Stratocaster

I would think that when walking into your LBS looking to test ride a bike, you would be somewhat excited at the prospect of finding a bike that really has it all (for your price point).

Obviously, that doesn't always work out.

So what bike that you had high hopes for really leave you scratching your head and make you think, "wow, that bike just feels awful to me"?


A couple of weeks ago I visited one of the many lbs in my area. I was actually looking to test ride an aluminum Trek Emonda just to see if a 52 or a 54 would fit me better.
Anyway, they only had a 54 in a CF Emonda SLR. I didn't want to spend that much, but in order to test the sizing I gave it a ride.
Wow, it felt like the tires were solid rubber. The bike was light, but it was such a rough ride.
Would changing tires to 25's and lowering the pressure "fix" the problem? I would think so. But I would also assume that being a CF bike, some of harshness would have been dampened. I'm not sure the CF hype isn't much more than that.


Anyway, the bike didn't leave me with a good first impression.

Any stories you wish to share?

velociraptor

I want to say it was fun, but then I'm told I blacked out... and now I have this nagging feeling it wasn't.

2lo8

One of the problems with test rides, things like tire pressure than make a bike feel completely different. Overinflated tires can make a bike feel twitchy and buzzy. Underinflated tires can make a bike feel dead and slow. Quality and width of the tire between models. And it may end up that you end up liking one bike just because the saddle angle or fore/aft put less weight on your arms which you might then attribute to differences in reach.

velociraptor

This is why you should always buy a bike based solely on vanity and looks and never never ever consider any of that ol 'fit & comfort' nonsense. Ppphoey.

2lo8

Exactly, buy the one that looks the coolest in the right size, and then get a pro fit and put on some comfy tires. Win-win.

Stratocaster

Interesting.
So all that stuff about CF being superior to Alum is bunk regarding comfort/road-dampening?
Adjust tire pressure, make a few tweaks, and it's all good.

I'm sure that seems like a troll comment...but seriously, is there that much difference? I've got 2 alum bikes, 0 cf, and I'm pretty new to this.

2lo8

It's not all bunk. But the difference between OEM tires and nice tires, and overinflated and underinflated tires is huge and can easily dwarf differences in frames. Obviously you need a frame with appropriate stack/reach measurements.

Silca USA did an article where they found the difference in compliance between a stiff aero frame and a comfort endurance road frame using the same tires was about 1 bar of pressure. So there is a difference, it's just dwarfed by tires. It's hard to make any meaningful comparison if you don't hold things constant.

link0

Carbon vs Alum frames.

Stratocaster

Well, I think that seals it for me - I think my next purchase should be a pair if Conti GP 4000S II tires. I've been thinking about it anyway, as I'm not crazy about the tires on my CAAD 10 so...

Mulberry20

That is a good tire but the Michelin Pro4 Endurance which is being phased out is even better. Try the 25 cm tire.

You can buy them with free shipping for $30 (half price) plus a free Michelin tube at Chain Reaction Cycle.

Besides tires, the saddle is what makes a test ride good or not. The saddles that come on pre-built bikes are garbage.

The frame material means virtually nothing. I have two high-end steel bikes and would never replace them with other than similar frames. Modern steel bikes have the best combination of comfort and liveliness, especially when cost is considered.

2lo8

Saddle, handlebar width, stem reach, stem height lots of things depending on how much you're willing to swap. Only thing a test ride can tell you is how it rides in stock configuration with the components set up the way they are on the floor, with the inflation pressures the tires happen to be at.

12strings

1. 2014 Aluminum Cannondale Synapse with last generation tiagra...nothing impressive about the ride, old tiagra was in impressive, and the mechannical disk brakes were not enjoyable. Definite setup issues, but the ride was a dud.

2. 2016 Specialized Diverge with new generation tiagra. To be fair, the new tiagra is great, and was the best part about the bike. I can't really put my finger on it, but I was looking at adventure/gravel bikes, and had just ridden a surly cross check at another store, and by comparison, the surly felt "FUN", and the diverge felt like a road bike with bigger tires.

Stratocaster

I actually like the Prologo saddle that came with my Caad 10. In fact, I bought the same saddle for my other bike. But point taken.

goenrdoug

2015 emonda with ultegra. saddle was too high and couldn't be adjusted lower. shop owner claimed the seat mast didn't come in multiple sizes (it does) and once his wife informed him that it does, said he didn't have one in the shop that he'd be willing to switch out. Said that I should just deal with it for the test ride and if I were to buy the bike, I could buy a new mast from him for an additional $200. So.. yeah.. I rolled it around the parking lot, left and bought a supersix from the shop down the street. #customerservice

Sy Reene

I'll second the Endurance Pro4 plug. Been riding them this season and so far (knock on wood), they've held up great and offer a nice ride. I bought a second set to put in the closet since they're discontinued.

GlennR

Odd, because i own a SLR and have 25mm tires on it. I have 7000 miles and find it not harsh.

Just shows that you show 2 people something, they'll see two different things.

thin_concrete

I'll 3rd that - I have them on 2 bikes and Conti GP4000 II S on my TT bike and the P4E is an excellent tire.

beechnutC23

I guess my current CF Cervelo R3 Team. It's a great bike but I bought it at an end of year sale. Problem is that it is just a bit on the large side. After the test ride I thought I could adjust it and get used to it, but I haven't really warmed up to it, so I will sell it. As I get older I find my body is less forgiving of such transgressions (I bought it 4 years ago). In the meantime I ordered a Marinoni Genius (CF) through my son's shop, to replace it. Properly sized and fitted and at a substantial discount for being the father of one of the owners of the shop

But man waiting is long!

seattlebuzz

The pressures on that Emonda were probably way high. I've ridden Emonda ALR, S, and SL models and both of the CF frames were extremely smooth (and every review I've ever read comments on the ride quality too). I was really disappointed in the ALR though. It felt lethargic, which was worlds apart from the CF models. I was also really disappointed in the SuperSix. I've ridden a couple of them and didn't like them at all. Not bad, just very meh. Way below what I was expecting for a flagship race machine.

kbarch

My disappointment had little to do with fit or comfort. I was considering a foul-weather bike and took a look at something with internal gears and belt drive. I wanted to like it, but was really disappointed with the range of gearing (no "overdrive" to speak of) and it just felt vague. That's something I likely could have gotten used to, but I later tried a fixed gear and fell in love with that at first pedal.

Nachoman

Years ago I test rode about five bikes at a local shop.
Each bike was not quite turned up right and had shifting issues.
It was hard to look past that.

StanSeven

Years ago I got torn between CF and Ti. A few companies made combo frames. I test rode three different and all disspointed. It seems the combo combines the worse properties of Ti and CF instead of the best.

f4rrest

I had owned an Allez for a few years and really liked its geometry, so I was pretty sure a Tarmac would be my next bike, since the geometry was identical.

When I finally test rode one, it was a complete let down. Felt stiff but dead. It was puzzling.

I then tried a Supersix at the same shop, and it was amazing.