Do it all road bike (cx?)

Soldato
Joined
16 Feb 2004
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Location
London
Hi,

I'm looking to get back in to some road cycling after being off a bike for a couple. I've done loads of both mtb and road riding before. Current fitness isn't great but I've started to ride to work again and I've been doing light gym work for a couple of years. I'm currently 183cm and weight 77kg.

Was thinking of going for a lightish CX style bike, things I'd like to do on it is some year round commuting, weekend camping trips, normal weekend club rides (40-60 miles) and the occasional not very serious sportive (up to 80 miles). Some of the CX bikes allow for larger tyres and have mudguard and rack mounts to cover the winter and camping side of things.

Looks wise the Cannondale CAADX Rival 22 Disc 2015 is really nice, love the colour. But it'd come with std CX style 46/36 chainset and knoblies.

Or the ROSE PRO DX CROSS-4400 with custom spec seems like a good idea. Can spec it with the lighter wheels, road tyers, 50/34 compact and 12-28 for decent spread of gears. Weight should be pretty good as well somewhere from 8-8.5kg for my size.

Budget from 1000-1500. I'll be selling a mtb I've not used for ages to cover most of it.

what do you think?
 
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I like it, pretty damn stealth :) how long did it take for all the parts to arrive? Delivery time is the only thing stopping me ordering a Rose atm.
 
Almost all the bikes my size and a good spec on Canyon have sold out for the year. The Rose bikes are all really long wait lists as well so I've decided to get something sourced locally and take the hit on the wallet.

Had my measurements taken and then setup on a couple of bikes on a turbo at the LBS, they recommended bikes with higher frontends than full race bikes (ungh I'm not old yet, honest).

Checked out the Roubaix and Synapse on a short test ride and found the Synapse fitted really well in 56cm. They let me take out the demo £3600 version for a couple of days testing :D god that's a nice bike. So I'm really tempted to get the £2500 version, a bit over budget but it feels great and available really quickly.

http://www.cannondale.com/nam_en/20...ad/synapse-carbon/synapse-carbon-ultegra-disc

The main changes from the demo to this one is much more normal wheels. The demo had some really nice carbon rimmed wheels what where very light for disc wheels. The finishing kit and frame material are slightly lower grade as well but doubt I'd notice.

What do you think?
 
mm though process over the weekend was:

commuting - fix up my single speed, will need some new kit and then be fine for the 5-6 mile commute to work (no-one wants to nick this)

camping - can get clipon handlebar bags and clipon rack that would hold enough for a 2 night camping trip. can fit on pure road bikes.

off-road - I'm going to sell my current mtb as it's just not getting used, all my mates have switched to road riding

So reqs have changed to a fairly nice road only bike that's comfy on longer rides :p

Also speaking to a friend, he wants to plan for a trip to the alps in August, I'd only have 2 months of training now to get in shape for alps climbs.
 
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Id never do this on a bike worth more than £500. It might say its possible on the brochure but id stay well away from it

There's bag alternatives as well, just measured my tiny 1 man tent and it'd go in to one of these bag frames. Sleeping bag on a front mount bag then just 1 days spare clothes etc and eat on the way.

https://www.apidura.com/shop/?sort=saddle

The bike is probably a bit OTT :p was also considering the cheaper versions as well, the 105 spec still looks pretty good.

http://www.pedalon.co.uk/acatalog/cannondale-synapse-carbon-105-5-2015.html
 
Yeah the Synapse has a really thin seatpost that's meant to flex. Probably best not to use one. Saying that a guy in work has used one for years on an alu racer with no issues, can't carry much weight but its enough for gym kit and stuff.
 
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