What if you got a bike for free (what would it be)

Questions about bike hire abroad and everything light bike related. No off-topic chat please

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wheelsONfire
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by wheelsONfire

de zwarten wrote:
Thu May 11, 2023 11:04 pm
This will do.

Image

or this.

Image
Yeah, those look stunning. I love the visual appearance of both.
Bikes:

Ax Lightness Vial EVO Race (2019.01.03)
Open *UP* (2016.04.14)
Paduano Racing Fidia (kind of shelved)


Ex bike; Vial EVO D, Vial EVO Ultra, Scott Foil, Paduano ti bike.

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tarmackev
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by tarmackev

ultimobici wrote:
Thu May 11, 2023 6:11 pm
tarmackev wrote:Image
I don’t own it but it would be this all day long.


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I presume you have either billiard smooth roads or have never ridden one of those Saeco Cannondales? Horribly over-stiff teeth rattler.


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I've owned many and still own a CAAD3, never had any issues with comfort. I've never ridden the Spinnergy wheels.

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ultimobici
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by ultimobici

tarmackev wrote:
ultimobici wrote:
Thu May 11, 2023 6:11 pm
tarmackev wrote:Image
I don’t own it but it would be this all day long.


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I presume you have either billiard smooth roads or have never ridden one of those Saeco Cannondales? Horribly over-stiff teeth rattler.


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I've owned many and still own a CAAD3, never had any issues with comfort. I've never ridden the Spinnergy wheels.
I worked for a Cannondale dealer in the late 90s and when Saeco team bikes were sold off a couple came through the shop. They had first gen SI cranks and Spinergy wheels. They were lovely on new smooth tarmac, but on the rougher tarmac usually found in the UK they were miserable. On Northern Italian roads I suspect they’d have been fine.


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tymon_tm
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by tymon_tm

werent the proper racing bikes of these times a lot harsher in general?
kkibbler wrote: WW remembers.

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C36
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by C36

tymon_tm wrote:werent the proper racing bikes of these times a lot harsher in general?
A bit but not to crazy extends, carbon anisotropy brought benefits, wheels were stiffer but it’s mostly down to tire size and pressure. If you look the spring rate of a tire and a frame, the frame is a tinny portion.

At one point the Al and Al-carbon frames from Columbus and Dedacciai had stupid oversized seat tubes (31.6id) that made stupidly stiff seatpost (very thick back then) that also played a bit.

AJS914
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by AJS914

tymon_tm wrote:
Sat May 13, 2023 1:42 pm
werent the proper racing bikes of these times a lot harsher in general?
Somehow we all survived on those bikes!

I recall going from 20mm tires to 23mm GP3000 tires and thinking I had found god. It took decades to get to 28mm clinchers and achieve the same plush ride people used to have on sew ups.

rajMAN
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by rajMAN

For free you say? I'm thinking Custom Battaglin, SR mechanical, Hyperons and mull over the finishing kit.

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tarmackev
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by tarmackev

C36 wrote:
Sat May 13, 2023 5:45 pm
tymon_tm wrote:werent the proper racing bikes of these times a lot harsher in general?
A bit but not to crazy extends, carbon anisotropy brought benefits, wheels were stiffer but it’s mostly down to tire size and pressure. If you look the spring rate of a tire and a frame, the frame is a tinny portion.

At one point the Al and Al-carbon frames from Columbus and Dedacciai had stupid oversized seat tubes (31.6id) that made stupidly stiff seatpost (very thick back then) that also played a bit.
This is a good point. I've never found any frame uncomfortable, I had the Cervelo S1 that was supposed to be a brute but i had no issues.
As C36 says, tyres are a game changer. I'd also add saddle, shorts and bar tape to that.
I was riding in 21mm tyre era. It's likely rose tinted glasses but skinny carbon wedge wheels with 21mm tyres at 8barr felt faster than anything I've ridden since.

Thinking over the last few days and id still take a Saeco Caad 3 or Caad 4 as the ultimate free bike.

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C36
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by C36

If I had to build a bike with no limits, frame would probably be a (non produced anymore) custom FKC, with rake zero fork and an attention to engineering details totally unique, starting with the Marval Steel tube from Aubert et Duval, a unique steel you see more in rockets, missiles and planes than on a bike.

I would equip it with parts I designed in engineering school with Al-Be or Al-Li alloys (cranksets, axles) and an hybrid aero cockpit mixing magnesium and carbon part, something that looked like the recent SAVA bar seen in Shanghai bike show (and way easier to build with 3D printing than the cnc program I did back then for the metallic part) but with high vibration aborbtion properties. I would also like to use parts that never made it to the market like the mavic super fast QR where you had no need to tighten the threaded part to adjust prior closing it, or the magnesium hubs Mavic did provide to pro teams. Single piece Ti cassette with proper anti friction coating and few other non std parts. Wheels would clearly be Ultimates.

RTW
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by RTW

C36 has kind of got the spirit of the thread. No offence meant to the people posting that they love their bike, and we are happy you found your dream bike, but is that really the idea of the thread? I'd think the idea of the thread is that if someone said to you 'Any (other) bike, what would you have' then what would you choose and why?

For me this would open up a whole load of options - things I possibly wouldn't buy were it my money. I'd love to ride a Dogma F for example, but personally find them unattractive aesthetically. The same for a top end Trek (I don't even know what they are called as I am not interested in them, but I am sure they must make some really amazing top end bikes, and I would like to try it). I avoided Specialized too for many years before an SL6 and an SL7 made their way to me. For the same reasons.

But in the mood of the thread, I would also love to get something like Stelbel. Then I would be off to Japan to look at what I can get there custom made.

Then there is the US steel scene. A Speedvagen is on my list because my best friend wants me to experience one. Of late I think I would be talking to Jaegher - possibly the nicest bike I've seen recently.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CqqwMViM6qC/

And then there is Officine Matteo....

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alexneumuller
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by alexneumuller

I often ask myself the same question, as the oppertunities are endless, as are the options and availability.

Let me start by saying that for me there is no dream bike for me. There are bikes that I find utterly fascinating from a production process, but which I don't enjoy riding. Then there are bikes that are high-end straight from the LBS, that are utterly fantastic riding bikes, but which create absolute no emotions in me. And then there are bikes, that are custom from the ground up, which not only ride like a dream, but also look beautiful.

Generally speaking my requirements are .... custom geometry, story behind the bike company, production style, paintjob, and fitting the right components to do the bike justice, and that work for me. I don't care if it is a small custom bike company, or a large one, or if it takes two years to complete. But what I have realised that the majority of bikes that come straight from the shop, and that are not customs, are all good/great bikes, and the only difference is really the geometry, and your contact points to the bike. Otherwise I don't really see any differences.

So where does that leave me, in what I want. What is still on my list of bikes that I really want, and have not placed an order for.......probably a Stelbel, and a Finnbar Trout Cycles. And yes both steel. Why? I can't really say why, as I for one a Stelbel always gets mentioned fropm a lot of people, and the Finnbar Trout Cycles, as it is relative new, and relative local to me. But what would i add for components......I m a sucker for continuity....I don't like trying out new saddles, so it is always a Prologo Zero C3 CPC. I love the Extralite stem, so it is a common theme across my bike fleet. And groupsets.....I care, but then I don't care. It will always be DA Di2, or AXS Red, and if I want to go more classic, it will most of the time only be SRAM RED Mechanical. I tend to actually go hunting for new SRAM RED Mechnical Components online. Wheels .... well I have tried a lot of them....Zipp, Enve, Lightweight, HED, DT Swiss, Princeton, 3T, Mavic, Campagnolo, Nextie, Partington, and a few other ones. And as amazing as a lot of them are ...... I actually like two the most....and those are the Lightweight Meilenstein Evo Disc, and the DT Swiss PR 1400 DICUT 21 OXiC. And yes, they are in the bike technology of today, a little old fashioned, with rather narrow rims, and aweful aero properties. But I love them.

Past Bikes:
My favorite bikes in the past, that I regretted selling the most, where actually straight from the LBS, or in one case online. It was a C60 rimbrake, 2017 Cannondale SuperSix Evo rimbrake, and a 2015 Canyon Aeroad, and honerable mention goes to a Specialized Venge. But I have tried plenty of others.....plenty that were aweful, and plenty that were okay.

Current Bikes: See my signature.....I think that gives a good insight. But favorite ...... that is not actually that hard.....my Speedvagen Steel Rimbrake from 2017. Love it some much. So much, that I m waiting for delivery on a second one, for a second home. And I m so obsessed by its qualities, and to prove that it is utterly amazing, I have ordered a Speedvagen Steel for RTW (previous comment), under the conditions that it needs to be rimbrake, steel, suprise paint and mechanical groupset. He also got my old SL6 from me, and I got us SL7s with matching custom paintjobs. Simply, as I want him to experience those bikes, that sure he could buy himself, but would not. That is not taking away anything from my others, all which are bikes that fantastic in everyway, but either they are missing something little, or I have not yet put enough miles into them.

So what am I saying: Your favorite bike, is only your favorite bike, until your next favorite bike. For me it is a never ending circle. And I am very fortunate to be able to try out pretty much anything on the bike, and yes I pay full price and have the same waiting lists as everybody else.

So for the future this is happening: Vanilla Cycles Classic, Speedvagen Steel Rim 2023, Bastion Archangel, Jaegher Ascender are either ordered, or deposit paid for.
3T Exploro - Bastion - Baum - Colnago - Cielo - English Cycles - Enve - Festka - ISEN - Standert - Open - Pegoretti - Pinarello - Specialized - Sturdy - Stinner - Spoon - Speedvagen - Vanilla Classic - Parlee

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RTW
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by RTW

rajMAN wrote:
Sun May 14, 2023 9:27 am
For free you say? I'm thinking Custom Battaglin, SR mechanical, Hyperons and mull over the finishing kit.
Why Hyperons? I am thinking BORA WTOs for the SV above.

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alexneumuller
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by alexneumuller

RTW wrote:
rajMAN wrote:
Sun May 14, 2023 9:27 am
For free you say? I'm thinking Custom Battaglin, SR mechanical, Hyperons and mull over the finishing kit.
Why Hyperons? I am thinking BORA WTOs for the SV above.
I have just ordered a set of Hyperons…..will see if they are any good.


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3T Exploro - Bastion - Baum - Colnago - Cielo - English Cycles - Enve - Festka - ISEN - Standert - Open - Pegoretti - Pinarello - Specialized - Sturdy - Stinner - Spoon - Speedvagen - Vanilla Classic - Parlee

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MichaelB
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by MichaelB

I'd get another Llewellyn Colossus, but this time the lugged version.

Only thing is he's made 2 but not making any more as they are just too time consuming for what he'd charge.

Looks great though !!

Lina
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by Lina

Probably the RSL Domane. No way am I paying that much for a frame though.

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