Then when you throw in the "all-road/gravel" bikes, and the new Cervelo Caledonia your decision making process becomes even more intriguing. I would decide based on what type of riding will make up the majority of your road rides. If you are going to be ascending and descending a classic road bike would probably be your best choice. If you are a Century rider, then maybe the endurance bikes should be your pick. Some would argue that an aero road bike would not be your best choice because you already have an aero tri bike. Ride as many different styles as you can, one of the will really make you smile. Buy that one.

Yeah exactly - the Caledonia does look pretty nice.

I guess the real question is what is the best style of road bike that would complement my tri bike? Not many shops do demos around me so it's tough for me to try different styles - but yeah that makes sense!

I would say stay away from an aero bike, since you already have a tri bike, and you mention climbing,and long rides, in general (tough not always) aero bikes will be a bit heavier and also offer a harsher ride.
I'd say either go for an all around race bike or an endurance bike if you want to put comfort ahead of speed

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About 10 years ago I was asking that same question. Loved using the tri bike but wanted something better suiting for climbing and winding descents as well as group rides and jumping in an occasion race.

I ended up buying a cyclocross bike which turned out to be a great decision. Sure I was giving up some watts versus an aero bike or weight versus a climbing bike. But it as perfectly capable as a road bike - won a few CAT 4/5 races and was on the podium in a handful more. If my primary goal was to try and move up to CAT 1/2 those small gains would be worth it, but this bike was just a side piece to my main thing which was tri. The biggest benefit of coming with the cyclocross bike was that I could put on wider tires and have fun exploring less developed roads (dirt and gravel). Oh, and being able to do cyclocross races on it as well.

So if I was you I’d be looking at gravel, all-road, and cyclocross bikes. This would give you a versatile bike that would compliment your tri bike.

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Matt

Impressive and thanks for the tip. Only thing is that I live in Brooklyn, NY and there aren't a ton of gravel / off-road areas for me to explore :-(

I would probably lean towards the "all arounder" "GC" "race" "climbing" bike (what ever a company wants to call it) Spec Tarmac, Scott Addict, Trek Emonda. Cervelo R, Canyon Ultimate ETC

I love the look of aero road bikes, but I think most of the time the above bikes are getting pretty close in terms of being aero, are a little less harsh, and a little lighter. They are the Goldilocks of the 3.

For the most part, everything start with "stack and reach"... ie: how aggressive you want to be on your bike for your time of riding

From there you figure our which frame are fitting your sizing ... and you pick the one with your favorite paint job (that you can afford)

Unless you have a very odd geometry, every major bike brand will have multiple choice for you.

The last couple of years has seen some convergence between aero, race and endurance bikes. eg. the newest Specialized Roubaix is more aero than the previous Tarmac, and with disc brakes, even aero bikes can often now run 30mm rubber for a pretty plush ride. Features like dropped seat stays are more aero AND allow more seat flex.

I agree with looking at stack and reach, and a position you can hold for 5 hours.

Since you own a TT bike (and sounds like you're keeping it), I'd definitely go with an endurance bike. A gravel bike would be a good choice as well if you have any interest in riding unpaved surfaces, if not, then the endurance frame will be the best choice, imo.

My old road bike is an endurance frame - a Felt VR 40 from a few years ago. Tiagra components so not the greatest - is it worth keeping this bike around or will the gains from spending $4,000 on Domane or Roubaix be worth it?

I just picked up my new 2020 Roubaix. Maiden voyage scheduled tomorrow.

That’s a beaut!

+1

Once I sell my 7 year old s5, I'll also be looking for a new bike. What I've learned from owning an s5 is that it's awesome and fast, but it's heavier (and in my case also outdated - no disc brakes, manual shifting, cables everywhere, can barely fit a 25mm tire in the back) and I now literally prefer riding my cx commuter over the s5. Due to weight, disc brakes and overall comfort, I everested on my cx bike over the s5 which used to be my go to for anything, including stuff like Death Ride. Idk if I necessarily will go with something like Caledonia-5, but my guess is that if you pick a bike like that, it will be plenty aero, and aero sprinter road bikes have now become of a very limited use to general public like us.

If my cx bike had e shifting I'd probably just get a 2nd pair of wheels so I could ride more of a road wheelset for the road and wider tires for commute/gravel.

I am in Brooklyn as well, just got back from 45 miles in the park.
Where are you planing to ride mostly? the park, 9W, Upstate?.

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Awesome. Yeah 9W is my usual ride to the Market or to Nyack. Also do laps of prospect and Central Park.

I’ve been going on longer rides and getting out further - Bear Mountain and Harriman which got me thinking. I’ve also driven out there once and done laps of Harriman. For 9w the tri bike is perfect but once I get our beyond Nyack and closer to Harriman and Bear feel like it’s more climbing so it’d be nice to have another option. Especially when I do the rides with friends.

Cool, yeah some great riding up around Harriman, also you can do some nice loops starting in Harriman and going west towards Greenwood lake and that direction.

In any case I think a aero bike will be faster but it won't be as comfortable for those 5+ hour rides and might be a bit twitchy for some of those twisty descents.
I say go with either a all around race bike if you want a bit more speed, or an endurance bike, it will be a bit more comfy and depending on the geometry might be a bit more stable for the descents with really giving up much in the speed department unless you were really doing crits or something.

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I would buy a real road bike which YOU like. This way you will ride more, which makes you faster. And I don't buy the hybrid bike story. We end up with multiple bikes anyway, my only "hybrid bike" is a 29er hartail, which I use for all my gravel rides. I don't think, it is slower than most hybrid bikes on the road or gravel, but of course it can do many more things.

So in my "garage":

1. The Tri Bike
2. The Road Bike (in my case a Bianchi Aria - for no other reason than that I love that bike)
3. The Mountain Bike (in my case a race hardtail, which doubles for gravel rides)
4. A City bike (In my case a Fuji Feather singlespeed)