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forum
Rose Xeon CDX 3100 Di2
There seems to have been a fair bit of interest in this bike, mine finally arrived today after having ordered it back in March. Just a few comments on what I've seen so far, in advance of the review of the SRAM version being posted on the site.
I've gone from a 2013 Cube Agree GTC to the Rose Xeon CDX 3100 Di2, so my exposure to other bikes is limited - I can only comment on my own frame of references.
Bad stuff first:
- Had to wait 3 months for the bike to turn up.
- When I placed the order I made a number of customisations (silly things mostly like red bar tape and red tyre walls). These weren't available so I got a fairly curt email explaining this and detailing replacement items. The replacements were fine - they upgraded the saddle at no extra cost even, but (I'm guessing) they re-keyed in my order. The actual order invoice I received from them didn't list the red bar tape customisation (as I've just noticed) so it's turned up with black bar tape. I'm not sure whether I got the 40cms bars I ordered or the default 42cms ones either (where do you measure from?) - again nothing in the invoice. If you make customisations to your order, make sure it's on the email invoice they send you!
- The Di2 battery cable wouldn't stay connected to the internal battery. I've spent a couple of hours messing about with this today and ended up having to dismantle and re-seat the battery. I was at the point where I thought it might have to go back, when I finally got the connection to "click" properly. It's been fine since, but the jury is still out here.
- The freewheel on the DT Swiss wheels is *really* noisy. I'm just used to my silent Shimano wheels I guess. It's one more reason to keep pedaling I guess!
Good stuff:
- Weight, I don't have super-accurate scales to weigh the built bike with pedals, saddle bag, bottle cages etc on it - but it's considerably lighter than my Cube.
- I had a limited amount of time today so I only did a rudimentary bike-fit and then took it out for a quick 10k blast. I love the Di2 shifting, it will take a little getting used to I'm sure - but it's leagues ahead of the Tiagra on my other bike. The brakes work really well, I've not done much proper descending on it yet - but it was certainly 1-finger braking on the roads near me. The bike felt fast, I got a few PRs on some roads I ride all the time - but this is too small a sample to draw any objective conclusions from.
Random/undecided stuff:
- I'm not really sure whether this bike is any more comfortable than my Cube - I'll do a long ride on the weekend and see how I feel after!
- It's bigger/more upright than the Cube (as expected), but I've not really done any proper fitting yet.
I hope that's of interest to someone. If not I'll keep it to myself in future!
If you're new please join in and if you have questions pop them below and the forum regulars will answer as best we can.
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How about just putting the 20mph limits in wherever there's been a traffic collision? That could change the nature of motorways though.
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Obviously we only have the snippets of information from the newspaper report, but Mr Brayley might be correct....
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Thanks! For some reason it's not showing up here: https://road.cc/show/tags/nmotd/145572
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34 comments
Don't think cruds will fit if you have the 25mm Contis fitted. Certainly did not on mine, had to use 23mm to clear between the tyre and the sides. Obviously no problem with brakes as they are disc.
Hello Gents,
I need to get some mudgards, just wondering if any of you have any recomendation, SKS or Crud ?
thanks in advance.
I can't compare the two but I have been using Crud Roadracer MKii for a few years and I've been really pleased with them. The fitting instructions are no the best but there are decent videos on YouTube that make it a lot easier the first time.
Hope this helps!
I started a separate thread covering the arrival of the bike onwards....
Well????????
The bike is shipped
Thats one poor thing from Rose but it outweighs the bang for the buck.
Thats one poor thing from Rose but it outweighs the bang for the buck.
I found the wait maddening, especially once it had actually shipped (on what was purported to be a next business day service by the courier) and still took 5 days to arrive.
You'll love it when it does finally turn up!
That final wait is like an eternity. Do you refresh the tracking every three minutes?
I knew mine was arriving but had to go to America for work. When I arrived at JFK, I had a text from one of my colleagues showing a picture of a massive bike box which had just been delivered to the office. It had Rose writ large down the side.
I had to wait another 9 days!!
After 10 weeks my bike is now built
but infuriatingly that's far from the end of the journey. I was naively expecting it to be given to the courier the next day and for it to be on 24 hour delivery. But I was wrong.
I now have to wait a few days for QA to do their thing, then box it, then ship it (which I've been informed will be later this week) and then it's 4-6 days shipping.
So this is going to be 11 - 12 weeks from ordering to receiving (hopefully).
I see that this model is being extensively revamped in a couple of months. Rose announced that the Xeon CGF (upon which it's based) having such done, so a fair bet that the disk braked variant is too.
Full details aren't available until the October Catalogue, but they have posted pictures already (in Red).
Indeed. I usually find they respond to emails, but 1-2 days after. It's not very "German", lol.
Unfortunately from work their numbers are blocked. Agreed, that's the fastest way.
1 week to build....
Indeed mate. Now I'm slighltly concerned but I did specifically ask the guy and he said they had the wheels I wanted in stock so no change. Btw I know some people have got frustrated at their lack of response to emails but I have always found calling them works really well.
That's what I was told (and was sure I had read it too) that once the order status had changed then I couldn't change it.
If you managed a change so late I may enquire again about the tyres. But I'm not doing anything that could jeopardise the build date (in 1 week) and very cautious about being misunderstood. Tyres can always be changed once the first set wears out.
just which bottom bracket is fitted to this bike please?
Aye I'm time-poor.
My wife rations my bike time (*apparently* I have to spend time with my children n' stuff). I find it hard to spend my precious bike time on fixing stuff rather than actually riding.
I'm suspecting saddle rails atm. There are two distinct creaks, one when out of the saddle and pushing hard (probably the press fit BB). Another one has appeared recently that only occurs when seated and pushing hard - a recent thread on here suggested saddle rails - which sounds pretty likely.
2900 miles in on my Rose CGF3100 and no creaks, may be worth double checking you have got some grease on the pedal threads?
The only issue I'm having with mine are a few creaks from the drive-train. I've not had time to try and diagnose the cause yet, I'm contemplating being lazy and taking it into the LBS for a 500-600 mile-ish service.
But I'm not sure I can bring myself to open my wallet versus spend a few hours fiddling. I need more free time!
Lol. I have the 25mm's coming on mine but actually quite like the look of the wider tyres. I did want to put 28's on originally and still a little disapointed I couldn't.
I asked Fin (UK Rep) if 28's were possible and he said a straight "yes". However when I came to order there was no option to go 28's, when I queried this people started to give much more vagues answers about whether this would work. Apparently the Conti's balloon out slightly with the chosen wheels, so a 25 becomes more like 27 and 28 more like 30.
Eventually I just got the bike ordered to save time and I can work this out myself later. Unfortunately when the bike is ordered you can't change the spec. Not at least without resetting the clock.
Not sure what makes you say that last bit but I phoned them only this morning and changed the entire wheelset with no delay to my build date, which is next week.
As I said, there is definitely some front end buzz on badly surfaced tarmac but I'm running 23mm and suspect a 25mm tyre would negate much of the buzz.
I'll take aesthetics over comfort any day, can't stand looking at thick tyres
I agree with the DT Swiss r23's, had to send my rear back with issues about the bearings not been sealed or been allowed to move.
Hi Guys, any further thoughts ? I'm taking delivery of mine in approximately 2 weeks and just reading these comments over and over
I have a Garmin Edge 1000, so going to get the Wireless D-Fly transmitter to display the Di2 information there.
I went for the basic 3100 Di2 configuration, 57cm, Matt Black / Blue, only changing the rear cassette to the 11-32. Been on order now for around 7/8 weeks.
Apart from the frame size, I have exactly the same bike even down to your excellent taste in colours.
I've been riding it for three months now and have probably done about 2000 miles on it including a 243 mile ride north of the Arctic Circle during which comfort was never an issue.
I was pleased from the outset but as I've grown to know the bike better, I love her more and more with every ride. The power transference is what really strikes me compared to other bikes I've had, turn the pedal and whoosh!
It's light, it climbs well, the ride is smooth (a slight road buzz at the front but I run 23mm tyres and that may well be negated by a wider tyre).
I've just got back from 80+ miles in the Scottish Borders and I honestly don;t think I have ever enjoyed riding a bike more than I did today.
You are in for a treat:-)
Thanks for the thoughts there Houxty. Really pleased to hear that you are lovng the 3100 Di2. It's great to hear such good feedback and especially when you've taken it to some extreme places for some big rides.
Have you had any issues ? In my many weeks of trawling the Internet (whilst waiting for the bike) I have found a few small gripes including buzzing at the front end over rough surfaces, pinch punctures caused by badly fitted rim tape and badly sealed R23 hubs.
Once you go Di2 (other electronic shifting is available) you can't go back.
I tried it on a Genesis Volare a week ago, it was Dura Ace so I'd expect it to be amazing, and it is! Is Ultegra is only 75% as good it'll be great.
My next road bike WILL have Di2. (I wish I could afford Campag EPS).
I got the same bike about 3 weeks ago and have done a couple of decent rides over Northumberland and Cumbria's hills as well as a real test of comfort and endurance - a 243 miler in Finnish Lapland.
All I can say is buy one. It's light, it's flighty, it's fast, it's beautiful, it is an absolute joy to ride. The Di2 shifters are seemless, the disc brakes allow me to stop in the wet on steep downhills (a novelty) and the Ultegra groupset is everything I'd hoped it would be.
Buying a bike online is a bit like an arranged marriage and you don't quite know what you're going to get. Suffice to say that the bike might be disappointed but I'm certainly not:-)
I took it out for a 100km ride this morning, it would have been a bit further but I didn't get up in time
Couple of comments first:
1) I didn't go mental with the speed or distance, I had loads of knee problems last year due to my knee tracking - so I'm extremely conscious of my bike fit - this is a new bike with replacement cleats.
2) I'm not sure my backside and the Fizik Arione are going to have a deep and meaningful relationship - after 40 miles or so I found my sit bones were really suffering. I spent a fair amount of time out of the saddle for the home leg to alleviate the bruising sensation.
I managed to take around 5 minutes out of my time for that loop anyway (I ride it all the time), and achieved a few PRs for the earlier hills at least.
There's no point in talking about Ultegra Di2 overmuch, suffice to say I'm impressed and it's much better than the Tiagra on my other bike - which it ought to be at 5 times the price!
I really like the brakes, I was 1-2 finger braking the whole way around - it made iffy descents such as Crooknorth (poor surface, narrow-ish, very fast/steep and two blind off-camber corners) a much more controlled affair. I managed to lock up the rear once (wrong side of the road passing a horse when a big SUV came flying around the corner) but that's practice and user-error. Overall I'm really impressed with the Shimano Hydraulic discs.
About the frame itself (again, remember I'm comparing this to a Cube Agree GTC 2013 - which was reviewed as being a fair "lifeless" frame):
- It's stiff, I'm not a big rider (relatively svelte ~63kg), but I couldn't get any flex or noise when out of the saddle and putting the power down. I know Ultegra is the stiffest chainset that Shimano make so that will obviously help.
- It's a lively ride, much more so that my other bike. I found the front end a little twitchy at first before I go used to it - but I certainly had no problem getting the bike to go where I wanted and carving up corners/descending.
- It's nice and quiet. The only noises I could eek out of it where over horrendous road surfaces where the chain chattered a bit, and from my thighs rubbing on the front of the saddle (yet another issue with the Arione!)
- Not that I particularly suffer on the comfort front anyway on my other bike, but this was a nice smooth comfortable ride (and I specced 23mm tyres on the Rose, have 25mm on the Cube - both Conti GP4000II). I felt fine getting off the bike after 100km.
- Nice and light, which clearly helped me ascending today.
I'm going to give everything a once-over with a torque wrench tomorrow to make sure nothings come loose (on my new MTB a few years ago I had my front derailleur come loose and slip around the frame about 3 weeks after I got it), but that's just new bike paranoia.
Overall I'm pretty happy. I just need to keep on top of the saddle thing and keep an eye on the Di2 battery cable.
Good to see a review of a Rose bike. I bought one last year and there was not much info on this site or most British sites, even after asking for feedback.
I was surprised how long it took and their emails were not clear. It came eventually and I'm really pleased with mine (Pro SL with a number of upgrades). It's comfortable and a joy to ride. I also went for the DT-Swiss R23s and they are loud but I expected that. Interesting information from @Markopic about corrosion. I'll keep an eye on that.
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