Two years ago, and after allot of consideration, I sold my tribike and built an aero road bike. I had to minimize my bike quiver and had to build something that allowed me to do everything: triathlon, time trials, road races, hills, flat, sidewinds, bad asphalt, rolling hills, rain and salty air, sweat, and it had to be aero. I purposely chose an aluminum frame due to its durability. The frame also had to be standard component fit wise, as in, components should not be too frame specific so I can upgrade or replace without issues. Seatpost and fork should be carbon. I found the perfect frame for me. The Specialized transition 2007 pro.
Essentially an aluminum tribike conversion to aero road.
I built it up with cervelo S5 bars, carbon stem, ultegra groupset, rotor cranks/rings, oval wheels. Its light, stiff when it needs to be, climb like a road bike and can roll like a TT. I love this bike and its very versatile. Also, killer chrome indestructible paint job. Check it out.
This frame however is from 2007, was bought new which means its almost 9 years old. It’s been through stuff and ridden allot. Few crashes, corrosion, wear etc. So now i’m looking for a replacement frame. Something similar or better. I am looking for a frame that is aero and aluminum or Ti. Preferably aluminum as its less expensive. I cant find anything close to this bike, aero and material wise. But maybe I am overlooking some. Any suggestions?
I have an Allez Sprint X1 and it is what you are looking for. It doesn’t look that aero, but Specialized claims (and I have reasons to believe) that it is as aero as the older Spec. Venge @ 0 yaw and only a little worse as the yaw angles go up. It is a fantastic all around frame and is really stiff in the bottom bracket, but surprisingly comfortable for an aluminum frame. It will not hold you back in any way.
Aside from the Specialized Allez there’s the Giant SLR 1 and the Felt AR15. I think the problem with those two bikes vs. the Allez is that they might not be available in certain parts of the world, and not too many people have ridden them so reviews are scarce.
Thanks for all the suggestions everyone. That Giant SLR1 looks great indeed. Smooth welds, aero tubing, standard brake mounts, carbon aero seat post and fork. Not a big fan of Allez though. Had one for years and is a great road bike, but for this aero road bike i need something that meets TT geometry halfway. More aggressive. This one is nice though, check out those welds.
Look at the Allez sprint geometry chart vs. the std. Allez. They chopped a bunch of head tube off of the sprint model for a super aggressive position. Sorry to keep pushing it, but I would hate for you to overlook it because you thought it was the same bike as the reg.(old) Allez.
p.s. I think Specialized did themselves a disservice by naming the bike Allez Sprint instead of a completely different model. The two bikes don’t share a single tube or geometry angle. The only 2 things that are the same is that the frame is made of aluminum and the fork is made from carbon.
Aside from the Specialized Allez there’s the Giant SLR 1 and the Felt AR15. I think the problem with those two bikes vs. the Allez is that they might not be available in certain parts of the world, and not too many people have ridden them so reviews are scarce.
I was told by someone that works at Felt that the alloy AR rides like crap. FWIW. And, not avail in US.
There’s nothing specifically aero about that bike. Aside from the Aeroad, whenever Canyon use AERO as a type/number, it just means they put aero wheels on them.
@James, good to know. Like I said, not so many reviews I guess! I wonder why its out in Europe though, maybe a bigger market for even cheaper/alloy bikes.
Instead of setting up a compromise road/TT position, what about dialing in separate, less compromised road and TT positions with a Redshift dual-position seatpost? This would enable you to use either a road or a TT geometry as a starting point, though my best guess is you’d do better with the former than the latter. The Redshift seatpost is round, not aero, plus it’s on the heavier side, but it’s debatable how much either of those matters. Just a thought.
This! I ride a less aero cousin (the TCR SL1) that still has the aero fork, seatpost, and faired rear wheel but has external cable routing. I use Ritchey quick disconnects to swap out a base bar + extensions and aero drop bars and I time trial and road ride on it quite happily. I’ve tested some darn low CdAs with a good set of wheels and it is plenty stiff for sprints.
I’ve had 2 people come up to me and tell me they had they same bike and that they loved it. I love mine.
I would go custom and get exactly what you want. English would be a good start and there are several other great builders that could make you exactly what you want.
Good quality carbon shouldn’t be tossed out of the equation IMHO.
Cervelo S2/3? Price, aero, strong, comfy, standard componentry, quality build, etc. There’s just the traditionally naff Cervelo paint jobs to worry about. Other than that tho, the bikes are awesome.
