Hello,
I have been considering buying a bike for long days of riding around Switzerland (where I live). I have never had nor used a road bike, and this would be the first one. I would use it as a recovery from running.
At first I thought about buying a gravel, but in the end I would do 99% relaxed rides on the road so it would not be worth it, and probably a relaxed road bike would be better. I would need a 2XL (I'm 198cm – 6'6).
After reading many posts, I understand that a CF would probably be a bit too much to begin with (although it would be in my budget), so I was having a look at AL. And I ended up with three bikes that to me (as an absolute beginner) look absolutely the same with minor differences in terms of drivetrain.
What is the difference between these three? Which one would be the "sweet spot" between price and what I am looking for? As I said, as a total beginner I really need to learn everything, so please explain it as if I were a 6-year-old 🙂
Thank you in advance!
by an2lal2
4 Comments
If you are a large gentleman, live in a hilly area or intend to ride in the rain go for a version with disc brakes.
Id probably would recommend disc either way as one of the 7 versions is not much more expensive than rim.
The only diffremce between the disc versions is 11 vs newer 12 speed drivetrain and the wheels.
The version with 11 speed is great. You wont rally miss the extra gear imo.
The RB (middle option) has rim breaks instead of disc breaks. Forget that option, especially in Switzerland.
The first one is similar to the third one, but has an older version of the 105 groupset (11 speed vs 12 speed) and slightly cheaper wheels.
If you have the money, right size and like the color option go for the one at 1649. Otherwise I would go for the one at 1399, it’s still very good to start.
Keep at least 400 to 500 for your equipment (pedals, shoes, etc.), this is as much important as the bicycle itself to progress.
Definitely one of the non-rim brake models.
From there, I believe the difference is likely to do with the wheelset and version of 105, where the cheaper version has a slightly heavier wheelset and 11 speed 105 drivetrain as opposed to the newer 12 speed 105 on the more expensive model.
It’s up to you as to if you want to justify spending a bit extra on an extra gear and 200g of weight. But for what it’s worth, we just bought the cheaper option for my wife, who is also an absolute beginner.
Fellow 2m tall Swiss Canyon Endurance rider here. All the other cpmments are true but for the record: I have 60k km on a 2014 Endurance with rim breaks and it’s really totally ok even on the high passes in CH (with alu rims) but yeah, nowadays it’s all disk breaks and thats ok.
If you have the budget, I would recommend going CF. It is definitely a significant difference in feeling and stability – especially for taller people.