Go Faster New Bike Recommendations ?

"Steve Sr." wrote in message
...
Well, I have finally decided that I need to get a lighter weight bike
so that I can start to be able to keep up with some of the faster
folks on club and shop rides.

I am currently using a Cannondale T2000 as an all-purpose road bike.
It was originally bought mostly for commuting so it has fenders, rear
rack, and front handlebar bag. I made the mistake of putting it on the
bathroom scale once and it topped out at about 38 pounds with full
water bottles.

Anyway, I'm in the market for a lighter weight regular road bike and
would like some feedback on possible options. Cost is a consideration
but not an overriding one.


Here are the things that I want to have on the new bike:

1. The frame material I am leaning toward is TI. I have found that the
Cannondale aluminum is pretty stiff and produces a pretty bumpy ride
despite the wider tires. I am leaning away from carbon as too
expensive and maybe not rugged enough and steel as too heavy. You can
correct me if I'm wrong here. I wouldn't mind having the braze-ons for
adding a rear rack for credit card touring.

You can have a light (not scary light) steel bike with everything you
desire, and it will last you a lifetime. I'm personally leery of carbon
because when it fails, it fails big time. Titanium is great, but steel is
real. :-)

Steve Sr. wrote:
Well, I have finally decided that I need to get a lighter weight bike
so that I can start to be able to keep up with some of the faster
folks on club and shop rides.

I am currently using a Cannondale T2000 as an all-purpose road bike.
It was originally bought mostly for commuting so it has fenders, rear
rack, and front handlebar bag. I made the mistake of putting it on the
bathroom scale once and it topped out at about 38 pounds with full
water bottles.

Anyway, I'm in the market for a lighter weight regular road bike and
would like some feedback on possible options. Cost is a consideration
but not an overriding one.

Interesting.

I also ride a T2000, but I've never had the huevos to put it on a scale ;-)

My tendency, when riding my C'dale, is to bring /anything/ with me that I
can think of: panniers with food, my 100oz hydration pack, the big fat cable
lock, a backpack with extra clothes on it, . . . whatever. The last time I
did a road ride with some friends, though, I carried two H20 bottles and
/nothing/ else. I had absolutely no problems keeping pace with them (where
ordinarily I would have).

I tend to agree with Mike Beauchamp who responded:

"Why not just take off the fenders, rear rack, handlebar bag, and dump the
waterbottles? I'm sure it'll come within a few pounds of any other road bike
you'd consider buying. ... and that few pounds isn't gonna do anything to
help you "go faster", unless you're going faster up hill and you only weigh
like 100lbs yourself."

You may want to tinker with the "Benefit from less weight" model on
www.analyticcycling.com. It'll help you determine incremental speed gains
to be gained by reducing weight of bike and rider. Is your area flat or
hilly? If it's pretty flat, you just won't achieve that much by dropping
that last 5-7lbs (over what you'd achieve by stripping down your loaded
T2000).

It's pretty hilly out here in Southern California and I /do/ get a little
tired of getting resoundingly dropped on /every single/ climb (that's you,
Sornson), so I do toy with the idea of a Moots, Klein, or Independent
Fabrication bike . . . but most of that wanting one is just plain /wanting/
one ;-)

In rec.bicycles.tech "Steve Sr." whose message will self destruct in a few
days wrote:

I am currently using a Cannondale T2000 as an all-purpose road bike.
It was originally bought mostly for commuting so it has fenders, rear
rack, and front handlebar bag. I made the mistake of putting it on the
bathroom scale once and it topped out at about 38 pounds with full
water bottles.

Unless you're going to put fenders, rear rack, etc. on the new bike, this
is an unfair comparision. A lighter bike *may* let you climb a little
faster. But calculate the percent difference of the TOTAL weight of bike +
rider + Misc for the two bikes. I'll bet it's between 1 and 2 percent -
not a big deal unless you're already are as skinny as Tyler Hamilton.

Here are the things that I want to have on the new bike:

1. The frame material I am leaning toward is TI.

May save a pound or so over steel, but at a price.

3. Wide range cogs in the back but not quite as wide as the 11-34 on
the Cannondale. Something like 12-27 would probably be good
compromise. This may dictate a wide range (i.e. mountain) deraileur.

Standard Ultegra der will handle 12-27. Get long cage der if you use a
triple.

7. Micro-adjust seatpost. I really like the Thompson seatpost that
came with the Cannondale.

No "p" in Thomson. Check eBay. I just bought a brand new Thomson for $33.
Very nice post.

8. Brooks leather saddle.

And your trying to save weight??!!

9. I'm open for suggestions on wheels. It seems that there are too
many choices out there. I'm looking for light weight / reliable.

Reliability is usually inversely proportional to weight, all else being
equal. Hard to recommend a specific wheel without knowing your weight.
Hard to go wrong with well built conventional wheels.

Art Harris

Neil Brooks wrote:

It's pretty hilly out here in Southern California and I /do/ get a
little tired of getting resoundingly dropped on /every single/ climb
(that's you, Sornson)

Well, at least you're accurate, Brooks! It /was/ only a single climb; the
rest you either kept up or dropped the hammer!

Whatever you do, do NOT buy a light bike.

I can't afford it.
--
BS (no, really)

Get a trek.


Steve Sr. wrote:
|| Well, I have finally decided that I need to get a lighter weight bike
|| so that I can start to be able to keep up with some of the faster
|| folks on club and shop rides.
||
|| I am currently using a Cannondale T2000 as an all-purpose road bike.
|| It was originally bought mostly for commuting so it has fenders, rear
|| rack, and front handlebar bag. I made the mistake of putting it on
|| the bathroom scale once and it topped out at about 38 pounds with
|| full water bottles.
||
|| Anyway, I'm in the market for a lighter weight regular road bike and
|| would like some feedback on possible options. Cost is a consideration
|| but not an overriding one.
||
||
|| Here are the things that I want to have on the new bike:
||
|| 1. The frame material I am leaning toward is TI. I have found that
|| the Cannondale aluminum is pretty stiff and produces a pretty bumpy
|| ride despite the wider tires. I am leaning away from carbon as too
|| expensive and maybe not rugged enough and steel as too heavy. You can
|| correct me if I'm wrong here. I wouldn't mind having the braze-ons
|| for adding a rear rack for credit card touring.
||
|| 2. Tripple front crank with 170mm crank arms. I have a 29" inseam and
|| the 170s seemed to make my legs much happier. The Cannondale
|| originally had 175s.
||
|| 3. Wide range cogs in the back but not quite as wide as the 11-34 on
|| the Cannondale. Something like 12-27 would probably be good
|| compromise. This may dictate a wide range (i.e. mountain) deraileur.
||
|| 4. Shimano 9 speed drive train if still available. 10 speed if not. I
|| don't really see a need for an extra gear and the T2000 is also 9
|| speed so I have a source of emergency replacement parts..
||
|| 5. Shimano components. Ultegra minimum. I don't want to start a
|| Shimano/Campy war here but I already have the tools to work on
|| Shimano.
||
|| 6. Sealed bearing hubs in the wheels. I'm tired of repacking
|| bearings. They don't have to necessarily be cartridge bearings but
|| should be sealed well enough to prevent water and dirt from getting
|| in during a ride in the rain or a hosing off cleaning.
||
|| 7. Micro-adjust seatpost. I really like the Thompson seatpost that
|| came with the Cannondale.
||
|| 8. Brooks leather saddle.
||
|| 9. I'm open for suggestions on wheels. It seems that there are too
|| many choices out there. I'm looking for light weight / reliable.
||
||
|| Here are the things that I don't want:
||
|| 1. Anything that falls into the category of "stupid light" I am
|| currently riding about 3-4K miles a year and would like the bike to
|| last many years.
||
|| 2. "twitchy" road race handling. The bike should be stable enough to
|| ride "no hands" for short distances.
||
|| Based on this very particular "wish list" it seems that it amost
|| might be better to buy a frame and then build the bike up from
|| scratch. I am mechanically inclined enough to accomplish this. The
|| issue then becomes finding and procuring all of the necessary parts
|| at decent prices. I don't know how big of a hit in cost I'd take
|| doing it this way versus changing parts out on a new "stock" bike.
||
|| As always thanks for your insight and suggestions.
||
||
|| Regards,
||
|| Steve Sr.

Neil Brooks wrote:

It's pretty hilly out here in Southern California and I /do/ get a
little
tired of getting resoundingly dropped on /every single/ climb

You don't need a new bike, you need JATO rockets. Strap about 20 of
those estes model rockets to the back and light them on the first hill.
You'll not be dropped; in addition to the boost (probably minimial, so
be in front), your fellow riders will be choking on the exaust. :-).

It'll only work once though, so you better take advantage of the lead
they give you....

Rich

Harris wrote:

1. The frame material I am leaning toward is TI.

May save a pound or so over steel, but at a price.

Actually it's more like a quarter to half a pound over lightweight steel. But
you don't have to worry about the paint being scratched, so your bike will stay
looking good forever. Could be worth it.

Matt O.

Harris wrote:
In rec.bicycles.tech "Steve Sr." whose message will self destruct in a few
days wrote:


8. Brooks leather saddle.


And your trying to save weight??!!



And ride it in the rain?
--
My bike blog:
http://diabloscott.blogspot.com/

You can have a light (not scary light) steel bike with everything you
desire, and it will last you a lifetime. I'm personally leery of carbon
because when it fails, it fails big time. Titanium is great, but steel is
real. :-)

I don't know why you'd fear a carbon bike more than the other frame
materials, since the most critical component - the fork - is apt to be
carbon on any moderate to high-end bike regardless of the material used in
the rest of the frame.


Chris Neary


"Science, freedom, beauty, adventu what more could
you ask of life? Bicycling combined all the elements I
loved" - Adapted from a quotation by Charles Lindbergh

"Chris Neary" wrote in message
...
You can have a light (not scary light) steel bike with everything you
desire, and it will last you a lifetime. I'm personally leery of carbon
because when it fails, it fails big time. Titanium is great, but steel is
real. :-)

I don't know why you'd fear a carbon bike more than the other frame
materials, since the most critical component - the fork - is apt to be
carbon on any moderate to high-end bike regardless of the material used in
the rest of the frame.

Not if the OP buys a custom steel frame with a steel fork. My steel bike has
an aluminum fork, and it will likely last forever. I would rather ride a
Rivendell with its ornate steel fork than a "race" bike with a carbon fork
any day of the week.