Disc Bikes

Griff500 wrote:

Many thanks to those who have responded so far. The Rose certainly seems very well specc'ed, and seems to be very well liked by owners. What about this alleged soft rear / stiff front a couple of reviewers have commented on?

It's not something I've found myself.  As I said elsewhere, I don't get to ride 100's of bikes to have a frame of reference, my only other bike is a carbon Cube (Agree GTC), the Rose is notably stiffer, faster and more comfortable than the Cube.

I'm a little wary of some of the descriptions given to various bikes handling characteristics - it's (mostly) highly subjective - other than perhaps stiffness which can be measured.

The front end on the Rose is lively and steers well, allowing great control of the bike - it's no more jarring than my Cube which is all I can compare it against.  

I would say the rear end is more compliant in terms of soaking up bumps than my Cube, my strava times are generally quicker on the Rose than the Cube as well which would suggest that it's not worse than the Cube in terms of power transfer or the like.

For me you have a couple of options, trial a bike from your LBS and know exactly what you will get.  Or buy online  from Rose, get more for your money but not have that chance to try it first.

I'm firmly of the opinion for us folks with 1-2 bikes who don't get to ride something new every other week; that you will be happy with whatever bike you have as long as it's the right size pretty much.

namesarehard wrote:

but certainly felt a lot less comfortable on some of the more badly surfaced roads of rural Devon!

As one who also lives and rides in rural Devon, I can fully empathise with this!

I have a Ridley CX bike with two wheels sets - one H Plus Son Archetype on 105 Hubs with a lot of spokes in and 32/35mm CX tyres on for commuting and a bit of offroad fun and then a set of Cosmic Carbone Sl's with 23mm slicks for the club runs and it's like riding a different bike. Can't recommend a set up like that more.

It manages to cover all bases, from ideal commuter to perfectly capable fast road bike (I can hold 20mph+ averages over 60 miles with the fast boys on it and don't feel like the bike is letting me down at all (just my legs!).

And it means you don't have two bikes to maintain!

Morat wrote:

Don't discount a cyclocross bike. They're as quick as a road bike for all practical purposes and normally come with disk brakes now that UCI have made disks legal for racing CX. They also have more clearance for bigger tyres and you can go a revisit some of your old MTB haunts if you keep the wheels on the ground

 

There are loads out there, Planet X do the lovely Ti Pickenflix, Kona have the Jake the Snake in carbon, and there are loads of others.

This was what I ended up with, as I was looking for a road bike in 2014 and insisted on having disc brakes.

I got a Giant TCX SLR 2. It's the bottom-spec model of the range, and the only TCX with QRs front and back. Frame is triple-butted aluminum, with carbon fiber in the seatpost and fork blades, although steerer tube remains aluminum. Build kit is primarily Shimano 105 5700, with a Tiagra 12-30 cassette and an FSA Omega 46/36 chainset, and paired with TRP Spyre cable-pull disc brakes. Giant's old XC MTB wheels and 35 mm mud tires finish the bike off.

So far it's been an excellent choice. I've since swapped in a 50/34 chainset and 28 mm slicks and it's been my do-everything bike, from light touring to commuting to light trail duty and a 210 km audax. The Spyres are great anchors, too, and very easy to live with in terms of maintenance and tuning.

Newer models of the TCX SLR 2 have 11-speed 105 5800 installed and a better FSA crank.