I have seen a lot of Griffen’s at races this year, e.g., St. Croix, Eagleman.
Any points of view on quality, areo, comfort, value? vs. P3 or Trek Time Trial? I am staring to think about a new bike and want to get to the short list. Other short list suggestions welcome.
Easy. Get measured. Buy the one that fit. Stop comparing bikes, start comparing fit.
They’re all great bikes, and the difference in speed will only be a factor of the driver and motor. Pick the one that talks to you, because the other differences are all in your head, too!!
I think the Trek is the sexiest of the three, but I doubt it’s .01 sec faster
I have heard this advise before, but I have to admit that I don’t fully understand it. With all the sizes these bike come in, and the ability to adjust seat position forward/backward and up and down, and select the proper stem length, bar width and areo bar width/length, why would “only” one fit me best? After all adjustments are made, unless I am a freak, shouldn’t a good bike fitter be able to make any of these bikes fit me close to perfectly?
If not, specifically, what are the real differentiators than make one bike better able to be fitted to my fairly normal needs? Which non-adjustable dimensions/relationships should I be focused on?
please help
Dont forget “feel” - Treks are dead bikes (IMO) and have no soul. Griffen and Cervelo have soul…but will nto “feel” the same on the road. Just as there are many cars out there with a V6 engine, 4 tires and a steering wheel…they all have a diffrent “feel” to them. If we used the “it will fit” mentality and use that as the only litmus test for your purchase of a car - we would all be in a cheap ass Huyandai.
I lump “feel” and “fit” together. Yes, you can probably find more than one bike that technically “fits” you, but if you ride a lot of bikes, you will know which one is the right one. Someone asked me offline what was the difference between the Cervelo and the Kestrel (my final two choices). Hard to put into black and white, but with the Cervelo I just knew. (Same thing happened with buying my truck.)
I have heard this advise before, but I have to admit that I don’t fully understand it. With all the sizes these bike come in, and the ability to adjust seat position forward/backward and up and down, and select the proper stem length, bar width and areo bar width/length, why would “only” one fit me best? After all adjustments are made, unless I am a freak, shouldn’t a good bike fitter be able to make any of these bikes fit me close to perfectly?
If not, specifically, what are the real differentiators than make one bike better able to be fitted to my fairly normal needs? Which non-adjustable dimensions/relationships should I be focused on?
please help
I second this request Tom…I was in a reputable bike shop this weekend, and they just had me start riding different bikes…I would think you would be “sized” (like on a Serrotta sizer) first for dimensions, then start looking at bikes that come close to this…When I’ve suggested this at bike shops, they have poo pooed that idea…Is this to far fetched???..How do you do it?
Fit, feel and sex appeal all have to co-exist. I just bought a forward geometry bike. Here’s what I did.
First, I kept twiddling the current ride until I felt good about the fit. It was a road frame with a forward seat post, so although the fit seemed great, I became committed to a tri-frame in the interest of better handling at race speed. Second, I recorded what I felt were the key dimensions: “virtual” top tube, target fron-center, etc… Third, I created a spreadsheet and, along with the current dimensions, put down the same dimensions for every bike I thought was a remote possibility. That was an amazing experience: it seems almost all frame builders have a different idea of how to build these things. 4th, I sorted everything to the numbers I was interested in. 5th, went to a semi-LBS (2 hours away) where they had the three frames I that rose to the top. They did a thorough fitting (having attended FIST the week before) where the only change made was to raise my saddle a bit. I test rode the three bikes, and then brought home that was silky enough to carry me 100 miles. Coincidentally, it was at the top of my list for having the highest likelihood of a good fit.
The point: fit is a huge deal, but it is one one side of the coin. Liking what you have under you - even for non-rational reasons - is the other.
bump for Tom.
There was a Look frame that I had my eye on. But, after perusing the geometry charts, there were only two in the entire line that would fit. My luck had it that the most expensive and the second-from-the-bottom frame would even fit me.
It would not be far-fetched to get sized on a Serotta size cycle before even looking at frames. It could potentially save a lot of money and pain.
Bunny, that was my experience. My prospect list was built by adding the geometry of every “cool” bike I ran across o0n the web or in print. It was really frustrating how many of the Batmobile-like frames are actually road bikes: BP Stealth, Carbonsports Total Eclipse, Argon-18 Mercury, etc.
That is what I think, but the bike shops scoff at the idea!!!
Still wish Tom would reply…Or maybe Slowman!
“It was really frustrating how many of the Batmobile-like frames are actually road bikes: BP Stealth,”
We know it’s about the engine but a BP Stealth ran away with IM Canada last year. The road geometry sure didn’t seem to effect the rider.
We know it’s about the engine but a BP Stealth ran away with IM Canada last year. The road geometry sure didn’t seem to effect the rider.