marque

Hello everyone,

I need your input. I'm debating between these three bikes:

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Ridley Orion Di2 Road Bike - 2016 Performance Exclusive

The Ridley Orion di2 is $1850, Motobecane Le Champ Ti is $1700, and the Super Strada is $1000.

I'm looking for an Ultegra groupset or a mix for my first road bike.
Which do you think is the best purchase out of the three? Do you have recommendations within these price points?

Thank you!

RoadGuy

First bike, and you don't know what you want, other than looking at catalogs?

I say CraigsList for a 5-year old bike that originally cost $1500 from a bike shop.

Ride that for a year or two, and when you can tell the difference between bike features, and can describe how your bike fits you, and features that you like or don't like, then you will be ready to spend more money of a bike.

You may not even be riding in 6 or 9 months, and $1500 on a bike will have been wasted.

Maelochs

I assume since you are considering mail-order, that you know exactly what size you need and have the necessary mechanical abilities to assemble and adjust the bike you eventually buy, so I would assume this is not your first bike. When you say "first road bike" I assume you have been riding mountain bikes?

My first question, then would be how did you settle on these three bikes? What about these particular bikes appealed to you so much that you chose these three over all the others?

The Ridley is carbon, with 6870 electronic shifting but a 5800 cassette (?) and from the look of it, cheap wheels.

The SuperStrada is aluminum with a 6800 drive train but not brakes, and Mavic Axiums.

The Ti bike is Ti. 6800 drive train, cheap brakes, but looks like it also has decent wheels. This would be my pick ... but I have never tried D12 shifting, so maybe that would be the deciding factor for those who had.

These are three very different bikes ... they are all designed for pretty much the same thing (long rides, speed but not racing) but they are vastly different due to frame materials.

The Ridley is a good deal (IMO) because of the DI2.

Wheels you can replace, as well as brakes (which is what owners mention in the reviews) but all the reviews also say it is heavy. Since there is no listed weight, I wonder what "heavy" means? I would want to get a weight for the frame in the size you are considering, to add to the consideration. Is "heavy" 22 lbs or 25? On the other hand, since even at 22 or 23 lbs it wouldn't be really "heavy" (just heavy for CF) the question might be, Does DI2 make up for all that? After all, if the bike rides well and shifts perfectly every time, unless you were regularly climbing the Alps, an extra couple pounds are meaningless.

The Super Strada is Al with a CF fork, which could have an awesome ride ... maybe ... depends on the frame design. The weight is listed as 19.5 lbs with an asterisk ... which makes me think that is for a small frame. Still, not a heavy bike, and not in any way a drawback or even much of a factor if everything else works well.

However compared to the other two, the only benefit I see is low price. Looks like a good deal, don't get me wrong .... $1000 for a full Ultegra drive train is quite a bargain. And the wheels are decent. Quite a nice package for the price ... a really good deal, in fact.

The Le Champion Ti seems to me to be the best deal of all. Ultegra drive train, good wheels, Ti frame (not the most highly engineered Ti frame I am sure, but I bet it still gives a really sweet ride.) Weight there is listed at 17.5 lbs, which is very pleasing. I like everything about this bike and if I had any cash I would buy it myself.

However .... it is a $1700 investment. If it did not get ridden a lot it would be a huge waste. If this is going to be your first road bike .... well, why do you want a road bike? Do you have any experience riding on roads? How much do you ride now, and how much do you plan to ride?

It is your money to spend as you would ... and frankly, if you buy one of these, decide you don't like riding, and sell it for a huge discount in two years, excellent.... Maybe I will buy it from you.

That is what RoadGuy was talking about: Lots of people buy really nice bikes and leave them in the garage for a couple years, and then sell them at a huge discount just to get rid of them. You could be one of those people ... or you could be someone who starts riding 50-150 miles per week and is happiest out on the road on his bike.

For a beginning cyclist, most people recommend buying less bike, so that if you end up not liking road riding, you aren't out so much. A lot of people will recommend shopping Craigslist for bikes people bought and didn't ride ... buy the $1800 bike some guy bought two years ago and only twelve times for $600, two years later.

It is up to you to gauge how much you really plan to ride, how much you know about road riding, and which bike would best suit your needs. As I said above, if you buy an $1800 bike and have to sell it in a few years at a 2/3 discount, someone else wins, so Great!

A few points: if you have never ridden a road bike, you might not know that Fit is Everything. Getting the right size and setting it up right makes all the difference. Buying online is risky because it is impossible to tell exactly how the bike will fit unless you really know your size and know how to read geometry charts. (https://www.competitivecyclist.com/St...latorBike.jsp?
https://www.parktool.com/blog/repair-...itioning-chart)

It is highly recommended that you visit local bike stores and test some bikes to get a good idea about what works and what doesn't. If you have already done this, good.

Also, you will need shoes, and possibly pedals. The Le Champ comes with pedals, so you would need to buy SPD-SL (three-bolt) compatible cleated shoes to ride it. The Super Strada comes with SPD pedals, which take two-bolt cleats. The Ridley doesn't mention pedals, so you would need to buy some. Add all that into your budget.

Finally, you might need to do some assembly and adjustment on all these bikes ( I think you can pick up the Performance Bike Ridley at the store, so the staff would assemble and adjust it, but you might be mail-ordering, I don't know.) If you aren't comfortable doing some assembly and adjustment, you would need to take the bike to a shop for that ... so factor in $100 bucks extra (maybe less) for at least brake and derailleur tuning. Also, after the cables stretched ( (maybe a week or two of riding) you would need to readjust everything again.

I strongly suggest visiting local shops to see what they offer, and taking a few test rides. Maybe you will fall in love with something there ... or at least you will get a better understanding of what you plan to buy.

linex

This is great advice. I started riding again after more than 7 years of neglect and suddenly find that I'm in some kind of nirvana type of spot. I used to ride all the time as a kid and started on a 1 speed 28" racer (my father's bike), which had foot brakes, high seat. This was late 50's early 60's. My bike now is a Fuji Real 2.0 and weighs 25 lbs with a Tiagra rear derailleur. I picked it up new about 8 years ago. My bike has been tuned and fitted and seems to work pretty well on fairly flat trails like the No. CA Iron Horse where I go about 10+ miles/4 days a week.

I've test ridden a BMC Ultegra and am seriously ready to pull the trigger on that purchase for about $1200 or I may do the Bikes direct Motobecane Ultegra Super Strada for $1000. I seem to fit the 54 frame pretty well and wonder if there is any advantage getting the BMC over the Motobecane. I like the fact that the BMC will be serviced locally. I have not tried any big hills or tours at this point and just love the fact that I am even riding again. I have endured sciatica and triumphed over it as well as Achilles Tendon rupture and am 67 years old. Riding again makes me feel like 18. I look 20 years younger than my age and have no health issues. Should I pounce on that BMC, ALR01, I think? Even if I wind up only riding it 50 miles a month, I'll die a happy camper, right?

goenrdoug

The BMC will likely be considerably lighter and come with better components (wheels, saddle, bars, etc.) than the Motobecane. It will also come fully assembled and generally fit to you by the local shop. All of that is easily worth the $100.