cdat12

Just for fun, if someone gave you $10K to buy an endurance road bike or build an endurance road bike what would YOUR choice be? What MFG or Builder, what frame, what components, etc.

John

unterhausen

I would build myself a frame with S&S couplers and put Di2 on it. Probably 700c, not sure about that part.

pdlamb

With 10 grand, mine would have S&S couplers and 650B wheels - the better to pack (then ride).

A kilobuck into dyno-wheel and lights. Maybe a nice front rack and monster front bag.

Still curious about the low-trail option. Can stainless fenders be demounted/mounted easily enough to put on a gravel bike?

delcrossv

10 grand? I'd get a velomobile. Probably a carbon Quest.

Coluber42

I'd have Peter Weigle duplicate the geometry of my 1974 Raleigh Pro in a new bike, with S&S couplers and a few more braze-ons, maybe slightly more clearance in places if possible, but basically not too far off. I'd probably get some fluted Honjo fenders and have him paint a stripe on them in a matching shade. I'd have him build it with a little notch to support clamp-on shifter bosses, and have someone machine me some that clamp on and accept indexed shifters, and I'd have indexed downtube shifters that clamp on so they can be removed without leaving ugly shift bosses sticking out. And I'd use a clamp-on cable guide at the BB shell, and horizontal dropouts and build two rear wheels so I could easily switch back and forth between having a geared bike and a fixie. I mean, I'd probably keep doing brevets fixed most of the time, but if I'm designing my be-all-and-end-all endurance bike, having the option would be cool.
Other than that... Ritchey bars, Chris King headset, TA cranks, SKF bottom bracket, Open Pro rims, Phil Wood rear hub, dyno front hub (I'd have to think about which one...), Umm, come to think of it, that's all the parts my bike has on it already. What can I say, I like my rando bike.

I'd use Dill Pickle bags, obviously.

lonesomesteve

this:

Homeyba

That's not enough money...

Steamer

My first thought was, "hey, that's not enough". Then I saw a base Q with carbon body upgrade is $9900. But then again, tax or shipping or something has to put you over 10K - so I figure you're disqualified from the thread now (just like the price is right...).

Myself, I am not sure what I'd get. I am pretty content with what I have, so nothing I guess. Now I am disqualified for being a party pooper. Wouldn't mind getting an Edulux II and a new 650B wheelset though. SON dyno front, White Industries rear hub, Velocity A23 rims, and red Hetres.

Coluber42

I'm pretty sure you won't get DQ'd for going over $10k. At least, I'm assuming the OP was more interested in your dream bike than your ability to stay within (a fairly generous) budget.

Lonesomesteve probably DNF's though, because however spokealiciously fabulous his ride, I somehow doubt that he'd actually ride it far enough in one go to call it an "endurance" bike. Me, I'd just get distracted by my reflection in the top tube!

Machka 

Tough decision, given that I have the two endurance bicycles I want. I'm not sure what else I'd want.

rodar y rodar

For $10K I think I`d look for one that included a trunk rack mounted on a used Corolla.

lonesomesteve

Are you kidding me?!? That thing would rock on a brevet! It has a killer head light, and it's so low-trail that it has negative trail (maybe you call that "lead" instead of "trail").

Okay, I'll get serious...

Lately I've been sort of dreaming about one of those Mitch Pryor (MAP cycles) Randonneur project bikes. Something like this:



With a custom stem and all the fixin's similar to this one, I think I'd probably still have enough money left over for the Stingray lowrider pictured in my earlier post.

ThermionicScott 

Maybe I'm a cheapskate, but I think I should be able to build up something nice for far less, and put the remainder toward PBP next year.

skidder

Probably a Co-Motion Cascadia or Ellipse (about$4,000). Throw in another $1,000 for some modifications, then use the remaining $5,000 to cover the costs of a few 'shake-down' rides to get everything tuned up and adjusted properly (I include travel costs associated with 'shake-down' rides as part of a new bike fitting ).

Chris Pringle

A neat project with that kind of money would be a custom bike that would integrate various interchangeable parts and components. These parts and components would completely change the feel and purpose of the bike -- a "holistic" bike system, for lack of another word. It would incorporate:

* A titanium custom frame with S&S couplers as its heart. This baby is going everywhere with me!
* Two forks: a custom agile, mid-trail fork for randonneuring with a front bag (5-7 lb. of stuff); another tandem-quality, high-trail, very stable fork for loaded touring
* Two wheelsets: a really light one with DT Swiss 180 hubs and Enve carbon fiber rims (< 1,300 grams) for randonneuring; a cheaper heavy-duty wheelset for loaded touring. As much as 650b wheels seems so attractive, I might have to go with 26" (ISO 559) simply because replacement parts are ubiquitous around the world.
* Disc brakes to seamlessly swap wheels
* A carefully selected top-of-the-line drivetrain to top if off: Race Face Next SL Cinch triple crankset, Campy ergo shifters, etc.
* Honjo "hammered" aluminum fenders
* Target weight: upper teens to low 20s for randonneuring; upper 20s for touring (including racks, heavier B17 Brooks saddle, etc.)

Some might prefer having two or three different bikes with that kind of money. That's fine! But for purposes of this hypothetical exercise, a single bike that can do a couple of things really well seems interesting to me.

Machka 

How about you?

Machka 

If someone gave me $10,000 for a bicycle, right now, I'd spend it on two good quality folding bicycles. Bicycles I could tour with, and do long distance cycling with.

And I'd put any change left over toward another trip to France.

cdat12

Being new to the world of endurance riding I was hoping to get some really good ideas. I set $10k as an arbitrary figure thinking I would get people on both sides of that amount.
So, rephrase the question, obviously the "best" bike is the one that is comfortable for each individual.
If you were going to recommend 4-5 bikes for an individual to ride and test, which bikes would be on your list, price between 7k and 15k. At which point do you think that the law of diminishing returns for the amount of money spent kicks in?

John

unterhausen

the advantages of bikes over about $2500 start to taper off pretty fast. It really depends on the riding you want to do.

Steamer

Not really enough info. We'd need some idea of your preferences and riding conditions to be able to make a decent list.

I guess your price range is a way of saying money is no object, because really, you'd get plenty of bike for $1500 (or less). (...we're talking about bicycles, right?..)

Homeyba

I have several very expensive bikes, one about the price the OP mentioned, my "daily" rider and long distance bike, and one about a third more expensive that I mostly just do long distance races on. Over the years I've ridden a lot of very expensive bikes and a bunch of not so expensive bikes and to be perfectly honest, the cost of the bike doesn't have a lot (if anything) to do with whether I will end up buying and riding it.
I consider the bike a tool and like any tool, I want it to do the job I buy it for. The tool/bike that does the job the best is the one that I get. For me the tools happened to currently have cost a little more. My most expensive bike, the Calfee Dragonfly is by far the best bike I've ridden in it's class and even though it is expensive, for me, when I get off of it in Annapolis it's more than worth the $ I paid for it.

cdat12

Not my way of saying money is no object, I'm retired military, that is a phrase I've never uttered. I have a friend that does quite a lot of brevets, he uses various bikes, depending on his mood. I know he completed a 300k on a 70's raleigh that updated the components on, I know he also has a couple of pricey bikes that I couldn't afford. There has to be a reason that people that ride RAAM and other long distance races spend the kind of money that they do. Is it the lightness of the frame, the quality of the components, I doubt it's because they like wasting money.
I'm just trying to learn more about endurance bikes, what makes a quality bike, (other than it is comfortable for me), I has seen some that have the seat cantilevered out over the rear tire that are supposed to be extremely comfortable. So again, what bikes would you recommend, $1500 - 15K.

Machka 

Have a look at all the bicycles in the Your Century Bicycle thread.

You can do long distance riding on just about anything. I've ridden randonneuring events on an aluminium Giant, on a steel Marinoni, on a titanium HASA, on a steel and carbon Santani tandem, and on a heavy department store steel Mongoose mtn bike.

There is no one right answer to the question. It's very much personal preference.

Wilfred Laurier

i would shop for the best deal i could find
in a bike with s&s couplers
that fit my body well
manufacturer not that important

and spend the remainder on plane tickets

brianogilvie 

I'd build this bike.



And then I'd use the remaining $6000 to do some awesome travels with it. (OK, if I didn't have a New World Tourist to take on airplanes, I might have some S&S couplers put it it for travel.)