appreciate any input from those that have made similar decisions. kinda over-stressing this one.
I am in line for a custom titanium bike and my turn is coming up soon. I can get any geometry I want…so position would be the same (I’ll be using measurements from a pro fit).
My two options I have narrowed it down to are a Road Bike with 32mm tire clearance or what they call "Road Plus) with 38mm tire clearance. (their definition of Road-Plus is everything is a little beefier but not quite as big as a gravel bike).
I am thinking if I get the Road Plus I would use 35mm tires and that would be plenty.
I ride 100% on roads. The roads are B+ / A- for 95% of my rides and C / C- for ~5%. I ride ~ 10-15 hours per week. I’m not into the racing scene…training only. mid 40s age so I’d like this bike to last I wanna say forever but 10-15 years. I don’t really upgrade stuff often when I really like something.
My current bike line-up is:
Trek Emonda (climbing bike). this is my most ridden bike. 31mm tires
really nice XC Mountain bike with gravel tires (Pivot Mach 4). I have done > 100 mile rides with this bike and I am super comfy on it and it’s not painfully slow. I plan to keep this for a long long time. This is what I use if on the rare occasions I ride gravel (if I do it’s at a slow pace).
If I got the custom road bike, I’d basically be selling my Emonda. if I got the all-road, I would ?probably? keep it…but if I could get within even 5% of the speed I probably would sell it. I have plenty of space but having one less bike to maintain would be nice.
Really I guess I am wondering how much speed I’d lose and how much comfort I would gain between those two? Say I’m riding at 28-30km/h with mostly flat roads and quick 2-3 min roller hills…mostly quiet roads but a little stop and go. The bikes aren’t super lightweight but not heavy. My guess is the road bike would be ~18 lbs and the road-plus would be closer to 20lbs.
I guess I don’t care that much about speed but I sorta still do sometimes - if that makes sense?
I would bet the speed would be very, very close but the comfort factor would be substantial in favor of the wider tires. For what you’re talking about, I’d go with Road Plus and sell the Emonda personally.
FWIW I destroyed my Venge which was all super aero, fast, light, etc. in a race accident. I got a more traditional, comfortable road bike with wider tire clearance (not as wide as yours but carrying 32s easily) and a more upright geometry. It was every bit as fast, and in some cases faster because I was more comfortable and able to stay low in the drops more easily… but the difference in comfort between the wider tires and the position was night and day.
I suspect you’ll probably experience the same if you roll the 35s in a similar position on your titanium bike. There’s a point where you lose too much speed to make it worthwhile, but I would guess that’s not going to happen here just yet, but you’ll notice a comfort difference, no question in my mind.
Go comfort, 110%. You will likely ride it more, and won’t have a reason not to. I tended towards race geometry bikes, and love the heck out of my Aspero gravel type bike. Haven’t ridden the Roubaix much lately. Same crappy roads around here, although haven’t flatted much on the Roubaix, not as much as others (but they ride more than I do outside)
Comfort!! (Even it’s it’s marginally more comfort. I’ve tried to ‘comfort-ize’ the Roubaix over the years, and there’s only so much that can be done with/to it.
Assuming the two geometries are very similar, I’d go for the 38mm clearance and run FAT fast road tires like GP5000 S TR 35mm. More comfortable. Faster. More grip. Heavier, but I doubt you’ll notice.
I bet you’ll stop riding your road bike and eventually sell it.
If not racing, I’d always say prioritize comfort over speed. What’s the downside? I have an aero road race bike, but it rarely makes it out of the garage since I don’t race road much anymore. I use my gravel bike for all road riding, even fast group rides. Part of that is because most of my racing is gravel these days and I like to train on what I race, but even in the off season the gravel bike is just a better ride. A little slower/heavier isn’t going to make much difference in speed even on a fast group ride.
What don’t you like / what would you change about / why do you want to replace your Emonda?
What do you really like about your Emonda?
The answers to the above should drive your decision. Writing down the answers to the above, thinking about them, and prioritizing them should help you figure out if the road or allroad will more likely meet what you want in a bike
So you sre still young, get the bike you would get if you were 25, you’ll end regretting getting the old man’s bike and use it or lose it (keep being comfortable in your current position or be forced ever and ever more upright)
I would 100% go with the Road Plus. It simply gives you a lot more versatility. Running different tires between 28 and 38c will dramatically change the character of the bike. Changing up wheelsets can have a pretty big impact too. Assuming it has a traditional two piece stem and bar, you could change your position quite a bit too with tweaking the stem length, type of bars, and how many spacers you put under the stem.
I was in a very similar position 2 years ago, even same age. I went with the “road+”
I have a Cannondale CAAD12 and I was afraid the new bike would not be as fun. I was wrong.
My fought was, I already have a fun bike, let me get something more comfortable for the longer days… and maybe explore some easy gravel. On the day I can choose depending on what I want.
Result: the CAAD12 was relegated to commuting only.
I installed 30c on the front and 32c on the back. I have heavy bones and I find it a good compromise with the roads here in the UK.
A side note to consider. If you go for a costume geo, you might have a bit more trouble to sell the bike. I got mine thinking that every 10y or so I would do a refresh. Time will tell.
Outside of extra tire clearance, you need to define what the geometry differences are between the two frames. Is the stack & reach the same? Can you achieve the same position between the two frames?
Road plus, might this custom Ti you’re looking at be a Firefly?
Assuming that (or potentially most custom Ti builders) what you actually end up with is between you and the builder. If you’re looking for this to be more of road tubeset with wide tire clearance I’m sure they would oblige. I’m sure through the interview process with the maker they’ll suss out what you’re really looking for both for use and position and give you something that’s not just comfortable but also feels fast. And don’t let silly things like “race” geometry get in the way of getting a great bike because it’s not the geo that makes a bike fast. I’ve been on a couple of posts like this espousing the cannondale supersix as an all-around aero race bike that has a geo more akin to what most would call endurance geometry. You don’t need to go that far but let the builder know what you like about your emonda and what you wish it would do and what you wish to improve. They might even be able to find a few spots to shave some grams here and there to keep the weight down. Firefly’s external butting on the downtube is a beautiful thing if you like great machining.
Side note is I’ll be going from a traditional race geo litespeed to a custom geo litespeed closer to an enve melee or cannondale, or even my old specialized all-road diverge, because I’m not a fan of what some would call reactive but i’d call twitchy for me. I have no fears about a more stable geo making me slower and in fact think it’ll make me faster if I’m able to ride and descend with more confidence. And the reason I’m not buying any of the bikes whose geo I’m stealing is because Ti just feels so damn good.
yeah totally agree! will def order a bike with my current position with the option to get more aero - regardless if I go Road or Road+. going for a fit very soon and a part of it will be giving me homework to do to improve my position.
yup…i’m like a year + into waiting after my deposit…it should be my turn soonish. just trying to get straight what I am leaning towards before talking to the designer in more depth.
ok ty. i’ll make a list of what I like and share with the builder for sure.
Then there will be a minimal, if any, impact on speed. There may be a small difference in wheel base length to accommodate the wider tires, but that would only impact handling in tighter turns, etc.
There may also be a miniscule impact on Crr with the wider tires, but that will also depend on the roads you normally ride.
IOW, don’t sweat any significant loss in speed, especially if you aren’t racing.
Different strokes for different folks. Even for my race bikes, I’ll take a little more weight if it means more comfort. Comfort translates to more power for longer (for me), which trumps all the other stuff by a healthy margin. For geometry, longer/slacker isn’t going to slow you down, but I would check the stack on the Road Plus build against current positioning and make sure you can still get to where you want (a less aero position can have a significant impact). Stack shouldn’t have to change to fit larger tires if building a custom frame, but it’s definitely worth a discussion.
yeah I guess I wasn’t sure if I should be prepared for the worst 5% of the ride? or just deal with the 5% as it comes up (stand / weave a little more etc)…
I am leaning to the Road+ (especially from this thread) - but I won’t be too quick to sell my Emonda for days I feel good and wanna go a little faster. it’s got aero wheels, super light frame, integrated handlebars, etc). (at least until I can see the speed difference is very small)
