Kapusta

jfoobar

Very slick. Alas, it doesn't help buyers who want to buy into (or have already bought into on their other bikes) a trunkbag ecosystem like Ibera or Topeak or have a rack from another bike already that they are fond of.

pandes

Pretty interesting posting

TimothyH

Same exact thing here and I totally commiserate.

I had $5k and was ready to hand it to the first shop which could meet my needs.

I walked into Performance Bike intending to buy a Jamis Renegade Elite, one of the "Performance exclusive" bikes with an odd parts mix. The manager was great but he said there were zero in stock at any Performance Bike in the US.

The only authorized Niner reseller in the Atlanta area is a Trek chain and a Niner dealer in name only. I went there to order a $2300 RLT 9 RDO frame and was clear that I had money and was ready to order. They took my name and number but never bothered to call me back.

I wanted a local shop in case there was an issue but wound up driving 3 hours to another city just to order, then drove back a week later to pick up the frame. It happened that the regional rep for Niner lived in that City and the shop arranged for him to drop off his personal RDO so that I could look at it. That's what I'm talking about for service - they clearly wanted my business. It was a super easy sale.

Never thought it would be so difficult to get rid of a few thousand dollars.


-Tim-

PaulRivers

It's fashion and ego.

The racers look sleek. The people watching races, who are willing to spend big bucks on bikes the racers ride, and to look and feel like the racers. The thing is the racers look so sleek because they have a support car following them with spare bikes, etc...and you don't have that. But the bike companies try to make bikes look as much like the exact bikes the racers ride as possible, then a lot of people following the fashion trend try to do the same, stuffing as much of their backup great into their jersey pockets as possible to keep their bike looking "clean". For a while every bike review would complain if their were any rack mounts on the bike.

It is quite annoying though.

My brother has a full carbon specialized sirrus (flat bars) and they compromised by putting a rack mount near the bottom bracket, but requiring a rack-attachment seatpost. It works and if you don't want a rack you really have to go out of your way to notice the rack mounts on the bottom.

They make racks for bikes without rack mounts, but when I tried to put one on my brothers sirrus it was really ugly, and I returned it when I found out I could mount a regular rack on the bike and it looks much better.

The only consolation I have is that they seem to make much more comfortable aluminum frames now than they used to, which do come with rack mounts. Used to be it was "comfortable ride with skinny tires and carbon but no rack, vs worse ride with aluminum and a rack". Nowadays the ride quality of aluminum bikes is much closer to carbon and it's not such a dilema.

veganbikes

Bikepacking bags work just fine. I commute a lot now on my road bike and use a Topeak Backloader to carry my clothes and occasionally a burrito on the way home. I wouldn't want rack mounts on my road bike just as I wouldn't want a shorter wheelbase on my touring bike or multiple gears on my fixed gear. Different bikes for different purposes.If I went mad and could only have one bike I would go with something like the Specialized Sequoia Comp or maybe a Moots Baxter or Routt 45 or Jamis Renegade Escapade or something similar to that which has rack and fender mounts. It won't be a racier road/cross bike or a full on touring bike but would kind of hit every box in some capacity.

puzzled

I wouldn't go THAT far, but we do need more road bikes with rack mounts. They are just more practical.

Sy Reene

This is probably a stoopid question, but why do pros need endurance geometry for cobbles? That is, why aren't there standard racing geometry bikes with forks/seatstays able to take wider tires (plus whatever new-fangled shock-absorbing doodad they're installing these days)?

grall1126

That's a nice bag, I might look into this. Thanks for posting.

brianmcg123

The bikes also have longer chainstays that lend to better stability along with the extra tire clearance. On most companies endurance frames we are only talking about a 1cm difference in headtube height or .5cm difference in top tube length. It's not like they are riding around bolt upright like the postman.

atwl77

I think the term "endurance" fits into a broad range. There are race bike manufacturers who make "racing" bikes and use that term to distinguish it from one of three "racing" groups: aero, endurance, climbing, whereas other non-racing bike brands/models may use the term more for what a lot of people expect in their view of endurance bikes: long distance comfortable or light touring bikes that more likely will provide rack mounts and all that stuff.

dbursell

interesting post

downhillmaster

burnthesheep

Endurance bikes are single day, touring bikes are multi-day without returning to your starting point.

Best way I can think about it.

You'd want an endurance bike for a 100 mi fondo if you don't ride 500mi a week like a pro does. But, you wouldn't need racks for a fondo.

But, you'd need racks if you commute or are touring.

Leebo

Just get the right tool for the job? Almost all my bikes are mt bikes, except for the cross check. Gravel, endurance, cross, adventure etc. Yes I realize there are small differences in those, but mostly just marketing. My most recent " ride" involved 260 some miles on the Karate Monkey, fully loaded. Pave, gravel, dirt, washed out roads and singletrack, check. And 3' overgrown grassy trails too. Plus 29er tires all good. Big fan of options for changing the bike to suit my needs for that week or trip.

GerryinHouston

My REI Novara Randonee has both fender and rack eyelets. Most would categorize it as a touring bike, but the geometry (and the name) says 'endurance'...

79pmooney

Why do so few "endurance" bikes have rack mounts?

The answer is really simple. If you could bring along comforts, there would be less to endure.

And a little more serious and on the subject of true endurance events, if you want to know of one of mankind's greatest endurance feats, read the book of that name, "Endurance". It is the story of the epic journey of Ernest Shackleton and his crew. Or watch the excellent documentary film of the same name. (Sadly though, knowing that story will put endurance bikes into true perspective, They are playthings.

Ben

nilfunks

There are lots of options without actual mounts. I still prefer having the mounts.

mstateglfr 

eh...
REI calls it a touring bike. The geometry follows whats considered a touring bike. The drivetrain screams touring bike.
its pretty much as classic a touring bike as it gets.

of course bikes can play double duty and be a touring bike while also being ok for endurance rides.

Kapusta

jfoobar

This just makes no sense to me at all, sorry. You are comparing a feature that you don't have to use, that is barely visible, and that has no impact whatsoever to how your bike rides and performs to major geometry changes that obviously have a substantial impact on how your bike rides and performs. Apples and oranges.

burnthesheep

Let's be clear, those photos are misleading. Looking at the reaches and amount of distance of the seat above the hoods on all those..........that's about 10x more "race" of a setup than any schmuck with a Madone at the local group ride with a positive stem, seat below the bars, and about 4 risers under the stem.

Even in that "endurance" setup shown, your average B and many A group riders wouldn't be able to ride those for more than an hour.

To answer the question posed.......they do. The 3T takes 28's. The current versions of all the aero bikes take 25's, to my knowledge anyway.

veganbikes

No it doesn't really but I don't want a rack on my road bike, there are so many bikes out there with rack mounts that will do much better with a rack that a road bike just isn't one of them. It may not actually effect the bike much other than looks maybe (and some possible aero penalties) but it just is not a thing that is needed. With so many all-road/adventure bikes, touring bikes, hybrids and such on the market that have mounts I don't feel I need them on my road bike. I also don't really want the option, I prefer not having them because I don't want to be tempted to try and do some touring on it leaving my touring bike unridden.

My road bike is not a fruit salad but that one perfect peach of summer that needs nothing more or less and is best on its own.

IMB123

I've ridden a Carbon bike for years with a rear rack attached to a longer than standard skewer. It works but it's inconvenient. I think frames should have proper mountings.

Maelochs

Can we be honest and admit it is an alien conspiracy? We should have wiped them all out after they landed at Roswell. Now that they have taken over all the major bike companies they will be changing our culture into theirs, one step at a time. And we let it happen.