I have a giant propel sl that I love as well as a tcr. The tcr is in rough shape and pretty much relegated to trainer duty and I would like a bike that I can have for rides the propel isn’t good for (propel is a rim brake bike so long mountain decent w/carbon wheels and bad weather rides are not something I want to use it for).
I have read most of the threads posts I can find here regarding both bikes and would welcome input from those who have experience with either.
The allez sprint comp is interesting to me - I have 105 on my tcr and find it to be fine. I think I would like the aggressive positioning on it since I am very comfortable on my propel.
My concerns are the following:
Stiffness of the frame of the sprint ? I weigh 180 and run my tires (25c) @ 95/90.
Perhaps wider tires would help add some cushion for longer rides (if I even find it necessary?).
Power options - don’t want pedals since I use Shimano pedals on both bikes now and don’t want to fuss with different cleats. Currently have single sided stages on both my bikes.
Looked at the Tarmac sport (on sale locally)
ticks a few boxes - sporty bike - 105 - disc - can swap out my current stages power meter from my TCR - so that’s a score.
Ultimately - something to replace the TCR and have disc brakes and 105 will work to fill the purpose. I think I am imagining the sprint to be a more “fun” and exciting bike to ride - not sure if I am overly romanticizing it (don’t we all do that gear wise? I can be the only one…)
BTW COOL draft saving feature - started this point on my ipad and came to sit at my desktop and the draft option popped up - nice!
I think either the Allez or Tarmac will be good options–I currently ride a Tarmac and love it. Riding buddy has the Allez and loves that. Obviously I’m a bit biased towards the Tarmac but like you said it ticks your boxes–it’s definitely a race/sporty type bike, the disc brakes are great (I was coming from rim brake). I find my Tarmac to be very responsive-it climbs well and more than handles my limited ‘sprint’ ability–to me it’s a bit of a do everything bike-nice middle ground between something like Allez and Venge-that’s NOT to say it’s a compromise.
I’ve done just shy of century rides on my Allez Sprint Comp and not noticed it to be too harsh - I did end up putting 28s on it however. Even with the stock 26’s it wasn’t too bad, you’ll just take advantage of the nimbleness to avoid sketchier parts of the road since you do feel quite a bit come through.
Maybe grab the Allez, pop a 105 crankset with stages on there and call it a day? I’ve had some minor issues with setting the front derailleur to work with the Praxxis crank, but nothing too bad.
Thanks for the info. I can definitely have the swap done - I assume there is a different BB ( excuse my ignorance when it comes to wrenching - I am a total klutz working on my bikes and generally let the sport do the real work). Swap out my crank from my TCR with my PM and can I then have the Praxxis put on my TCR (which is only a trainer bike @ this point) since it is on my NEO and using power reading from the NEO anyway?
I made the same swap (praxis → 105 crank with stages) and it does require a new BB. The allez sprint has a BB30 so a thread together BB from Wheels Manufacturing or Praxis would be required to fit the 24mm spindle of the 105 crank.
I really think it depends what you’re after. I’ll infer a little here from your post that:
You’d ride the propel in most situations on a sunny day
You don’t race.
You’d want discs
You like twitchy/aggressive bikes.
I’d probably get the Tarmac as I think it would be more different than your Propel. A little more comfy, maybe use it for longer rides, maybe you want to try gravel at some point?
Having said that the Allez is a fun bike - so might scratch that itch for you. It’s a great sprinter. I have fat 28mm tires to take some edge off the Allez and avoid flats in races.
Just a guess, but if you get the Allez, it’ll turn into your main bike. GL!
Yes to 1-4:slight_smile: I think about the Tarmac being a more complementary bike to what I already have but it comes down to which one is going to give me an ear to ear grin when I am out riding.
The propel is indeed a fun bike. Wanted one since I bought my first road bike and found a hell of a deal a few years back and jumped on it - haven’t looked back. Aside from he brake callipers being finicky - I do love it.
Same! Had the 1st Red Hook and it was great. Sold it for a profit since our team changed bikes. Realized I hated the new brand. Bought a disc Allez! Will be my trainer & crit bike mainly, but also have no problem taking it out for a long ride.
I ride an allez sprint with 6 (tubeless) to 7 (not tubeless) bar and weigh 85 kg / 187 pounds. The allez is my main bike and I do not think that it is too stiff. I do 100 km rides on a fairly regular base and have not noticed any issues. Hopefully this helps answering one of your questions.
I have both and SWorks Tarmac and an Allez Sprint. Both are rim brakes. The only difference between the two is the frame. All parts are identical. When I bought the Allez Sprint, it was frame/fork. So, I built it up the same as my Tarmac. Guess you could call it my unofficial SWorks Allez Sprint
Anyway, the Allez is a bit stiffer. This is both personal feeling as well as stated by Spesh. The other diff is the vibration frequency of the two is different, a little more buzz w/the aluminum. Not better or worse, just different. This is to be expected due to material differences.
I often tell others that it’s an aluminum Tarmac. That’s how it rides and handles. Being stiffer it jumps a bit quicker. My fit is damn near identical to that of the Tarmac. I can ride it all day in the mtns w/out a second thought. Now that I think about it, I have no preference between the two bikes. They’re both awesome!
Bottom line, as far as I’m concerned, you cannot go wrong w/the Allez Sprint.
How low do you have the bars on your TCR? No spacers under your stem on the TCR would be having 20mm spacer on the Sprint or Tarmac. The main reason for the Sprint is the lower frontend (and looks).
The Sprint is not aero - the seat tube shape saves like 5w of a 25w gap at 27mph between a TCR and a fully aero road bike (aero handle bars, bottles, and clean cable routing would help close that gap).
The Sprint is about the least vertically compliant bike on the market according to the German magazines who put the frame, fork, and seat posts into a jig.
The Tarmac and the new TCR would be the same hamburger, the newer Tarmac would ride better than a 5year old TCR because of the seat posts.
Are you going rim or disc? In either case, there’s not much of a reason not to run a 28mm tire on the rear. It doesn’t hurt aero, it will help corners/traction, and will help with the ride concerns. If it fits on the bike and under the brake caliper, you should move to a bigger tire. I think the Allez will do 28mm on a normal rim, I think the Tarmac has 30mm clearance on rim brakes (or fat wheel/28mm).
Thanks for the info. I have my stem as low as it can be set on both my Propel and my TCR. I’ll have to test out the allez- it is still winter out here so not the right time just yet. I am tempted to go with a new TCR.
Reminds me of the old Seinfeld scene with Banya trying to decide if they should go back to Mendy’s to eat again…
GL!