Road Cycling Essentials

Status
Not open for further replies.
divaboy said:
Anyone fancy trying to simply frame geometry for me please my head is hurting to work this out:p

Geometry of the bike I smashed up http://technobike.com/hot_promo/detail/ORBEA ORCA B105 BLACK YELLOW


Geometry of my winter bike
http://www.sigmasport.co.uk/item/Specialized/Allez-Sport-Int-C2-Road-Bike-2013/1D82

I'm after a new bike based on the geometry of the Orbea and not anything like the Allez geometry.

For example I'm looking at cannondales based on the above should I be looking at the Super Six or Synapse? Also my preferred LBS stock Trek bikes which Trek frames offer a similar geometry to the Orbea.

As I can't get out to try them at the moment I'm slowly trying to discount certain bike based on the geometry.

Cheers in advance
Click to expand...

comparing the 53 orbea to the 54 cannondales, with all 3 having an effective top tube between 54cm and 54.5, the super six seems closer to the orbea (both having 14cm headtubes) than the synapse. The synapse is much taller at the front, over 2.5cm...

i'll add the caveat that the orbea's head angle is slacker than the super six, that means it'll steer a bit slower, but feel more stable. The synapse head angle is much closer to the orbea's

how many spacers do you run on the orbea?
 
Last edited:
willems said:
good stuff. did you go for 23 or 25 mm tyres? whats the ride like with the wider rim?
Click to expand...

25mm tyres on there. They feel good, and I do think they take a bit of the rough out of the dodgy roads, but I'd have to ride them back to back with some 23mm tyres to be sure I wasn't just imagining it!
 
Vonhelmet said:
25mm tyres on there. They feel good, and I do think they take a bit of the rough out of the dodgy roads, but I'd have to ride them back to back with some 23mm tyres to be sure I wasn't just imagining it!
Click to expand...

the 28s on my winter bike are like a magic carpet compared to the 23s on my summer bike!
 
Saytan said:
comparing the 53 orbea to the 54 cannondales, with all 3 having an effective top tube between 54cm and 54.5, the super six seems closer to the orbea (both having 14cm headtubes) than the synapse. The synapse is much taller at the front, over 2.5cm...

i'll add the caveat that the orbea's head angle is slacker than the super six, that means it'll steer a bit slower, but feel more stable. The synapse head angle is much closer to the orbea's

how many spacers do you run on the orbea?
Click to expand...

Orbea is 55 Frame and Allez is 56 , I run 3 spacers and 120 mm Stem. Pretty sure bike fit guy said the 55 was on the small side as I had a long body hence the 120 M stem flipped upwards.

I'd love to just buy another Orbea as the Orca frame has come down to £1400 now but I've never been the sort to buy the same again ....


I think in my own mind I want something which rides more like the Orbea than the Allez. If that makes sense ...

Thanks for taking the timeout to help , I can't seem to get my head around it. From googling this stuff a bike shop can make most bikes fit like any other bike by moving your position.
 
divaboy said:
Orbea is 55 Frame and Allez is 56 , I run 3 spacers and 120 mm Stem. Pretty sure bike fit guy said the 55 was on the small side as I had a long body hence the 120 M stem flipped upwards.

I'd love to just buy another Orbea as the Orca frame has come down to £1400 now but I've never been the sort to buy the same again ....


I think in my own mind I want something which rides more like the Orbea than the Allez. If that makes sense ...

Thanks for taking the timeout to help , I can't seem to get my head around it. From googling this stuff a bike shop can make most bikes fit like any other bike by moving your position.
Click to expand...

the orbea is kinda between the two cannondales. it has the low racy front of the super six, but the friendlier steering of the synapse

head angle - higher numbers = sharper steering, but a twitchier feel
head tube length - higher numbers give a higher "lowest possible" bar position
 
Here's something for you all to poke fun at :o Since having my plum related off a few weeks back I've not been getting out on the bike much and on my two rides this week I've been a bit cautious of cornering at any speed. I decided that I'd investigate whether I could get away with running my tyres at a slightly lower PSI.

So to the internets I went and found a tyre pressure calculator. Now bear in mind that I'm a bit... robust in my build and ride a lead hybrid I entered my combined weight of 211lbs and the profile of my hybrid tyres (40mm) and got a result of 35PSI front and 51PSI rear... I've been riding both at 85PSI :o I always used to think that I couldn't cope with a road bike due to the lack of comfort on my current steed :o

I've dropped both to 50PSI as that is the minimum recommended pressure for my tyres but that is still a 35PSI drop. I'm looking forward to tomorrows ride to see if it is any more comfortable.
 
I'll add a vote for Rubino pros 28s, they are now my favorites on my commuter, I run tubs on my other bikes. I've actually ditched 2 conti 4seasons with plenty of tread as I was sick of punctures.

The thing is wet grip isnt the best with them but because of the hard rubber they dont get bits embedded in them. I've found with soft rubber tyres that I'll just miss a small piece of glass that will work its way in until it punctures. Also they have a decent TPI for the money so ride quality is excellent.

Also if you buy them in 28's you will get just as good grip in the wet as anyother smaller tyre, better ride quality too.
 
What wheels do you guys recommend? The back wheel bearing is a bit fubar, and as they're not the best - I'm not gonna bother fixing them and will just replace and keep them as spare or for the trainer or something.

Current wheels on the Planet-X are the below;

http://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/WPFST30/fsa-team-30-wheelset

Not sure if carbon is necessary, and not sure I'm keen on 'cheap' carbon. If you can persuade me otherwise, please do. The Cosmic set from Aliexpress (seller linked a few pages back) for $375 is tempting!

Any recommendations? Not sure on budget, but a decent upgrade for £2-350 perhaps?!
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top Bottom