looking at a new bike to replace my canyon ultimate (6800 mechinal ultegra, mavix cosmic exalith wheels) circa 2015
Done a few half & full IM’s on a TT bike, thats now gone to looking to treat my self to a road bike upgrage, have a focus mares cross bike for the winter & some trails so looking for a purely road bike but one that isnt to harsh on our poor cornish roads!?
I’d like something aero, clean looking (ideally no cables) nice wheel set and ultegra di2;
Currently looking at Focus Izalco Max 9.7 Di2, canyon aeroad & BMC road machine 01,
Budget around £4-5k;
No racing planned just fast road rides and looking cool!
any suggestions or feedback on the above much appreciated!
I recently got a 2019 Scott Foil 20 (the brown one), I think new it’s currently around $5,5k for the current model - though that’s only a different paint job, technologically they’re the same.
The only thing it’s missing from your requirements are the external cables on the front end - other than that it’s reasonably light for an aero bike, is quite comfy (the Aeroad is longer and flatter), the Di2 groupset is great and the wheels are also quite good.
The Foil 20 doesn’t have the one-piece cockpit, for that you need at least the Foil 10 or RC - due to this I replaced the standard handlebar with a nice Enve SES Aero bar - looks nice with the Aero stem.
@murrwalker - I went from an 2014 Ultimate SLX 9 with DA Di2 to a Venge Pro with SRAM AXS and Roval CL50s and have to say that it is absolutely stunning. I bought this for £5500 and am so pleased with it.
I have an Aeroad and it’s great, can run 28mm on it for poor roads though think you’d struggle to go wider than that. Surprised they haven’t routed cables internally through the bars yet, maybe new release coming soon. Or maybe they’ve decided that the aero/cosmetic savings aren’t justified by the extra hassle working on the bike.
I know a few people with the RoadMachine and it’s a lovely looking bike with the clean front end, plus allows you to go up to 33mm. Also worth looking at the Trek Madone which from a comfort perspective has the IsoSpeed feature. Though to get Di2 you’d need to go slightly over budget (list price anyway) with the SL7.
Also worth pointing out that these days a lot of endurance/climbing bikes are as or more aero than the first generation of aero bikes. E.g. the Specialized Tarmac is supposed to be as aero as the original Venge. The BMC is more of an endurance bike that is also aero, the official aero bike in their range is the Timemachine.
I would definitely get di2. Aero is nice but not necessary, then again neither is di2 but di2 leads to reliable repeatable shifting and no maintenance of cables. Aero just makes you a little faster
That might have been true once but certainly isn’t now. I’ve done >200km rides on my aeroad with no comfort problems, as well as >5000m elevation days in the mountains.
Cervelo S3 (2019, 2020) is a very nice bike in that price range with a clean look (no cables). It looks like they’re going with an S-series now, but it’s the same thing. I actually prefer that over the S5 and it’s half the cost.
MVP has been riding a prototype version with hidden cables since last summer / fall. No word on a release date, though. You can see it in his zwift commercials.
I also have an Aeroad and been super-happy with it. Just amke sure that if you get one with the integrated HB / stem that the spec’d stem length works for you. IME, Canyon specs a short stem (but I also prefer a more stretched out position).
Agreed. Great value bike.
As noted, this is no longer the case (if it ever really was). Between new, wider tires, tubless and smoother rolling tires in general, there should be no comfort penalty in an aero road frame. I did a 160 mile ride last summer with no issues (well, no issues in terms of bike comfort…LOL!)
I’d second taking a look at the Giant Propel range. Had the opportunity to ride one recently (mid range option) and it ticks all of your boxes. The thing went like stink with me on it and that should be enough to sell anybody a bike
