sharkbaitguy wrote:
I thought the "saddle of choice" was the Cobb SHC?
"It's not the most comfortable saddle to ride. But, without question, it was the most comfortable saddle to race for many years, and remains a fantastic choice."
Is the new saddle replacing the Cobb SHC? Better or worse? Can you compare the current bike to your past bikes with regards to what you like or what you miss as there are always tradeoffs with anything new and/or different?
PS: I wrote this in response to someone who asked the same question.
First off, to be clear, the seatpost binder system is great. I honestly don't know how I managed to mess it up in Texas. This is not a flaw with this bike.
As for the rest of the bike...
- I like disc brakes way more than I thought I would. I am running full hydraulic that I can't talk about. But still, just the braking power is wicked.
- it's a LOT of bike. with race wheels on, it's a lot of surface area. You get used to it, and I had no issues, but it certainly takes some practice. Especially with race wheels. With 808/disc, it's just a LOT for the wind to hit. Now, that makes it super fast when the wind is right, but it does take some getting used to in the big winds. If you are going to race somewhere windy, you MUST train in the wind. Absolutely.
- it's heavy. Notably so. This is a big bike. On a really hilly course, I am not sure that it's faster than a good, light, aero frame. Like the Serios. Over some really hilly
net-uphill TT's, I would not say it's faster than the Serios. Not necessarily slower. But not necessarily faster either. I think the weight can make up for it on the downhills, but only if you're a good descender. You need to be able to take advantage of the braking power especially to carry speed.
- on the flats, it decimates the Serios. On flat TTs, at the same power, I crush times that I was able to hit on the Serios with similar equipment (race wheels, tight clothing, etc).
- Over a net-zero course, I haven't done enough testing just because the net-zero TT loop I have takes a while to get over to. I plan to do some testing in the near future. I will say, based on what I've heard, Kiley's data will be interesting here. The best frames as just really close.
- the storage for flat stuff down by the front wheel is massive. you can store everything you need in there.
- the storage behind the seatpost is not very useful. Unlike, say, the draft box on a Trek SpeedConcept, the Andean's storage here is SUPER narrow. It's hard to even get a single tube in there. It was designed primarily for aerodynamics. And you can store stuff as a "wallet" for training. But really, it's more for "show" than function. As opposed to the "trunk" down low, which is super useful.
- the current stem system is not great. and it only works with a Corsair. I had to hacksaw it to make it work with the Zipp bars. Hard for me to advise that to a regular consumer. If you like the Corsair bar, great. But I don't think it's a great bar.
- it's a BIG frame. Make sure it will fit in your bike box, especially in a larger size. The XL is basically totally at the upper limit of my TRICO case, and doesn't really fit perfectly.
- there's a LOT of storage. May be much more than you need. I didn't end up using nearly as much as I could. I just don't carry that much. But if you want to carry a lot, they certainly make it easy.
- it's way more of a "normal" bike than it seems like. You'll get a LOT of weird looks when training, but it's actually pretty normal when you're riding it.
- did I mention that I like disc brakes? Wink After all of the experience with "aero" brakes, to have brakes that are easy to access and which work - really work - is awesome. Especially since they are easy to access and make minor adjustments to if needed. I'm using 140mm rotors front and rear; I can't imagine needing/wanting more power. If it was a really hilly course, maybe a 160mm in the front...
- it's very steep (regarding seat-tube angle). If you struggle to get steep enough, no worries with this frame. My saddle is way back. If you ride slack, it may be too steep to get the saddle really far back.
- it's a good bike. It's way less of a departure than it looks like. That's both good and bad. If you are expecting to get on it and shave minutes off your times versus another good frame, you're out of luck. It's fast in all winds. But it's heavy. It balances out. For many courses, it will be faster. But we're starting to get into the marginal gains here. For how different it looks from other bikes, it's much more normal. I'd say the P5X is similar. The biggest advantage of that bike? Super adjustable and disc brakes. The aero stuff. That's actually a surprising secondary aspect...
Anyway, it's a wild looking bike. That's surprisingly normal to ride. Whether or not that is a good thing or bad thing is up to you.
"Non est ad astra mollis e terris via." - Seneca | rappstar.com | FB - Rappstar Racing | IG - @jordanrapp
