Omnom

Hello everyone!

I am currently thinking of getting a road bike to replace my mountain bike that I use for commuting and training. The only type of road bike that I've ever ridden is a Giant TCX. My friend's dad owns it and it is way too big for me but gave me a feel for a road bike.

Currently I have a few questions.

1. What will be the main difference between a bike like the Contend SL 1 and something more expensive like the Canyon CF SL 8.0? The main difference I can see is that the Canyon is full carbon and using a better groupset. Will the material of the frame and the better groupset really improve performance or make the riding experience that much better?

2. If we compare bikes from the same range from a company like Canyon CF SL 7.0 and 8.0. Is the 600$ price jump worth for the better?(not sure whats the difference in them, weight seems to be very similar) wheelset and ultegra over 105s?

3. Currently I am looking at light all rounders like the Canyon mentioned above or the Trek Emonda. However I've heard some horror stories from my fellow mountain biker friends of their tubes getting punctures occasionally because they are using skinny tires. Mostly from going over cracks on the roads or going over something small that they didnt see. Is this a common problem or are they not fitting their tubes properly and checking their tires after every ride. Are road bikes fitted with Slim tires unable to take a little abuse?

thank you.

Abe_Froman

I'm not going to speak very intelligently about any of your questions except this one. I'm in the market for a proper road bike myself...and am slightly overwhelmed lol

About tires though - don't worry about cracks in the road. You have to hit something pretty catastrophically bad, OR have your tires noticeably under inflated for pinch flats to become an issue. So...if you go around rather than through potholes you wouldnt be comfortable have a child try to climb through, and pump up your tires once a week (at a minimum), shouldnt be a concern.

So what does that leave? 2 things.

Glass, or other small, sharp bits in the road. And big nasty things.

1) Big/nasty stuff - nothing you can do about this. I had a 6" piece of curved, rusty steel puncture my tire, and scrape my aluminum rim underneath the tire. This would have flatted a car tire. Nothing you can do to prevent or even mitigate it. Fortunately...this is a once a decade kind of thing.

2) Which leaves glass shards and other nasty, small, sharp debris you won't even see on the ground while riding. These punctures are preventable - IF you want to, because there's a cost. It will cost money, and speed/comfort on the bike. Fast tires are comfortable (softer casing helps both). You can get tires which are virtually impossible to flat. They're stiff and slow though. You can get ones that are virtually impossible to flat, and are not super slow (but they ARE expensive). You can get tires that are very fast, with other good performance characteristics, that have a minimal amount of flat protection (also expensive).

So you need to decide what you value. I'm in Chicago. With ZERO flat protection tires years ago, I flatted about once every few hundred miles going through nasty streets with glass. With super durable touring tires...I did not get a single flat in about 10,000 miles+. Lately I've been using lighter, faster tires such as GP4000sii, and Vittoria Voyager Hypers. Both of these would be in the "fast, with SOME flat protection." Noticeably better ride, noticeably faster, more grippy, and far fewer flats than with no flat protection (I've been averaging perhaps one flat per 1,000-2,000 miles). But these ARE expensive (unless you get them on sale through the UK...you can find virtually anything there for ~50% what it would cost in a brick and mortar store here).

mcours2006

I doubt you will be able to tell the difference. The Giant has hydraulic brakes vs the caliper brakes on the Canyon. Disc brakes will perform better in the wet; under dry conditions it doesn't matter.

There may be a weight difference of a pound or two--disc brakes, 105 groupset, aluminum frame, heavier wheels will add up. But I think the Contend is a great value for the money.

Pretty much. Whether it's worth the $600 price difference is entire subjective. The difference between the individual groupsets--R8000 and 5800 is already close to $800. But to me, it's not worth the extra money. I'd rather get something with 6870 Di2 for a few more dollars.

Skinny tires may be more prone to pinch flats, but you run over a sharp with any tire and it's going to cut it. Just makes sure it's properly inflated.

Learn to change a flat. Should take no more than ten minutes. Carry an extra tube or two with you on the rides and forget about it.

Omnom

Ahh I see, looks like I will have to get better tyre for the bike that I get. Depending on what they come with.

Wow I honestly never knew changing flats will be that quick. I've never changed a flat for years since I rode my mountain bike! Guess I will not need to worry about that portion as much.


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Another question I got. I plan on riding on the roads only, should I even consider getting a cyclecross bike? Reason why I am asking this is because it really seems like the best of both world, throw on some slick tyres and you got a road bike while putting on a off road tyre will allow you to ride on gravel just fine.

Is there some catch to it besides the 1-2kg weight difference? I'm guessing there is something that I am not taking into consideration else most people that aren't pros will be riding cyclecross/gravel bikes.

mcours2006

If you want a bike to do one thing really well, like riding on paved roads, then you get a pure road bike. You'll dispense with the unnecessary weight of disc brakes and larger tires, and run low-resistance slick tires.

If you want that same bike to do two things well, like going on light trails and on paved roads, well, then it's a compromise.

As I said, the Contend SL1 is great value, but it'll only accommodate up to 28 mm tires--wholly inadequate for trails. Something like the TCX SLR2 might be your ticket.

alcjphil

Here is my take on flat tires: the only flat tire on my road bikes in the last 4 years happened in my living room while I was watching TV. All of a sudden I heard a pssssh and the front tire went flat. This was a road tubeless tire. I found a defect along the tire bead, the flat had nothing to do with anything on the road. Yes, punctures can occur out on the road, but road tires, even high performance road tires are getting better and better every year.
As far as what bike to buy, Canyon makes great bikes, but until they can figure out a way that I can try one out, I may have to pass. I also don't like their take it or leave it approach when it comes to things like stem length, saddle and bar choice.At least, a Giant dealer can work with you if the stock setup doesn't quite fit. I would hate to spend $3000+ on a bike and then have to go to someone to have hundreds of dollars of parts changed to get a really good fit