Are they rightfully considered aero bikes? Is this a marketing gimmick to justify reducing SKU’s? Or are these bikes a lighter faster choice?
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Haven’t ridden any of the three, but in looking at numbers and reviews it seems like the Tarmac is legit, the Madone was just Trek reducing sku’s and a step down from the previous Madone, and we will see on the new Supersix.
I did not list every do it all race bike but meant the 3 better known examples as a representation of the genre.
I think the answer is the old, it depends. Depends on which one you’re interested in, depends where you ride, depends what kind of feel you like, etc.. I’d rather have a real aero bike personally, so that’s what I ride. But I also live somewhere that is rolling and has no sustained climbs.
To me “One bike to rule them all” is something I could run wide tires so I can ride fast on the road and on gravel, something like the Enve Fray. That said, I don’t race on the road, so the Sl8 is not targetted towards my riding.
I’m similar to you in that I prefer to ride an aero bike but where I live it is very hilly and I have no concerns about using it for sustained climbs. I don’t think it depends though. It’s a numbers thing. Weight is easy to measure and quantify but with the light weight comes the limited ability to enhance tube shapes which accounts for the appearance of any of the do it all bikes. That is what leads me to believe a do it all cannot be as aero as a dedicated aero bike. Wrong or right I will stick with a full aero bike when I’m spending my own money.
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I rode a Marinoni Piuma Columbus handmade in Quebec (still have), love the smooth confort, the isolation from the road.
Last year I purchased a SL8, mind blowing … I can’t really say which one is more confortable.
I use the same tires/tubes (5000 + latex)
My average are higher too. I can not talk about Madone or SuperSix. But Tarmac SL8 is am incredible by good for long, short ride.
It still kind of depends. Since 80% of the drag is a persons body, the position on the bike is going to make a bigger difference than frame shapes. Some aero bikes require you to use their stem and bar which may not be particularly narrow. So you would likely be faster putting on a 35 mm Enve Aero handlebar on an all-arounder.
But when it comes down to it in the grand scheme of things, the best set of data comes from Tour Mag which shows that there is only a handful of watts between the fastest frame and very all-arounder frames. And that handful of watts might end up in the wash when everything else gets included (position, water bottles, if you run a seat bag, etc). Just ride what you enjoy the most
no, they are not aero bikes. they are all rounders. the aero differences though are often minimal. i do think that the best all rounders are pretty much the best of all worlds - aero, weight and comfort.
really, it depends what attributes you personally value most. a good bike is a good bike (and a bad bike is a bad bike) but like anything that means good within its design scope
i’ve recently upgraded from a venge to an sl8. its lighter, snappier and vastly more comfortable. the aerodynamics are close enough to anything else out there not to matter for anyone other than a professional sprinter/breakway rider.
IMHO the concept of aero road bike IS the marketing gimmick.
Those are great roadies you’ve listed.
The gen 4 SuperSix was already more aero than the other two you listed, while only being a couple hundred grams heavier. The new gen 5 is even faster and lighter. Looks to blow the Tarmac SL8 out of the water in almost every category. The Madone is the odd one out being heavier and slower. But apparently rides well. I had a Tarmac SL8 and SuperSix Evo Gen 4 and the SSE was probably one of my favorite bikes ever. It was so comfortable. The SL8 is nice, but didn’t ride like the Cannondale and I ended up selling it. The new SuperSix looks like it hits every box.
That said, I don’t think the Factor One got tested like it should have and is well and above the fastest bike out there. I think most allrounders are going to be very close to aero bikes these days, but I still think the Factor is above them all. The geometry puts you in a TT position pushed forward and low, opens up your hips to let you put out power. The saddle ends up pushed forward 4-5 cm (yes cm). I got to test ride one and it’s crazy fast. And it’s solely the riding position.
Mathematically speaking, 1 is not equal to N + 1.
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