Over the last few years I ran out of arguments to convince my wife that I needed yet another bike (already have 5). But recently we bought a second home in the Mountains (French Alps). So there you go, here is the opening for getting a new road bike that I will leave there most of the time.
Every ride out there is a lot of tough long climbing (Col d’Izoard, Col de Vars, etc…). My typical rides will be from 2 hours to 6 hours with between 1500m and 4000m of vertical elevation, our home is actually situated at 1850m in a ski resort so every ride back up there is 1000m of vertical elevation.
As my main ride I have a 61cm Litespeed classic, I also have another older Colnago steel bike. Given that I am no carbon road bike this is where I am heading.
The attributes I am looking for are: confortable ride (these are long tiring rides…) and light (of course). I am 6’5 and 195 pounds. Given that in France there is no way I can find a bike shop where I can test ride a high end bike in my size I will have to mail order or order it at the LBS without truely testing it, which is quite frustrating.
Regarding geometry, I am mostly legs and the best fit for me is typically a shorter top tube (like Colnagos).
I was tempted by the R3 but the LBS that carries Cervelo, Specialized and Litespeed is telling me that for climbing the R3 could be “too demanding and stiff for long rides”. They were pointing me towards an Roubaix S-Works…
Saving a kilogram on your bike will net you about :38 climbing Alpe d’Huez. I doubt that you will even be aware of any time savings, but you might very well be aware of any ill-fitting bike you get. You don’t need another bike (as your wife no doubt understands).
if you’ve got enough jack to buy a second home in the Alps, why the hell do you need permission from your wife to buy another bike?
just buy one already! we all know you can afford it.
there’s no need to flash around about it and be seemingly tortured by the process.
just buy the bike you already know you want, post some pics, and make the rest of us working class schmucks jealous.
ok? there, i said it. you bastard.
signed,
miss “crossing her arms and walking away in a pout” kittycat
Wow… It was about 1.5 years since I posted here and I used to see more productive response/discussions.
I was just asking for some advice on a good climbing bike… So if I have to justify myself more, I do not want to go back and forth every week-end with a bike on my roof and I really only have one road bike (my Litespeed).
I have a similiar build to you. I bought an R3 last year and kind of “tricked” it our with full durace, Zipp 303, power tap, look keo carbons, fizik saddle.
I am in Boulder so I do lots of climbing. I just did tons and tons of climbing the last 4 months in prep IMLP and I did lots of it on the road bike.
I am IN LOVE with the R3. I often tell friends that if I were to crash and need a new bike, I would get the EXACT same set up - no changes.
I guess what I am saying is…welcome to the Cervelo Mafia…
I read quite a few reviews on the R3 and many people seem to comment on the fact that this is a very confortable ride. I was surprised by the LBS who told me that this is a very demanding bike (he sells it).
I read quite a few reviews on the R3 and many people seem to comment on the fact that this is a very confortable ride. I was surprised by the LBS who told me that this is a very demanding bike (he sells it).
Take a look around the shop and see what he’s already got. A good guess is that he’ll try to sell you what he has in stock and/or gets the best markup. Does he have many (any) R3s lying around?
Oh, bikes aren’t “demanding” to ride and bikes don’t “climb”.
If you like Litespeed then why not stick to them and get a Ghisallo? It’s built for climbing and is plenty light enough and should be comfortable enough. If you want to go carbon then Trek are a pretty obvious choice. Madone for traditional geometry, or the Pilot series for compact geometry if you think you’ll get a better fit. It’s a Trek by another name, but Lemond are worth a look as well - building bikes for that kind of terrain and riding are what they claim to be all about. I use an old Lemond Alpe d’Huez as my training bike and find it pretty comfortable and a good position for climbing.
You might get better value with an European manufacturer if you’re buying out there - Bianchi (Italian) and Orbea (Spanish) both have some pretty good carbon bikes.
I really would try to get a ride on some of these before you buy - if your Classic fits you well then I doubt you will find anything that is significantly better for long rides in the mountains. Of course if you’re just trying to justify a new toy then no worries…
second vote for the R3…i have one, coming from a team soloist. i bought one expecting it to be about 65% as good as the various reviews that i read…and i was pleasantly surprised.
the frame is very very good. very light frame and very stiff in bb and headtube and plush at the back end…it is very comfortable and to my back side…very good at vibration dampening. a lovely combination of comfort and stiffness. i can totally understand why they use them in paris-roubaix.
as others have said…its a race bike…its not a full suspension mountain bike…if you travel over cobbles your still going to get pounded, but on smooth tarmac or pebbled tar and gravel roads, the vibration is almost not noticeable.
of course there are lots of variables…wheels, rider weight, saddle, roads…that will have a huge impact to ride quality…but the foundation is very good.
if youve got to go up the hills then you have to go down…the bike is lovely on descents, the stiffness in the headtube helps a great deal there.
cant speak very well to the feel of full titanium frames very well. havent ridden any, but if the tests done by cycling mags that are available on the cervelo website are valid…they feel like a plush ride because they are also somewhat less stiff all over.
good luck with the choice…sooooo many nice bikes out there…were all really lucky.
ride safe everyone.
I think that the Ghisallo had some sort of weight limit, plus I would like a carbon bike as I do not have any now and this gives me something new to try and experiment with.
I currently have a look 595Ultra and a serotta nove’-
If Money were no object I would have a light custom built up Calfee or serotta meivici-something that the tube set and geo can be tuned to your specific goals.
on the cookie cutter side my look is built up with record and an srm team csc wheels so nothing super light at 15+/- lbs. I have ultra beacuse I am a but heavier than you and tend toward sprints.
I really like the look i have been doing a fair bit of climbing in prep for IMLP and the bike has responded well it is light (enough) and stiff when it needs to be but comfy on long ride 6+ hours.
My serotta is perfection… comfy-- stiff on the sprints all day long ridability rock solid in decents but a little heavy. 17 lbs.
My first choice is the custom serotta or calfee second the look 595.
I currently have a look 595Ultra and a serotta nove’-
If Money were no object I would have a light custom built up Calfee or serotta meivici-something that the tube set and geo can be tuned to your specific goals.
on the cookie cutter side my look is built up with record and an srm team csc wheels so nothing super light at 15+/- lbs. I have ultra beacuse I am a but heavier than you and tend toward sprints.
I really like the look i have been doing a fair bit of climbing in prep for IMLP and the bike has responded well it is light (enough) and stiff when it needs to be but comfy on long ride 6+ hours.
My serotta is perfection… comfy-- stiff on the sprints all day long ridability rock solid in decents but a little heavy. 17 lbs.
My first choice is the custom serotta or calfee second the look 595.
k
I looked at the Serotta Meivici, it seems like a pretty nice frame, I have not read anything about it or heard anybody who owns one… I also have a custom CXII from Serotta and like it a lot. I have not looked at Calfee’s in a while but will again. As far as the 595 is concerned I think it is a pretty good looking frame and easy to find here in France, I was told that it is not a confy ride though. Not beeing able to test ride if a pain
slc-sl, record 10c,zipp 303…and lose 25 lbs if you want the bike toactually do something for you in the mountains. Seriously, not making fun, but at your height and weight, the mountains are gonna suck no matter what bike you are on. No, im not 5’3 115lbs.
