I want to buy a road bike

[Toby Gymshorts]

Fuck it. Imma get myself on eBay and buy that Raleigh Super Tuff Burner I've coveted for years.

[San Bernardhinault]

Of course, neither of the two Boardmans I like are actually available at present. OF COURSE.

That seems to remain true for a lot of bicycles at the moment. Particularly "The bike I want" rather than "The bike that'll do because it's close-ish to what I want and currently in stock or at least will be within a couple of months"

[Toby Gymshorts]

The last bike I bought because it was close-ish to what I wanted is probably still locked to some railings behind a block of flats in Brockley.

[Levin]

Bikes last forever. My last bike stuck it out ten years and I liked it but it was always just what had been available.

I need to call my shop and find out if my frame had left Italy.

Have you looked at Pearson? Or are they a bit pricier than you were thinking?

Or something a bit retro

[Toby Gymshorts]

Good lord, this is a good-looking bike:

https://cycles.peugeot.com/road/legend/lr01

[Sporting]

The last bike I bought because it was close-ish to what I wanted is probably still locked to some railings behind a block of flats in Brockley.

Lost the key?

[Toby Gymshorts]

Yep. Also it was an absolute piece of shit so I wasn't massively bothered about finding it.

Wasteful, I know. If someone managed to get the chain off I hope they derived some enjoyment from a £180 MTB which in truth was about £160 too expensive.

[Toby Gymshorts]

(I joked about the "close-ish to what I wanted" thing, just to clear that up.)

[Levin]

I really wish I could find a distributor for this in the UK, it looks perfect for an about town bike.

[Sits]

That’s nice.

[Levin]

It's nearly here. I've waited a long time for it but now it's only days away. We're waiting for a Chorus front mech. I've had to compromise a little, I've got American stem, bars and seatpost but they're made in Taiwan anyway, same as Italian brands.

[Mumpo]

Forgot to mention - a few weeks ago I went to a Pinarello demonstration day in Cheshire, basically a chance for a free (albeit short) ride of a top-spec Dogma F12 as used in the elite races. Twelve grand's worth of bike including Dura Ace Di2. Seven miles of gently undulating countryside road, sadly lacking any proper gradients to really put it through its paces but fun nevertheless (and I did get a second go because whoever booked the slot after mine didn't show up). The ride was smooth as you would expect; light, of course, and the digital shifting was a dream; but best was the feeling that absolutely every watt of power I generated was going into moving the bike rather than being absorbed by the frame or the road (or however the physics works). A good rider is defined by their fitness and technique, of course, but now I can see how a top-level bike allows them to max out their speed and endurance.

I want to buy a road bike.

[San Bernardhinault]

I always wondered if a top-level super-light Dogma (or similar) felt really, really twitchy and unstable when you had the slightest sidewind or hit a crack in the road surface? I know that TT bikes really struggle in sidewinds, but that's because their aero-stuff is basically a giant sail if the wind is not coming from the front. But I've read in places about how some race bikes "feel more stable" but less "racey", so I was wondering how true that was.

[Sits]

I don’t ride, or have a bike as it doesn’t work with my current lifestyle. Something for the future perhaps, but I enjoy reading this thread vicariously.

Anyway I was exchanging PMs with another manager in Online Cycling Manager* and he mentioned his recent bike purchase:

It's a Wilier GTR team in red! cheapest options out there, still hella expensive. It’s phenomenal. I used to have a cheap Scott, but upgraded to the Wilier. It's incredibly quick, light and absolutely gorgeous. Did cost me pretty much all of the money I earned in my holiday.

I looked them up and to my untrained eye they do indeed look gorgeous, and indeed expensive. Anyone got/had/tried one?

*Excellent game, see thread in Games if you’ve not already had a go.

[Mumpo]

I always wondered if a top-level super-light Dogma (or similar) felt really, really twitchy and unstable when you had the slightest sidewind or hit a crack in the road surface? I know that TT bikes really struggle in sidewinds, but that's because their aero-stuff is basically a giant sail if the wind is not coming from the front. But I've read in places about how some race bikes "feel more stable" but less "racey", so I was wondering how true that was.

Mine didn't feel at all unstable, I have to say, though there weren't any sidewinds and I don't remember going over any especially poor surfaces. When I told the guy at my LBS I was booked up for this demo he warned me I might find the ride "harsh" - not sure exactly what he meant by that (they're Trek stockists so perhaps he was just trying to put me off) but the twenty minutes or so I was on it weren't at all uncomfortable. I didn't get a chance to really put the hammer down (or as far down as my hammer ever goes) so maybe things change at higher speeds. I'd love to be able to give it a couple of hours on a route with a decent climb.

[Levin]

I have looked longingly at Wilier's in the past but their off the shelf frame sizes aren't right for me.

I thought one of the benefits of carbon was that it gave a softer ride compared to aluminium? That this was the reason most alu bikes had carbon forks, to soften the ride.

I walk past the Pinarello shop on my way to work and I can't get my head around those Dogma down tubes. They are a weird shape and too big, like they are an ebike holding a battery.

[Mumpo]

I was in the Pinarello shop on Deansgate in Manchester when they told me about the demo day. That shop is quite a place. Not a single bike out on display costs under ten grand. And something tells me they're not all being bought by elite cat riders.

[Lobachevsky]

I love my Pinarello bike. I sometimes get it out of the shed when just sitting in the garden to look at it. I think its my favourite possession.

Didn’t help me much on the lakes and dales circuit mind was still completely done in and crampon the big hills.

[Levin]

I bought a road bike

[Levin]

[caja-dglh]

That's gorgeous Levin.

On Wilier, my brother got one a few years back and has not made the slightest hint about changing from it. Previously he had an assortment of Cervelo's and whatnot with good spec, so it isn't like he didn't have a frame of reference. In fact I think one of the Cervelo bikes sits on the trainer.

[Levin]

Shifting is going to take a bit of getting used to. On the ride home I kept trying to shift the brake lever.

I'm getting the pedals off my old bike on Monday. Parts are still really short. Even this has different stem, post and bars to the spec.

[Sits]

That’s nice.

[Sam]

Dglh took the words right out of my mouth: I looked at the photo and mouthed to myself 'that's gorgeous', then scrolled down and saw his post.

Are you planning to cut the stem down to size, or leaving it so you can take the handlebars up a bit from time to time?

[Levin]

We'll, or rather they'll, cut the steerer down in month or so's time. At the moment I'm still working out what's comfortable. My last bike had the stem slammed down as low as possible but at the height in the picture, it's much easier to use the drops.

I'm a little nervous about making adjustments despite having a torque wrench as everything is so easily scratched/carbon.