Thinking of a new bike

[pll]

Thanks Bike Chick!

Types of rides: 27 miles and up, to centuries. Not many hills here, but I aspire to take it on rides like this one: http://travel.nytimes.com/2010/08/01.../01Biking.html

My issues with the Felt are (1) vibration, vibration, vibration (it rattles me, and my hands resent it especially on long rides; (2) the reach is long, so the current stem is very short, which makes the bike "twitchy". I have the suspicion (because of the similar geometry) that I may have tweak the Vigorelli in a similar way. When I test ride, I know I will have to cope with the factory stem and handlebar, so I'm afraid the test ride won't be 100% as informative as I would like.

[malaholic]

the reach is long, so the current stem is very short, which makes the bike "twitchy". I have the suspicion (because of the similar geometry) that I may have tweak the Vigorelli in a similar way.

Are you looking at the smallest size offered, or would you be able to go down a size to get a shorter top tube?

[pll]

Are you looking at the smallest size offered, or would you be able to go down a size to get a shorter top tube?

No idea. This is the part of the show when I feel so ignorant that I end up dropping the idea of a new bike. I'll see what the LBS recommends.

[pll]

Tested 3 bikes today:

• Bianchi Vigorelli: I was quite stretched; I'm guessing it can be fixed.
• Cervelo RS: *Heavenly*, it was so comfortable. I was able to do things I can never do in my bike, like get out of the saddle while on the drops; generally, pedaling while out of saddle was much easier. The position felt more aggressive than any other of the bikes, yet it was comfortable, no shifting in the saddle, did not feel overstretched.
• Moots Vamoots: I wanted to test this level of bling . I was surprised the ride was not as comfortable as the Cervelo. Had trouble with the SRAM shifters -- they forgot to tell me how the work and I have never used SRAM before.

The ride in the three bikes was much nicer than my current bike. I also noticed that the brakes were responsive -- it could be that in the three bikes I could reach the levers better from the hoods, but it is definitely something to check if I take my bike to something like the Hilly Hundred later this year.

I was shocked by how nice the Cervelo felt. The one thing I did not like, was the sound of the chain when I coasted. I also don't like the price... Sigh. Even though I would feel fast, I think it's too much bike for me. [Permission to have a mid life crisis]

Kona Haole: Impossible to test ride within 100 miles of my place, nobody has one on stock. I'll ask my LBS if they can order one to test (one of the shops kindly offer to sell me one so I can test ride it after I own it; needless to say, I won't be their customer).

I'll go buy a lottery ticket now.

[Bike Chick]

Tested 3 bikes today:
[LIST][*]Bianchi Vigorelli: I was quite stretched; I'm guessing it can be fixed.

I wouldn't guess about this. This is a major problem. Did you talk to them about modifications?

It sounds like you have found your bike. When the bike fits you correctly, you are able to stand easier. If it fits you that well, you should buy it imo. It really wasn't that much more, was it?

[pll]

It sounds like you have found your bike. When the bike fits you correctly, you are able to stand easier. If it fits you that well, you should buy it imo. It really wasn't that much more, was it?

The Cervelo ... $3,600.

I will have to test other similar bikes (at least from comparisons I found googling): Specialized Roubaix and Scott CR1 Pro. I have seen that one version of the CR1 comes with 105 components, which would put it in the $2k range. The Kona had Ultegra and the MSRP is $2500.

Oh (PS): The Vigorelli still leaves 'blah'. I would not buy unless my bike broke and there was nothing else available.

[Veronica]

What size Cervelo did you test ride? Competitive Cyclist has a 2009 RS on sale. It's a 48.


I love my Cervelo S3, which we got from Competitive Cyclist. It came pretty much all assembled and was nearly perfect right out of the box.

Veronica

[tzvia]

The top tube length (feeling stretched?) is a better way to 'fit' the bike than the size or stand-over. It sounds like the Bianchi Vigorelli you tested may be too big. It is also possible that the handlebar on the Bianchi may have more forward reach, drop, or be too wide, giving you that stretched out feeling. I used to ride a lovely Scapin with Colombus SLX tubing back in the 80s~90s. I loved that bike but it was too big- no stand-over issue but the TT was too long. I went the short stem, short reach bar route and that made the bike twitchy. I finally gave it to my taller niece (I'm 5'1.5") and bought a 44cm bike.

Bike Chick is right about the compact crank vs. the full size crankset. You will notice all your climbing gears are gone with the full size crank if you relied on the small ring of a triple to crest hills. Heck, you will probably notice that a good many gears are rather tall and probably not very useful. And now that SRAM makes a 11~32 ten speed cassette, you could easily get as low a gear with a compact crank as you have now on the triple, with less weight and a better chainline and less shifting (and less chance of dropping a chain) than a triple.

You didn't mention your height/inseam (or maybe I missed that somewhere?) As you have a bike now that sounds like it is a bit too big since you had to go to a short stem, measure the top tube length, and the length including the stem. (Measure stem to the center of the bar) You could then compare the sizes offered from Bianchi, Kona and other manufacturers at their websites. Match the overall length (stem+tt), then look at the TT length. That would be closer to your size than what you have now. As I'm so short, I ended up with a WSD bike, and for once I actually went to a 5mm longer stem than stock to to tweak the fit. The bike handles like it was custom made for me (it fits it fits!). While I miss the feel of steel of my old Scapin (made in Italy too...) I love that my current ride fits and that makes all the difference.