness level as me did it last year and said it was amazing but hard. I also read a report from the guy with the FKT and he is on another level. If I remember correctly, he was saying that doing certain parts at night was beyond stupid.  The good part is a lot of the trail is beautiful.

But I've been thinking of doing the Cannonball 300 this year.

https://www.cannonball300.com/route.html

I'd have to decide if I would do it over one or two days.

1 day = Quite possible to do if I stick with my training but will make for a very long and tiring day. The current FKT is 15.5 hours so I'd expect it to take me longer, maybe up to 20 hours.

2 days = This would make it fun and relaxing plus I can bring beer with me. Then I could split it into 200 and 100.

Or do something really stupid and ride to the 300 and then back home again. Again, decide over 1 or 2 days.