In doing my research, I've learned that what we're looking for is a Sportive or Enduro. The purpose is multiple pleasure / fitness rides per week (50-150km) with the occasional (1-2 per year) multi-day trip thrown in.


The preference for Al is first and foremost to have a bike that's easier to live with. In my experience, nothing is better than carbon when you're riding it, but the care and maintenance is a bit more stressful than steel or Al. The interest in 28-32mm tires is not really about handling a variety of surfaces, but rather to mitigate the harshness of Al. Riding surfaces would range from great to miserable pavement with the odd short (<1km) stretch of gravel thrown in.

For about 5 years now he's been riding an Al Windsor Wellington 3.0 Al frame with carbon fork and an entry-level Shimano triple & STI setup. He runs 23mm Gatorskins on that bike, and it's done everything he's ever asked of it without issue. But in those 5 years, he's started spending more and more time in the saddle and has also entered his 40's and acquired a taste for something sweeter. However, he'd rather ride than research, so he's having a hard time narrowing down the choices and this is where I'm trying to help.

I'd love to see him get a bike built from a nice frameset - I've been through that process a couple of times for myself and 1.5 times for my wife, and I find it fun and exciting. He is 100% against this approach - he refuses to buy something he hasn't ridden, so we're looking for a complete bike. Starting my own bike company and building up some stock so he could ride it would literally be easier than trying to change his mind on this.