So two days ago when you said you were “passively” looking for a road bike you were in fact “actively” looking for a road bike.
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I made an IG post saying “yo send frames my way if you see something my size” and a buddy said “hey here’s a free allez frame and fork if you want it.”
So yeah I guess.
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It’s around a 2004? I’m writing a thing about alu bikes from that era, it’s my favorite kind of bike.
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its a top of the line 2003 model. If I am not mistaken it came with Dura Ace back in the day. My strongest bike opinion is aluminum is good, actually. This and my squid cross are great bikes.
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There’s a guy locally I see in the zebra stripe acqua sapone (?) team kit
It’s Obv not real because dude has a mullet and a fu Manchu but that bike and livery is cool
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I love problem patterns.
I think this bike will get a cow print saddle bag to keep it monochrome.
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well then you’re going to like this thing I’m writing. my basic take is that there was a weird little window between steel and carbon, and people simultaneously tried to keep things traditional AND do lots of wacky experimental stuff, sometimes overlapping in the same bike.
I’m not a partisan of any particular frame material, but I do really like the two alu frames FTW has built for me in the last few years. I think the secret is that stiff frames feel good with slightly larger tires.
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Atmo aluminum is a totally underrated frame material (in popular bike culture). It’s cheap, light and durable and if anyone still complains about “harshness” then they need to run a tire a few mm larger and also just shut up.
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Uhh, 1990s can’o’ale MTB would “hold my beer” that one, or the early 2000s giant I had. Both gave me a headache.
There’s brutally stiff and there’s cleverly shaped and designed aluminum frames and they aren’t the same. That said I’m in for a modern alu bike.
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Being a great bike material doesn’t mean every bike made from it is great.
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ppl that say that aluminum is harsh are riding bad tires which they pump up too much.
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I’ve wondered if under-35 year old cyclists are going to discover road bikes. Like at this point you have to be pretty old or a college athlete to have really done much road cycling, right?
I’m just picturing someone born in the mid-90s hopping on a CAAD10 with 25mm tires and a 73.5deg hta and absolutely freaking out.
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We have some local juniors teams that are kinda keeping the dream alive, but seems like gravel is still where I see ppl the most.
tbh, I don’t see myself ever owning another road bike.
like the development team for a larger team, or just young people doing it for themselves?
Gravel is big for sure, and you can see the aging and narrowing of the road bike / road cycling consumer demographic in the bikes that are getting marketed.
some casual cyclists whose bodies predispose them to endurance sports might seek out a modern road bike to do longer, faster rides than what they would do on a gravel bike, but those bikes are also so different from a classic road bike with 23s
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The high schools around here have road and mtb teams, that’s about 99% of the young folks riding road bikes.
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they might, sure, but at this point my sense is that it would take a really big push to want to get into road bikes rather than a sporty allroad/gravel bike, at least in the US.
Of course, the line between an endurance road bike and a sporty gravel bike is kinda blurry at best. But then again young people tend not to buy endurance road bikes, they’re definitely aimed at the 60+ set. Do that grand fondo in style and comfort
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A friend, 31/32, recently had a road wheelset built up for his gravel bike and has declared a “road bike summer.” I’m also under 35 and have 1.5 road bikes, have been riding road bikes for more than a decade.
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you’re an outlier! It happens, but the standard progression I saw 25 years ago of shitty 10 speed to sorta nice road bike to being really weird about ITALIAN ONLY road bikes is definitely not a thing, and there’s no real conveyor belt pulling anyone born after 1988 into road bikes.
Doesn’t help that the industry has targeted rich older men for road bikes, with price tags and aesthetics to match.
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