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Modern bikes...

  • 04-08-2022 9:51am
    #1
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,936 ✭✭✭


    Was out lately for a couple of group spins, which were very enjoyable with the best of company, ride etiquette, lovely routes,coffee etc.

    Between the two spins there was a mix of riders, 11 in total with two recent RAS finishers and a wide mix of abilities after that.

    What struck me though was the bikes

    *except me everyone was on discs

    *5 of the bikes had di2

    *nearly all had internally routed gear and brake cable/hoses

    *integrated cockpits

    *nearly all tubeless (some with no tubes!!!)

    Now the initial cost of these bikes is one thing but its all the other issues which makes maintenance for the home mechanic a ball ache and expensive along with future obsolescence of proprietary parts which strikes me as nuts.

    I wouldn't know where to start doing the headset on a S-Works Sl7, or like to pay for a shorter/longer stem after a bike fit for the same bike or the equivalent Trek/Cervelo.

    I'm the outlier here could someone tell me why most of the sportive/racing crew have embraced new tech which isn't adding extra enjoyment (as far as I can see) but lots of cost and the need for a professional mechanic for what used to be basic repairs. I say that as someone with limited mechanical skills who can do all my own maintenance of my 2013 rim braked bike.

    The whole thing looks anti consumer to me, but the consumers are diving headfirst into it; or maybe they are all right and I'm just a Luddite😂



«1

Comments

  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 584 ✭✭✭MangleBadger


    I really like the clean look of hidden cables. Which my new Orbea Orca has. Although I have not had to try do any adjustments to it yet, so not sure how much of a hassle it will be. Its not 1 piece, just the cables routed under the stem and into the frame from there.



  • Moderators, Category Moderators, Arts Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 50,985 CMod ✭✭✭✭magicbastarder


    if you want to buy a high end bike these days, what options are there which don't include most of the features above?



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,106 ✭✭✭fatbhoy


    Regarding brake hoses routed through the headset tube, to my knowledge, to replace the headset bearings you need to do a brake bleed also, which is a right pain for something that used to be simple.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 21,738 ✭✭✭✭Squidgy Black


    I mean how often would you have to replace the headset on a bike, maybe once every 5 years at best with sealed bearings.

    And if you’re splashing out that kind of money on an sl7 and you’re not getting a bike fit before you buy it to make sure sizing is correct, then fools and their money etc.

    The whole new bikes are too complicated is overblown, and the issues people think of generally never really happen.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9,562 ✭✭✭Macy0161


    My road bike isn't integrated cockpit or disc brake, but has internally routed cables for it's mechanical groupset... but fwiw I'd add a pro of disc brakes of no issues with rim wear/ carbon braking surface in the wet. Tubeless isn't that new either, and the hassle is more in the fitting (and a mess if you have to fit a tube.

    In my experience, people showing for spins without spares isn't confined to new bikes, and isn't new!



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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,526 ✭✭✭secman


    I'm a complete luddite, newest bikes are a pair of 2017 Trek emonda SL6 rim brakes, ultegra mechanical. Winter bikes are same spec but a bit older. I am conscious when on a club group spin if the bikes immediately in front of me are disc brakes especially in the wet. Keep putting off change...until retirement ...possibly 😁



  • Moderators, Category Moderators, Arts Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 50,985 CMod ✭✭✭✭magicbastarder


    you're legally obliged to get a Ti bike when you retire, i hope you got the memo?



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,373 ✭✭✭DaveyDave


    The more expensive the bike, the more expensive the servicing and components. You can get a nice bike without having a fully integrated cockpit. At least from what I see with Canyon, you'll have entry carbon with 105, then you can go up to carbon with Ultegra Di2, then you go fancy carbon with a fully integrated cockpit, better frame, Dura Ace Di2 etc.

    Plenty of options out there for bikes, really depends on what you want.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,561 ✭✭✭Eamonnator


    I retired 18 years ago. Finally got my Ti road bike at the beginning of this year. Should have done it years ago, most comfortable bike, I've ever owned.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,741 ✭✭✭brownian


    Depends how much you want to tweak your bike after you buy it, add non-proprietary parts, etc. And how leery you are of things you can't fix yourself. I went from eTap back to mechanical, as the battery never runs out on gear cables. I wanted to try a shockstop stem, so am glad not to have an integrated cockpit (which I think are butt-ugly anyway). Internal cables - yes, the first time you replace one, they're a PITA, but you learn a few simple tricks and they're no biggie. Tried tubeless, but when get a puncture that the system doesn't fix, it can be a pain to get the tyres on and off, in the rain, covered in sealant...so went back to tubes, no regrets. (Touch wood) I hardly ever get punctures anyway. I'd probably prefer discs, but I've had rim brakes for ages, and they are easy to adjust or fix.

    To actually respond, rather than ramble - it's hard to get a 'good' bike these days without that stuff. If you want to buy a 10k bike (and surprisingly many do), and you believe all the 'best frame ever' and 'will change your life and save your marriage' stuff, then you may struggle to get mechanical gears, rim brakes, or (especially) external cables.



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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,373 ✭✭✭DaveyDave


    I thought wireless groupset batteries lasted a long time? I was under the impression it was something you'd only do every few months.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,526 ✭✭✭secman


    Have heard of battery glitches , club member's battery dropped power on tour of Kilkenny last Saturday, was stuck on 52/14 on a very hilly course, ended up doing the 110km instead of the 160km. It was back working fine on Mondays spin .



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 25,047 ✭✭✭✭Wishbone Ash


    OP - you remind me of those drivers around 20/25 years ago or so when power assisted steering, electric windows etc. were becoming standard in normal cars.

    "What do people want with electric windows? How hard is it to wind up/down a window?" which usually translated as "I can't afford it so no one else should show me up by having it either".

    I don't know if you drive, but if you do, I'm pretty sure your vehicle has electric windows, power assisted steering, automatic choke, ABS, AC etc. You probably have an automatic washing machine at home, maybe even a dishwasher. Sure the cost of servicing those must be shocking compared to the old basin of water or the old washboard.

    ....and as for those new fangled cellular telephones, what was wrong with the old pay phone with the A and B buttons?

    Life moves on - get over it.

    (But I do agree with you regarding tubeless - pain in the arse on a group spin spending 45 freezing minutes on the side of the road in winter while the tubeless one tries to remove the tyre and fit a tube. A solution for a problem which doesn't exist.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 25,047 ✭✭✭✭Wishbone Ash


    BTW - I should have added that of my 5 bikes, one is disc, one has internal cabling, none are tubeless and none have integral cockpit or whatever it's called but I'm very happy to see others with them as I know it will eventually trickle down to me! 😀



  • Moderators, Category Moderators, Arts Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 50,985 CMod ✭✭✭✭magicbastarder


    As a counter, cars today are bloated, over specced, and over featured...



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9,562 ✭✭✭Macy0161


    Even the pro's have issues sometimes, and then isn't there a crash mode that can be triggered by non-crashes occasionally? Personally, n+1 (if it's a carbon bike) will be at least ultegra, so I've little doubt it'll be electronic group set and disc.

    I'm a bit disappointed that I wont get a Ti bike until I retire though!



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,320 ✭✭✭07Lapierre


    I work in the motor trade. i The last "Decent" cars built were in 2000/2010 or older. The latest cars equipped with Advance braking, adaptive cruise control, electronic handbrakes (what's wrong with a good'ol rachet lever?) self drive capability etc. are going too far with "Driver aids". they've taken all the fun out of driving a car.



  • Posts: 15,661 ✭✭✭✭ [Deleted User]


    Our current car is basic by today's standards even for a 2016 but it's actually the first I've had with air con. No going back now 😅

    I do see the likes of the Tesla's while I'm passing on the bike in traffic and they effectively have a laptop on the dashboard, makes me wonder about how big a distraction that could be?



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 938 ✭✭✭Luxman


    I gradually upgraded bikes, went from Sora to 105 to Di2 over 8 years or so, I wouldn't be without Di2 to be honest, doesn't make me faster at all but takes the faff out of indexing them, although battery charging is another task to replace it. As poster above says I think the integrated cockpit is pig ugly and wouldn't go near one. My good bike does have disc brakes which I think are brill, I haven't had to bleed them yet but being slightly nerdy I look forward to the task at some point. As WA alludes to, Life goes on, progress and all that.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,305 ✭✭✭Mercian Pro


    Like WA, I've been stuck at the side of the road on a number of occasions as tyre levers are bent and broken trying to get a tyre back on over a tube on a tubeless set up. I've also witnessed a mechanic on a Hospice Cycle having to remove a bottom bracket in order to replace a gear cable. Pushing a friend on the level bits up near the Sally Gap when his Di2 failed in the lowest gear also comes to mind.

    On a recent trip in Slovenia, I met an 81 year old kindred spirit who was delighted that I was also on a bike with tubes, rim brakes, exposed cables and mechanical gears. Only one of us was riding Ti though but he was interested for his next bike.



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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 690 ✭✭✭Morris Garren


    I find myself in a similar scenario to OP- almost every other guy in my club who I would ride with has disc/integrated headset/internal etc and some have Di2. I agree however that we need to move with tech progress rather than resist for the sake of nostalgia. My race bike is a 2016 Argon18 frame, the Nitrogen 'sprinters' bike with tubeless, but the external flapping cables are the only draw back. Aesthetically this was a very fine bike [still is] 6 years ago but it seems like it is from another era altogether given the speed of change. I'm not yet entirely sold on tubeless nor do I have a team car to throw me another bike if the disc fails; therefore I've decided to just stick with the current steed and with a cost-of-living crisis, n+1 is a long way off.

    Disc will stay; tubeless maybe not; 12 speed is really pushing the edge of necessity; 1x is naff and AquaBlue proved that; if internal cables become near enough standard, that would be a welcome development.

    Change is the only constant



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,684 ✭✭✭triggermortis


    my good bike has DI2, which is brilliant and never let me down. All the rest is beyond me so far. Wouldn’t mind a winter bike with discs but won’t be rushing out to upgrade the good bike as rim brakes with Ultegra brakes and Swiss stop pads are good enough for me.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 681 ✭✭✭wheelo01


    I don't know what an integrated headset(or a tracker mortgage) is!!



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 25,047 ✭✭✭✭Wishbone Ash


    They call it a 'cockpit' now.


    .....and you've missed the boat with the tracker mortgages!



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 301 ✭✭this.lad


    Which is a shame because you nearly need a mortgage to get a new bike these days!

    I wonder has the shortage if bikes pushed buyers into the next level a bit sooner than they had planned for?

    I had an alu defy with claris and changed to a TCR Advanced pro with ultegra carbon etc.

    I was looking to go carbon and was thinking 105 but could get nothing, washoung to just leave it so but came across a good deal in the above. I'm actually hardly off it these days so the money was well spent.

    The deep section rims weren't a clincher, pardon the pun, for me. I'm not sure if people land in off the road a d insist on an integrated cockpit or whatever, it's just what's there and available.

    I think we all know what its like to get clearance from the other half to get a new bike, you don't hang around, you buy before the mind changes!! 🤣🤣



  • Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 25,545 Mod ✭✭✭✭CramCycle


    I spent my mid life crisis on a Rose X lite 6, rim brakes, no proprietary stuff. There are riders in my club league who have 7k bikes for the TT nights, and while I always get a pang of jealousy, 7k to save 60seconds in a league I'll be lucky to place top 50 seems extortionate. My bike is UCI legal by the thinnest of margins, the exposed cables at the handlebars might cost me a watt but I don't think that watt is why I'm placing 20th in most races.

    I will upgrade to a fancier groupset in a few years but for now, this is good.

    This said I don't begrudge anyone with all the fancy stuff, it drives trickle down tech, and leads to a nice 2nd hand market for cheapskates like me



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 940 ✭✭✭monkeyslayer


    Earlier this year I decided to upgrade to a new 7k bike if only because I was spending a fortune on old tech keeping the old one (with over 40 thousand kms on it) in the game. I wanted to upgrade the ultegra groupset (which I'd taken off an even older frame) with Di2 and there was no neat way to facilitate it on the frame and I think the sram equivalent was either too expensive, too hard to find or was obselete. Wheels were old zipp rims on rim breaks which inevitably wouldn't last a more than a couple more years etc. I had been saving for a new bike but after an expensive crash that had me spending 100s on a rear mech, wheel truing, new lever etc and then a headset I but the bullet. Both bikes are great I love having both of them, both really decent in their own right. What I wasn't expecting was how much id love the disc brakes, gears I don't really see the big deal tbh, and even prefer the ultegra 6700 mech hoods. I do miss how light my old bike is in comparison and the stock carbon wheels that came with the new bike just don't rate against my old zipps but at least I know when I eventually upgrade them they'll last a lot longer. I probably won't be spending any more money on the older one except for general keeping it on the road type stuff. I'm mostly just dreading the price of keeping the new one on the road when things like 12 speed cassetes, bbs, bearings etc start to need replacing as they seem quite expensive, at the moment anyway.

    Post edited by monkeyslayer on


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 990 ✭✭✭nicksnikita


    Had my eye out for something similar for a long time now. Really fancy one



  • Moderators, Category Moderators, Arts Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 50,985 CMod ✭✭✭✭magicbastarder


    i have just shy of four year old ultegra 6800 on my (dry weather) bike and since the original setup, i've literally spent less than a minute on adjusting the gears. i'd have spent more time getting the batteries charged on Di2 (which in four years, probably is not a lot of time wasted either, i guess).

    but in terms of what moving to Di2 might have meant for me - significant extra cost, a little bit of extra time (not worth talking about) and extra weight (which i'm not that concerned about either, really)

    i guess in the words of sinead o'connor, i do not want what i have not got.



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  • Posts: 15,661 ✭✭✭✭ [Deleted User]


    Have you ridden a Di2 bike MB? If I could justify the expense I'd be on one every day 😅

    Was out for a walk with my dad earlier heading down hill and met a lad on a Cervelo coming against us up hill. Gave my dad a nudge and pointed to my ear. Clunk clunk clunk from behind as the lad shifted gears if that was a mechanical the sound would have been horrific!!!!



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 876 ✭✭✭byrnem31


    I went backwards. Had a giant defy 2 2020 disc with hunt carbons. Lovely bike but had to sell it. It weighed 9.5kg with peddles. Bought a 2nd hand 2015 carbon canyon with rim brake in 105 soon after and its a far better bike. Easier to work on and weighs 7.7kg, nearly 2kg lighter at a 1/3rd of the cost of a defy. I honestly don't need a dura ace, disc brake, tubeless bike for 7 or 8k but each to their own.



  • Moderators, Category Moderators, Arts Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 50,985 CMod ✭✭✭✭magicbastarder


    i don't need to go complicating my uninformed opinions with 'experience'.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 977 ✭✭✭8valve


    I am an old school cyclist; I love old school bikes (which, at this stage means anything pre-2000!!!) and their relative simplicity.

    Technological advances in road bikes are driven by top-end competition, every watt gained or second saved matters in the pro peloton.

    People who cycle for leisure, if they have the disposable income, like to have the latest tech, which the cycling industry tells them they NEED - many don't need it, but it is nice to have on the coffee spin. It's a cool brag over a petrol station mocha-choca-soy-lattaccino, made from ethnically sourced beans, picked by a lady in a straw hat in the third-world country of your choice.

    Many use the latest tech to improve their cycling; speed, distance travelled for energy expended, general fitness etc.

    Many, however, just do the same spin, same speed, every Sunday...just on a more expensive bike.

    Tech trickles down from the top tiers eventually; the recent arrival of Shimano 105 Di2 is a perfect example.

    From my point of view, I fix and build up bikes all day, every day. I don't care what's next in the queue to be hung on the work-stand. I give them all the same level of care and attention. One day this past week consisted of a 80s steel racer for full mechanical overhaul, a carbon Giant for new internal cables/pressfit BB/headset bearings, brake bleed on a modern MTB, two new tyres on a pram, a couple of kids bikes assembled out of their boxes and a wheelchair with a puncture....every day is different. But I'm wandering off topic.

    Some new tech I can understand being used by pros, but not by the everyday cyclist; lots of it is over complicated, for the sake of over complication and lacks the durability of lower end stuff, for the sake of shedding grammes. It can't be fixed by the average Joe and it royally sucks donkey balls trying to fix it for you, especially when you have ''had a go'' first...here you can add in not washing your bike all winter after cycling country roads or giving it to me with a winters worth of crusty sweat from the turbo trainer. Yuk.

    The biggest drawback to all this new tech is the lack of end-user friendliness, when it comes to maintenance; you have to bring the bike to me if something goes wrong (and the cyclist's fear of making an expensive error compounds this).

    At the risk of sounding like a grumpy old man, back in my day (lol) you could do EVERY job on your bike by yourself, providing you had the tools (or could borrow a tool from a cycling club mate); this added to the joy of cycling...being able to diagnose and fix bikes as and when something went wrong. The loss of this is one of the saddest things about modern cycling, in my humble opinion. Knowing every nut, bolt and bearing is working because you made it work, makes cycling that bike an even more joyful experience. I wince when men and women who, having been swept up in the surge of popularity for cycling over the past couple of decades, come in to me for a puncture repair, gear tune or chain replacement; all basic jobs, needing basic tools...but beyond the capabilities of too many. In recent years, I ran a basic maintenance class for one of Munsters largest and well established cycling clubs - I ended up showing most of the atttendees how to remove the wheels, before we could move on to the neurosurgery complication of changing a tube!

    And yes, in answer to some posts above, a retirement titanium frame is on my wish list. But it will have external cable guides!



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 25,047 ✭✭✭✭Wishbone Ash


    At the risk of sounding like a grumpy old man, back in my day (lol) you could do EVERY job on your bike by yourself, providing you had the tools (or could borrow a tool from a cycling club mate); this added to the joy of cycling...being able to diagnose and fix bikes as and when something went wrong. The loss of this is one of the saddest things about modern cycling, in my humble opinion. Knowing every nut, bolt and bearing is working because you made it work, makes cycling that bike an even more joyful experience. I wince when men and women who, having been swept up in the surge of popularity for cycling over the past couple of decades, come in to me for a puncture repair, gear tune or chain replacement; all basic jobs, needing basic tools...but beyond the capabilities of too many. In recent years, I ran a basic maintenance class for one of Munsters largest and well established cycling clubs - I ended up showing most of the atttendees how to remove the wheels, before we could move on to the neurosurgery complication of changing a tube!

    Apologies for going off topic but would it not be in your interest for cyclists to know as little as possible about their bike and have to bring it to you for repair/servicing?



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 977 ✭✭✭8valve


    That's a good point, but cyclists having their spin ruined by a puncture or a snapped chain is easily avoidable with some basic training and a decent quality multitool.

    Also, having some basic mechanical sympathy and knowledge stops cyclists from quickly turning a twenty quid repair into a 200 quid repair.



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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 511 ✭✭✭CptMonkey


    I’d love more tech on my bike but I have managed to avoid any major purchases so I’m sticking with my bianchi via Nerone. Some 105 bits and some ultergra bits. I can maintain it my self. I have a few different wheel sets even tho the campag don’t really come off.

    Now if I come into money then I’ll have the latests and greatest 😂



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,305 ✭✭✭Mercian Pro


    I think your question WA is best answered by 8valve's posts here and in other threads where he is extremely generous with his advice. Back in his day (and even mine), bike shops like the Rutland were places where you could drop in for advice and even the ocassional loan of a tool you might rarely need. Unfortunately now, some bike mechanics, or more likely bike shop owners, are quite happy to generate work for themselves with OTT reports on what needs doing.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,742 ✭✭✭2011abc


    I think 8v’s post spoke for many . Have lost track of the number of times I’ve told noobie ‘performance’ cyclist’s their quick releases don’t work like wingnuts…Bike design definitely peaked at or before 2010 and maybe 2000 . Discs , Di2 neo tubeless etc are solutions to problems that didn’t exist . I don’t know how a young racing cyclist is expected to save for a medium to high spec machine nowadays .



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,373 ✭✭✭DaveyDave


    Hopefully 105 Di2 will be on somewhat affordable bikes so it won't be stuck with integrated cockpit, one piece handlebar/stem and just less proprietary parts/setups etc that comes with higher end stuff.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,300 ✭✭✭CantGetNoSleep


    I've had this debate with club mates a lot. My take on it having run most of the modern features is:

    • Disc brakes (assuming they are hydraulic) are better (especially in the wet) and open up a better choice of potentially longer lasting wheels but add weight and are not as simple to maintain. I don't think there is much point in having them on a good weather bike.
    • I am a tubeless convert & have it on all my bikes - but I wouldn't expect my group to wait for me on the very rare occasions it goes wrong. It isn't like changing a tube and we should accept that
    • Integrated cables and cockpits look great but up to you if you want to go through the hassle of maintenance and fit for the sake of looks.
    • Di2 is great but I don't consider it worth the cost (& I have it on the good bike).
    • 1x - not mentioned yet but I can't understand why you still see mid level hybrid or bikes aimed at commuting with a triple FD? 1x is the future for the majority of uses outside of long faster road rides

    The other thing that annoys me about modern bikes is how long it is taking to come to common industry standards. You still see some post mount disc brakes and qr or 15mm thru axle wheels. Tubeless is even worse - ever tried Mavic UST?

    My current favourite bike is a Genesis Equilibrium - hydraulic discs and tubeless but running mechanical 105 with all external cables and a huge modern 11-34 cassette



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  • Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 25,545 Mod ✭✭✭✭CramCycle


    I got R8000 with a new bike a few years ago, no issues from day 1 and no issues to this day. Had to change the shifter cable as it wore out in the shifter (a known place for it to wear out on those shifters). Put in a new cable, and tightened it in the RD and no issues since either. For all the giving out about indexing and limit screws, I haven't had to do it in years with the new set. Now that could be luck but it's been a cake walk other than internal cabling which is just annoying to do but not the biggest job in the world.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,741 ✭✭✭brownian


    My 'dream' bike would something like an Aethos, but with mechanical shifting (DuraAce ideally, but Ultegra would be fine). No daft proprietary cockpit, the latest and greatest in frame tech, standard seatpost. Sadly, no such bike exists; you'd have to buy a less-expensive (there are no cheap) Aethos, then strip the electric gruppo, and add Ultegra, or whatever. That's not ever going to happen. I agree with the poster above that there's not much call for discs in a good-weather bike. But since we don't live in a good-weather country, this is one tech that is probably (crosses fingers) worth the underlying issue that it's much harder to fix on the side of the road than the tech it's replacing.

    What's my point? That pretty much all the very nicest frames of the last few years are e-only, or disc-brake-only, or both...which is tedious. If you want a 'fancy' bike, and you don't want some ultra-custom jobbie, you're increasingly stuck with hard-to-fix new tech.

    Goes off now to salivate over fancy new bieks on the internet...



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,158 ✭✭✭Alanbt


    I'm getting more and more old school in my frame preference for sure. Waiting on delivery of Colnago Master x-light for my best weather bike (probably be waiting til next summer, even though told be delivered in November). Just don't like the aesthetics of modern disc bikes. Totally get that they are faster, better braking etc, but just not my preference. I think rim brake bikes look better, and perform well enough for me for sure.

    Industry only going one way though, and each to their own.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,385 ✭✭✭murph226


    Sorry for digging up an old thread but I was looking for Specialized Aethos info and this thread was the only one to come up.

    Who are the Specialized dealers in Ireland?



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 584 ✭✭✭MangleBadger


    There is a dedicated Specialized store on the N7 by Citywest.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,158 ✭✭✭Joe1919


    This would be a modern bike when I started cycling.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,200 ✭✭✭cletus




  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,025 ✭✭✭Paddigol


    It seems my bike of preference can no longer be sourced, anywhere. Campagnolo, mechanical shifting and rim brakes. Simply impossible to find unless you go somewhere like Battaglin that do custom builds. To think that I got a new bike back in 2013, full Campy Veloce 10sp set up, for €1,000 in Dublin bricks and mortar. And I got a bit knocked off that price too cos the other half was also buying one. It's still going strong but finding replacement parts is becoming a headache because Voloce has been discontinued and, well, 'rim brakes'. There were some great bargains online back in 2019 - in hindsight it was probably a case of retailers trying to get rid of rim brake stock.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,936 ✭✭✭Large bottle small glass


    A friend recently bought a 16 Trek Domane with mechanical 11 speed Dura ace, rim brakes and high end wheels from a dealer for 2k with warranty.

    He was pretty clueless on checking bike himself and got a spotless bike.

    2nd hand is your best option and seems a better deal than what would will get now new for 2k.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 21,738 ✭✭✭✭Squidgy Black


    I think any rim brake stock was cleared out in the Covid madness where people were buying bikes left right and centre, and then manufacturers just stopped doing rim brake bikes altogether for the most part.

    You’d be better off trying to buy a frameset and getting a shop to do a build for you with whatever group set you want.



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