Don’t ask me this week LOL, I’m a little stiff from the post Thanksgiving tradition of hauling decorations out of the garage attic, mostly heavy boxes and two bags holding a 7’ Christmas tree up and down a ladder.
My first carbon bike, and first road bike in 30 years was a Trek Domane 2015 with the endurance geo. Did a lot of centuries and a double on that bike. Thought I would be riding endurance geo for the rest of my days as I approach retirement. Was blown away by the Tarmac SL7, and it still impresses. But this week after crawling thru a narrow attic entrance hauling container boxes? My 2+ hour Tuesday endurance ride would have been 2 hours too long on any bike.
How it works here:
wife - can’t you buy used? Why does anyone need to spend more than $500 on a bike?
me - only new bikes get the warranty, and I’ll be riding it for at least 5 years. I used to spend over $1000/year on skiing and you never said anything about how expensive that was
wife - ok but you are selling the old bike, right?
me - of course
wife - ok
Hahaha love it. Buy a Tarmac as it is a great ride and you don’t need to race. Love mine so much contemplating getting a Sworks at some point but will probably go a Epic Evo route instead to switch it up.
Let me throw you a curveball: if you want a “proper” endurance road bike, how about getting a gravel bike or something like the Open UP or 3T Exploro: a road bike that can take very wide tires. With two wheel sets you can keep the promise you gave to your wife.
Best response yet. The only negative about my Roubaix is the tire clearance is limited to 33mm, although I did put 35mm tires on out of curiosity and still had 3mm between tire and bike forks and stays.
3 hours yesterday and I could have gone much much longer on my Tarmac SL7.
This bike is silly fast, I was riding around a gated community and took a wrong turn and ended up at a locked gate. Second time I’ve made that mistake. Turned around on a -4% grade and gave it a little push to get back. Was surprised to see this
I mean, there’s a saddle height and reach to the bars that fits you, right? Endurance vs race is really immaterial. The problem is when you want a lower or longer front end, the endurance geometry often doesn’t allow for it. Same goes if race geometry would mean you’d need an 80mm stem, then that frame wouldn’t be much good in a race at all.
I’d worry more about trail and wheelbase figures that suit you, and standover height does matter too. The height of the bike underneath you really affects how it feels.
Just to follow up a little more on what OreoCookie said about considering a gravel bike, last summer I pulled an old cross bike out of my shed to see if I could convert it to a gravel bike. I found I could put up to 40mm tires on it and still have 3mm clearance between the forks/stays. There are other issues with that bike, but I have found myself riding it more and more. I now have a gravel bike with 50mm tire clearance on order.
Yesterday, I went on a 50+ mile ride that included a 5ish mile rough but hard packed gravel section and some recently chip sealed roads with the Roubaix which has the future shock 2.0. I had 32 mm slicks as tires at 54/57 psi (tubeless). The Roubaix is the only “road bike” that I’ve ridden that I would find enjoyable on those rougher sections. However, I rode the same roads a few weeks ago on that old cross bike with 40mm tires at 37/40 psi. While I was faster on the Roubaix, the old cross bike with the 40mm tires was noticeably more comfortable on the gravel and rougher pavement sections. Like you, I don’t race. I’m fortunate that I am able to own multiple bikes, but if I could only have one it would be a gravel bike hands down. You don’t lose that much to a dedicated road bike on the road and it opens a whole new world of roads/paths to ride on. Cheers!
Wife, how much!?
Well, I could argue I’m a bit of a boring chap, I don’t sleep around, I don’t smoke, I hardly drink alcohol but I do love my bikes.
Wife, why don’t you wait a year?
Me. I might be dead by then.
That said I’m finding the current pricing somewhat excessive for what you’re getting compared to my current bike (SL5 compared to a SL7) that I’m happy on my current bike.
Maybe I’ll reconsider when availability becomes better
