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...found the whole process rather uninspiring. I was expecting something to leap out at me like it does when I buy a mountain bike.
Nothing tickling your fancy?
Unfortunately not. Based on the feedback for various sale assistants, it doesn't matter if you buy a madone/domane or a tarmac/roubiax. They seem to think the ride isn't much different between race geometry and endurance.
Sounds normal to me, mostly they're dull, look-alike chunks of carbon fibre. Just buy something reliably competent and ride it would be my advice. Road riding is brilliant, the bikes themselves don't do much for me. Then again I'm mostly unmoved by modern mountain bikes which are mostly dull, look-alike chunks of hydroformed aluminium or carbon fibre...
Edit: choose a colour you like though 🙂
Can I suggest going to a bike shop where they know something about road bikes or even better yet test ride some bikes.
Test rode a Trek Madone, Cannondale Super Six and Cube and a Scott, they all felt and handled differently. I really wanted the Madone but just didn't like it and ended up with the Cannondale.
Couple of shops I tried offer test rides on a turbo trainer. Lord knows what I'm supposed to glean from that.
Couple of shops I tried offer test rides on a turbo trainer. Lord knows what I'm supposed to glean from that.
I heard 700cc makes the turbo trainer come alive.
test rode a Bianchi infinito cv last week - it was xxxxing amazing to ride - so different from what I thought was a reasonable Alu framed bike
Agree sitting on a turbo isn't going to give much of an idea. I was probably lucky I get on well with the shop who let me give them a decent test ride.
AIso agree a lot of them do look the same but I blame the UCI for that 🙂
When I bought my second road bike I was completely taken by the looks and the style, it was a team edition Cannondale CAAD9. There was a pleasing old schoolness about the massive aluminium tubes, even the chain stays seemed to just be big fat tubes with little or no shaping to them. Great bike, wish I hadn't sold it etc etc. Carbon doesn't move me half as much.
I still look at Cannondale first when I'm window shopping for new road bikes, don't like the CAAD10 quite as much as the CAAD9 though.