Endurance Road Bikes or Maybe Something Else... 🥵

I feel that endurance road bikes have lost their way. They are too complicated, too compromised and are covering up what they are really designed for.

An endurance bike should give you great confidence even when you are most fatigued. They should be reliable and comfortable as well. Maybe this category of bikes has become too focused on comfort at the expense of other aspects of a ride.

#enduranceroadbike #bikemechanic #trekdomane

[Hambini]

Endurance bikes exist to have youtubers recommend them.

[fredrose]

A good endurance bike is one you can ride all day and enjoy it. I’ve been an endurance rider for 50 years and covered lots of miles. You wouldn’t walk 10 miles in poorly fitting shoes. Same for long rides on a bike that wasn’t formed for you. And the stronger you are, the more fun you will have.

[jonburnell]

A good bike fit and good tires are the best things you can do for rider comfort. Sort the fit before deciding on the bike.

[evanoc]

been riding a cx bike (Cannondale caadx with 34c slick tyres) as my primary road bike for a good few years, traded it in for a carbon racy endurance bike for a while because thats what i thought i wanted/needed for a while, went back to the caadx after realising what i thought i wanted didnt mesh with what i was actually feeling, stiff cx bikes handle and perform great for this regular weekend warrior. keep up the quality content !!

[mariofonseca]

@pbt2005 your comment nailed ít in my opinion. As you say Some individuals are suited for up and back and some for low and long.
I’ll add the other variable which is flexibility considerations. So now we have all the ingredients for fitting on a bike being a series of compromises that will reveal themselves the longer your ride is on any giving day!!
There are no perfect bike geometries. There are geometries however that accommodate your top criteria at most.
In my case and in order: high stack, absorbing all road chatter, under 18 lbs, reasonably priced by todays scale -$4700 US, and reliable components.
The Defy it is with its geometry and as a package.

[JSC]

Yes your definitely right i purchased a Cube cross pro swapped out the wheels and put conti 5000 32c and it feels the best bike i have owned aluminium frame its perfect for me approaching my 60s does a bit of everything great content.

[martindoonan]

I'd agree with with your final conclusion - that's exactly what I did years ago. Plus, high stack doesn't just benefit those with hip mobility issues. I have relatively very long legs and need a high stack bike to get the bars to any reasonable position: my custom road bike, designed as an "endurance" bike long before the term was created, has a stack of 625mm (which would be XL or larger for most brands) yet a reach of just 380mm (which is S or M for most).

When I was looking for a gravel bike, I was finding too many "Endurance" and "Gravel" bikes were essentially the same geometry as road race bikes but with differences in tyre clearance. The stack, reach and trail vary very little between the models in most brands.

As for the issues with small bike geometry, it's a nightmare. Head angles have to get slackened a lot to accomodate a 700c wheel to avoid hitting the downtube, and reduce chance of toe overlap (which I've never seen as a problem for a road bike anyway). Once upon a time, smaller bikes would have all been spec'd with 650b to maintain handling characteristics and avoid overlap without having to make the big compromises.

[richardhaselwood]

Interesting points. I've had a Defy since 2015. Really like it, and will replace it with another in a couple of years. Also, as you guys said, the geometry of my Merida gravel bike is awesome too.

[martinjfabbro]

Spot on! I really enjoy your videos. I bought a Cannondale caadx 58 cm as a winter bike and couldn't believe how comfortable it was. After checking the geometry I realised that it had a shorter reach and and a higher stack compared to my other 58 cm bikes. I'm turning into a bike geometry geek now 😅😂😃

[sportsrecoveryonline]

Nothing techy from me but I absolutely LOVE my custom Tifosi built for riding in the Lakes and Dales. Everything works, the gears make sense (just one ring on the front, less to go wrong😊) it fits me and geometry is perfect. The advice on the vid is spot on for enjoyable long rides day after day 🙏👍

[AnvilAirsoftTV]

Great thoughts. I’ve got a size L Giant Defy Advanced with mechanical 105. I’ve done some 200 and 300km Audax rides on it this year. Absolutely love it. It’s guard/rack mounts and tyre clearance are a big bonus too. Not for fast rides with the boys though!

[stefanwagener]

In contrast to gravel bikes I would argue that for road endurance bikes you don't need much of a super perfect handling. For the biggest part we go on roads that were made for cars at 60 to 100kph. So any bike, even MTBs or city bikes, shouldn't have any issue to go there at 20 to 50kph. A degree or cm more or less for headtube/trail I probably wouldn't really notice on those roads. On a single track, I agree, it becomes much more relevant, or on switch backs in the Alps. Like you don't need a Porsche for the handling on normal roads, even an old Rolls Royce will have no problems with handling. It's rather on a race track where the handling of a Porsche will shine. But for long rides you might accept the handling of the Rolls for the overall better comfort. So to me comfort (compliance + stack + reach), lightweight and speed are the keys for endurance bikes ... handling shouldn't be rubbish and city bike or MTB are definitely not ideal here, but some variation in head angle or so doesn't seem overly relevant to me, especially in the rather narrow range between gravel and race bikes. And then bike backing stuff or extra weight for day trips influence then handling even further than just some slight variation in the geometry.

[IvanMalechko]

8:15 I had bikes with toe overlap but it was never a problem as it only matters at super slow speeds and tight spaces (like riding in your living room or trying to balance at the traffic light stops :)) And if you aware of it, even slow speeds and turning around aren’t going to be an issue, it’s a reflex like avoiding a pedal stroke while turning.

[r.d.vaughan]

A topic I'd like to see you discuss is what should a customer check before accepting a new bike from a LBS? I'll be getting a Gen 4 Domane SL5 in January which is winter here, so will only get to use it on a trainer for at least three and a half months. I'll likely not even know what creaks or other issues which were not right when I initially picked the bike up until spring.
With the supply chain still being messy, I'm fairly sure others will be receiving their new bikes in the off season and if not an experienced check list would be good to know even for a wider audience.

Thanks, love your videos, have several saved in bike topic playlists as they're very informative.

[szmal]

I was riding and racing bikes my whole life but now over 50 I was looking for endurance bike that is only a bit more relaxed and decided to go for BMC Road machine, It’s geometry is very close to cannondale super six evo. Standard frame is lighter than Cannondale synapse high mod. Most endurance bikes are made for people who ride bike on weekends over summer.

[dan]

Comfort is the most important part of performance. Seat tube angle, is the most important dimension for corect fit. Head angle and trail determine the handling. Stack height is changed with stems.

[jcsrst]

My System Six is my most comfortable bike. I have a Domane but I use it for training.

[KeithHeinrich]

A good analysis. I never got on with my Defy despite doing a lot of km on it and having it fitted. Its been replaced with a Topstone and that's a bike that I'm really enjoying from the get go. Its the obvious choice for Audax rides for all the reasons you mentioned.

[JamesSocialCycling]

My Topstone is sooo comfy, it’s my Autumn\Winter bike apart from being a tad heavier, I know I’m going to be good for a 4/5hr ride. 700/32’s for this time of year😊 Keep em coming👍

[mtbboy]

4:11 I am sure Trek took the name from the Italian place, or is it Mad One, but Domane is actually mispelled German word domäne, which means domain. Discovered boon means blessing, benefit, favor.