42 Bikes

Today I tried a couple of new bikes and am now suffering from the onset of severe temptation. We went to both Rutland Cycling shops (north and south shores of Rutland Water)

I tried a Trek Madone 3.1 (and also a 4.5 as they didn’t have a 3.1 in the right size). Also a Giant Defy Composite 1 (although it is the Defy Composite 2 that I would be looking at).

I decided against trying a Specialized Roubaix (paying an extra £100 and yet moving to a lower spec drivetrain didn’t really appeal). Also against some of the other makes such as Willier and Eddy Merckx.

Both the Trek Madone and the Giant Defy are beautiful as well as light and comfortable. It would be hard to choose between them if we decide that there is any possibility of spending this much money.

The Giant has two main advantages.

• It uses SRAM Apex drivetrain components. The key advantage is a much wider gear range, especially at the bottom. Even with a double chainring this should give a lower bottom gear than my current Trek has using triple chainrings. Nice that unlike the Trek the whole drivetrain including brakes is all the same model range from the same manufacturer.
• The frame comes with a 10 year warranty

It also has one key disadvantage. It has an aerodynamic seat post that is nothing like round. This will make it impossible to fit things to the seatpost (light, saddlebag).

Both these would be faster and more comfortable than my Trek Pilot, however, they would also be limited to Sunday best rides (for me normally on a Friday) and could not carry much at all. So they would not actually replace my Trek Pilot.

With the recent breakages on my Trek Pilot it’s reliability for Lands End to John O’Groats is worrying me a little. The problem is that when I use it for loaded tours (such as to Launde Abbey this week) I tend to load it fuller than it is really designed for. At the same time I expect to be able to strip it down in weight for faster rides. So long term maybe dividing and conquering makes sense. As I have several options for loaded touring (Bullitt cargobike for very heavy loads, Trice XXL recumbent trike for medium and the Trek Pilot for lighter loads) maybe it would make sense to retire the Trek Pilot from lightweight long rides.

And yet I wonder just how much faster and more comfortable these £1,500 bikes would be than my current Trek Pilot if it were stripped down a bit (no rack, no mudguards, lighter tyres, lighter back wheel). Maybe I just need to grow up and put the temptation of a new bike behind me.

Any suggestions welcome.