New bike or Train more?

Training
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Afternoon,

soo as per some of my other posts, i’m looking at shiny new stuff. But i’m i’m backtracking a bit mostly because i’m tight haha.

I currently ride a Felt F5, think it’s a 2018 version, anyway, it has rim brakes, it’s fully carbon and running on Campag zonda wheels with 28mm tyres.

It feels pretty quick, and it’s nice to ride.

I’ve been thinking of getting something newer, mostly to run wider tyres to allow for more comfort, but I’ve been looking mostly into aero bikes - mainly because they look awesome!

anyway, the question I keep asking myself is do I really need it? Will it really make me faster or should I just do the logical thing and train more and the speed will come and the bike I have whilst not being brand new, is still a very good bike and will still serve me well.

I’m tempted to get a power meter crankset for it, but at £400 it’s money that can go into the new bike pot, and i’m worried about overspending on a bike that perhaps isn’t worth spending the money on.

i’m very tempted into this, which is a cracking looking bike! allows for 30mm tyres and has a power meter installed.

But hey, it’s nearly £4,000! do I really need to spend that - or rather than “need” do I really “want” to spend that!

sure I can stick it on bike2work and not notice the salary drop, but am I better off purely riding more, training better and look at it again in a year or 2 once my weight is at a more suitable level and my fitness is at a point where I’m really only aiming for marginal gains over the bike spikes.

what should I do?

get the power meter? or save toward the newer bike

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On the power meter side, I’d opt for pedal based Assiomas rather than £400 sunk cost into a 2018 crank

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No one needs anything aside from essential things. So, no! You don’t need it!

You’ll have to do some financial analysis. Do you have the money? Will it be needed in the future? Wouldn’t be better to have this money aside invested? Basically, what’s the size of your pocket? And that’s a really personal question and no one can help you aside from your bank statement and cash flow.

If you can afford it, and you think you’ll train more and better. You also think you’ll be happy because you’re riding a new and modern bike. Go ahead.

If you decide to go this route. I’d say a Propel isn’t really the best choice, based on what you’ve said. Staying on Giant’s portfolio, you might be better served with a Defy.

EDITED: Get a pair of Assioma anyways. They’ll fit in any bike, old and new.

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What’s the max tire size that fits on your felt?

The truth is, I wouldn’t focus on buying a bike for more speed… Does it really matter how fast you’re going?

What does definitely matter though, is how comfortable you are and how much fun you’re having.

Once you ride a modern bike with 32mm or bigger tubeless tires, it’s really hard to go back to anything else. It feels like a true luxury and is alone a really solid reason for anyone who loves riding their bike to make that leap to something modern.

You’re already training on your bike, so that tells me that cycling is a big part of your life. I’d say go for it! You don’t have to pay a lot for a bike that’s going to feel much better than your felt though. I’d focus on geometry, tire clearance, and groupset spec. You can always buy a power meter further down the road.

With that being said, I’m sure the Giant is an excellent option too…

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You need the new bike. Your old steed has 6 years of wear, dirt, water exposure….ect. It will make you faster. If not physically, mentally. The plus side is you will ride it more than your current bike and put a smile on your face.

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What would you do with your current bike? There’s alot to be said for having a dedicated trainer bike!

If you plan to sell though to help fund the new bike, you need be realistic with pricing and will deal with low ballers.

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Easy, keep your bike for now and save your money.

This is a much better investment, because it will have a direct impact on your training. What power meter cranks do you have in mind? Have you considered power meter pedals instead (Favero Assiomas have a great reputation for being reliable and inexpensive)?

Once you do get a new bike, you can take your power meter pedals to your new bike.

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My aero bike immediately made me go faster in time trials which was nice, but after beating all my pbs I was back to wanting to buy more speed.
In chain gangs it allowed me to go a little bit harder at the end but realistically it makes less difference in group riding.
The comfort factor from bigger tyres and coolness of my bike was worth it though, I have really gelled to my new bike and really enjoy it.
Disc brakes + big tyres are fantastic as well. After being ran over a few times, it’s made me feel a lot more confident again.
Downsides is that I am super precious about it so I ride it less

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really interesting comments as always so thank you guys and gals.

So from the start:

The money isn’t a massive issue, as long as it’s productive, if it’s more comfortable and makes long rides more “manageable” (i.e. don’t hurt my a$$) then it’s fine. If I come off it feeling much the same as I do now then I’d resent the money and regret it.

this is the power meter I was looking at. cheaper than I first thought. But still, I paid £200 for my bike lol I’ve already done the stem and bars and replaced with Zipp service course (which is very comfy) so I might be going overboard on a £200 bike.

with regards to buying speed, I think I do want to go a bit faster than I do now, but that’s mainly to make it more viable to do more with my day and means I can do the rides I like more frequently because I can be home before it makes an impact on weekend plans. But yes, comfort is definitely a massive priority. I think the max my current wheelset will take is 28mm, which is what i’m running. It’s got clearance on the frame for wider I’d expect but then it’s new wheels too.

So what would I use my current bike for? Likely it will become my winter bike. I’ll put some mudguards on it and use it when it’s too wet or a bit rubbish outside. I don’t really “need” to sell it but it’s one of those is it worth keeping or would a newer bike with disc brakes be a better winter rider than this is. I mean if I buy my posh bike, am I better to also have a better winter bike or is mine ok for this role.

I see the argument for power pedals, but IF the Felt is ok for winter duties, I’ll likely take the crank option and crack on for a few months and look at the new bike in spring.

I mean I could sell this bike, get a better winter bike, then when spring comes along still go for the more racey option, in which regard I’d agree, getting pedals would be the better option and then use them on whatever i’m riding.

The crank option really is only viable if I keep the bike.

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Looks like that 4iiii crank deal is only available in 175mm and 53/39. If you’re good with those, then it’s viable. But for me, 53/39 is too many teeth for all my climbing.

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I’d still go with the Favero. With crank-based you’re locked into them. The pedals you can use when and every bike you have/want/will have. I even used mine on my fatbike. Plus, Favero single-pedal might be cheaper and it’s really reliable.

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For the win.

I’ve 5 different bikes and I switch pedals. TT, road, indoors, or two different BMX bikes. The pedals work.

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Buy all the bikes and bike related goodies that you want, especially the ones that will make you want to ride more.

I find making some of them rewards for performance sufficiently motivational.

If I ride X hours this month, I can buy myself a new ABC

When I get my FTP up to X, I can buy myself a new DEF

That sort of thing. If it is something I really want, the target can be remarkably low(!)

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Without doing the math…moving to even the fastest road bike on the market will make you like 3 minutes faster on a 50mile ride. It’s not like you’d be shaving an hour off or anything to really make a huge difference. A quick google showed Specialized claimed 45 seconds saved over a 40k time trial going from a Tarmac SL6 to an SL7.

But based on a quick calc on http://bikecalculator.com/, going from 175W to 200W over a 50mile ride will save you about 8 minutes over 50 flat miles. That power increase leads to twice or more time saved if you’re looking at a climb (50mi of 2% would save you ~20min).

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that’s really interesting thanks! that’s pretty much what I needed to hear.

I’ve just ordered the Assimo Dual Shi spindles. I’ve not long got some 105 pedals so was keen to carry on with them, especially as I like the way they operate. So taking the “core” out and swapping that with the power meter seemed ideal.

I’ve got another bike that lives on the turbo trainer so I’ll calibrate on that one and be ready for sundays 50 miler, and look forward to pouring over the information gained

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I’d say just buy a bike through bike to work if your employer limit is high enough to get the Propel. It’s a ridiculously generous scheme, effectively government subsidised cycling. Always think to myself that if the anti-cyclist brigade who like to rant about money wasted on bike lanes, cyclists not paying road tax, not being insured, etc were to realise that there were people riding around on £10k bikes that they’d paid no tax on, their heads might actually explode!

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Its debatable if disc make you faster and some even say they make you slower (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnBDJ1XTlTQ) but if you’ve got the spare cash and a new toy will put a smile on your face go for it. I picked up my 4iii crank based meter for a lot less than £400 but for a bike your unsure of I’d go for Uno if you want to keep the cost down or Duo’s if two sided is important to you and that’ll give you the flexibility if you do decide down the line on a new bike.

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If how fast you went didn’t matter, no one would train.

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Cycling News did a test of almost all the fastest aero bikes available today with a Trek Emonda ALR from 2015 as a baseline. The Trek was 32 watts slower than the fastest bike.

You can decide if that’s worth the cost of a new bike after optimizing everything else like body position, helmet, clothes, etc.

You could just get narrow handlebars for your current bike and save 10 watts. If you’re. It already using the fastest available tires, that’s another easy upgrade.

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