guadzilla

Yours is the Domane with the molten red paint scheme, right? I'm sending you a bill for mine - cos that stunner planted the seed for the Domane SLR in my head.

seypat

Runners in the RVA area have it easy. Imagine for a minute that your tri club has 20,000-30,000 members. That's the way the running community is in RVA. They're all connected through Sportsbackers. Really, everyone that is active is connected in some way. If you're not on a training team or doing one of their events, you know someone that is. Most of the tri club's members doing a fall tri do the run training on one of the teams. It's the most efficient way to do it. They bring their bikes to the weekend run, then do the ride after. That means that all of the unwritten/implied rules generally apply when out on a run, any run.
For the males, generic looking solid running shorts and generic or event singlets or shirts. The faster male runners generally go shirtless anyway and the faster females might have less clothing on as well. Bear in mind that the females would rather look at a Chris Hemsworth body than a Jim Parson body so the runner should take that into consideration. The ladies have more leeway, but if the outfit is not functional, it will be trouble on the long runs. Hats/skin protection are recommended. The bottom line is you are running in something that will function correctly for the duration of the run. The fashion part of it is secondary. Cycling is separate. What the person decides to wear doing that is strictly up to them.

https://www.sportsbackers.org/

N00b_Cyclist

Ahaha. Yea, that'd be me. Wasn't my intention to start a movement, but it is an incredible color.

Bah Humbug

Running is always loose black shorts and shirtless, adding the team singlet for races only. But with an HRM chest strap.

Running in jammers is miserable; tried it once at an aquathlon. Something about the material is different enough from compression shorts that it gets really uncomfortable as you heat up.

Bah Humbug

Running shirtless is, for me, not about pleasing the ladies but about comfort. Otherwise, you're thinking WAY more about this than I would.

Also, half the reason I run is for solitude. A group like that sounds like hell.

seypat

The Canyon's have a good color of red as well.

https://www.canyon.com/en-us/road-bi...0-sl/2226.html

WhyFi

That's fine, but the Project One paint job that he's referring to is on a different level -

Bah Humbug

Like driving an art car to the grocery store, for better or worse. I'd have a hard time with it.

WhyFi

I get where you're coming from and agree to a certain extent, buuuuuut... peacock feathers abound in road cycling and we're not exactly talking about a utility bike. I'd have no problems taking it out in fair weather and flaunting it at café stops.

guadzilla

That's not too bad at all! My vote for the best looking bike overall (paint, lines, the works), however, is the Madone SLR in viper red with deep section wheels. Hot damn that bike is something else...

AdkMtnMonster

1984 is sooooooo jealous! Maybe you could have it dipped in a mix of carbon fiber/ghost flames/skulls. Just kidding- it’s pretty cool! The function of that bike is 100% on target. Put a color on it that you love since you’re paying for it and riding it. Thumbs up!

tomato coupe

I noticed there are no logos on the seat post. Do you think they ran out of white paint?

noodle soup

Wow! These components look like ****.

seypat

I'm a gumwall guy through and through, but not on this bike. Maybe some of the dark reddish Conti GP Classics. Super hot paint.

Bah Humbug

I'd have a hard time doing that, personally, without the legs to beat anyone in town. However, I also won't even put a bumper sticker on my truck.

N00b_Cyclist

Haha, yea I mean it's definitely not for everyone. I had a grey Checkpoint before the Domane and I gotta say...it just didn't "speak" to me. But I get that this kind of "out there" color doesn't speak to a lot of people. Probably makes them want to puke and I totally get that. For me though, there's something so "special" about waking up and looking at the bike...seeing how it changes depending on the lighting...and then having the signature on the frame from the guy that painted it. Just love it more than I should probably admit on a forum.

Yea, I went with the standard Aeolus Pro 3V wheels wrapped in standard R3 Hard-Case Lites, love 'em.

You all must love cycling TOO much. My pride is too busted to worry about that kind of stuff. I'm not "better" than everyone else at anything. I'm just mediocre at everything. But I do love my hobbies and I love things that are "custom" in some kind of way. The bike means something to me because I custom ordered it for ME. Complete with the "Mission First" lettering on the frame.

Here's the bike in question...

NBD - Too Much Trek - Domane SLR UDi2 - ICON "Molten Marble"

Paul Barnard

Since the OP has been flushed out pretty well by now, can we ask why people would choose the Canyon in this comparison?

https://www.canyon.com/en-us/road-bi...nfarbe=BU%2FWH

https://www.bikesdirect.com/products/...road-bikes.htm

guadzilla

For my part - frame/ride quality. With the Canyon Ultimate, you know what you are getting. With the Motobecane, i dont. But i also get why people would want to go with the Motobecane (not that different from getting a Chinese carbon frame from a reputable manufacturer).

Paul Barnard

As prospective buyers, do we really know anything about the respective ride and frame quality or are we assuming? Motobecane (as a BD brand) has been around for quite some time, I don't know that I have ever heard of a ride or quality issue with them. It would seem to me that the same argument that would drive a buyer to a Canyon over a Trek could drive a buyer to a Motobecane over a Canyon. Cred will obviously be different. Just thinking out loud.

Dan333SP

We actually live about 4 minutes from the rehabilitation center where they've had so many cases out in Short Pump, it's unsettling. Baby stays in the house and any outdoor riding I've done of late is solo, although it seems like there were plenty of people disobeying the governor's orders yesterday when I rode past Pony Pasture and Belle Isle.

guadzilla

I am not talking about whether the frame is reliable or not. I am sure the Motobecane is. I am talking about the ride quality. For example, when i was buying an aero bike, i was looking at a Madone and a Venge. After reading all the reviews, i chose the Venge because it appeared to have the ride characteristics that were important to me: stiffness and liveliness, as opposed to the Madone, which was a smoother ride.

The Canyon Ultimate is a GC-caliber bike, so you can be reasonably confident that you will get a lively frame with excellent bottom bracket stiffness and responsive handling. What does the Motobecane ride like? I dont know.

And yes, there is definitely an inherent subjective element at play here. When it comes to deciding between 2 products where one cannot always quantify the characteristics, people tend to use brand as a proxy for quality. Let's say we were looking at a comparably priced Felt vs the Motobecane - I dont know much about how Felts handle, but i'd probably pay a premium for the Felt name just to have the assurance that i wont get a bike with poor ride quality.

Lastly, there is pride of ownership. We tend to under-estimate that. I mean, if you think about it, the main reason most of us buy expensive carbon frames, expensive wheels, etc is not just so we can go faster, but pride of ownership - utility. is a very small factor in the purchase decision. Eg, I obsess over wheel aero numbers not because i think Rovals over Enves or whatever is going to win me a race, but because i just like the idea of owning what I think are the fastest wheels. Pride of ownership is just as valid a reason as color or looks or whatever.

Good question, btw...

Paul Barnard

Just some fodder to kick around on a socially distanced morning where I am trapped in the house. Glad you didn't take it as an adversarial post. I swear 75% of the people that post jump into it looking for something to disagree with.

WhyFi

To me, everything about the BD screams that they don't know much about what they're doing. Fake pedigree. Generic looking frame. Only one photo/angle available of said generic looking frame. Why is "Disc" the name emblazoned on the top tube? "HM Carbon" on the fork and stays? I would be *far* more likely to buy that bike if the frame were bare, without any of BD's branding or "design" - blank and utilitarian appeals to me much more than a big swing and a miss on manufactured cachet.

AdkMtnMonster

Before I bought my Canyon I did look @ BikesDirect.com. One of the decisions driving my choice of buying from a Canyon was market presence and the associated data that comes with it, meaning reviews, videos, articles, it’s hard to find credible info on BD models, so dropping $3g on one of their unknown quantities is reason for pause on my part. Plus, the bike I chose was exactly what I was looking to buy, and after I received it that bike far exceeded expectation re. ride quality and fit. Admittedly, those last two things were presumptive reasons to buy based on YouTube videos and lots of other web reviews, but they proved out. Also, I think the Ritchey saddle scares off a lot of buyers. Heh.

tomato coupe

No they don't.