Happy wife, Happy Life!

ColinUK said:
Carbon can be a real bone shaker, try and test a carbon bike if you can before purchase. If comfort is a priority carbon may not be for you. I am old school, and steel frames have always given the best comfort.
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Who's steel?

There were custom stainless steel bikes at the shop today. I was drooling. I love stainless steel for so many reasons.
 
ColinUK said:
Carbon can be a real bone shaker, try and test a carbon bike if you can before purchase. If comfort is a priority carbon may not be for you. I am old school, and steel frames have always given the best comfort.
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not sure what the last carbon road bike your rode was, but the entire point of the carbon layup design on non-aero non-tt road bikes or gravel bikes is to maximize stiffness between the head tube, bottom bracket, and rear axle, while engineering a LOT of compliance up through the seat tube, fork, and bars.

i've ridden a lot of aluminum bikes (the choice here, very few off the shelf steel or titanium ebikes) and nothing comes remotely close. i have no doubt that a really flexy steel or titanium frame has similar or potentially better damping/compliance, but at a more significant cost in weight and stiffness. there's a reason just about all the winners of virtually ever ultra endurance road or gravel race ride carbon. things have changed since the "steel is real" days!

i haven't ridden the new sirrus, but the entire purpose of the funky seat tube design is to create compliance for the seat without sacrificing stiffness across the bottom.
 
ColinUK said:
Worth looking into, in fact I may get some custom wheels for my Vado!
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I ordered building a custom rear wheel made solely from DT Swiss components for my Vado. The point is I am a heavy rider, Vado is not a lightweight ride, and I often have to carry heavy cargo (like, spare batteries) on my long rides. I do not avoid pretty harsh terrain either. The original 28h Vado wheel had enough after 3 years and some 8,700 miles ridden.

The new wheel based on the DT Swiss H522 32h rim, 2.0 mm DT Swiss spokes, and the latest DT Swiss 350 rear hub was anything but cheap!
 
Stefan Mikes said:
I ordered building a custom rear wheel made solely from DT Swiss components for my Vado. The point is I am a heavy rider, Vado is not a lightweight ride, and I often have to carry heavy cargo (like, spare batteries) on my long rides. I do not avoid pretty harsh terrain either. The original 28h Vado wheel had enough after 3 years and some 8,700 miles ridden.

The new wheel based on the DT Swiss H522 32h rim, 2.0 mm DT Swiss spokes, and the latest DT Swiss 350 rear hub was anything but cheap!
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The 2022 Vado 5.0 comes with 32h, I am going to see how they go but I will probably add a custom wheel set.
 
ColinUK said:
My avatar should give that away! All my old bikes were custom made in Reynold's steel.
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Yep! Hadn’t put it together. The reynolds bike I tried was reynolds 853 (it was a niner). I was testing other things though. I did ride a breezer for that purpose, and I wasn't blown away by ride quality (not reynolds). Better than I expected for no suspension. And when I tried the surly, it wasn't up to the suspension bikes I was also trying ( and that bike had other fit issues ).

A lot of these steel bikes still use carbon forks. I find that interesting. I don't know if it's a marketing thing, or a value thing.

Having never ridden a carbon bike, the thing that interests me about it is how it performs should be down to how it is designed. It is my understanding that you can design an ultra rigid or an ultra plush model by manipulating the carbon fiber. However, getting that information out of objective reviews is really hard. Especially against a bike with known good suspension parameters (large low pressure tires and possibly *some* suspension). If buying a bike with 2.3" tires + suspension still beats carbon, I have already owned that and it doesn't solve my issues entirely.
 
dynamic said:
Yep! Hadn’t put it together. The reynolds bike I tried was reynolds 853 (it was a niner). I was testing other things though. I did ride a breezer for that purpose, and I wasn't blown away by ride quality (not reynolds). Better than I expected for no suspension. And when I tried the surly, it wasn't up to the suspension bikes I was also trying ( and that bike had other fit issues ).

A lot of these steel bikes still use carbon forks. I find that interesting. I don't know if it's a marketing thing, or a value thing.

Having never ridden a carbon bike, the thing that interests me about it is how it performs should be down to how it is designed. It is my understanding that you can design an ultra rigid or an ultra plush model by manipulating the carbon fiber. However, getting that information out of objective reviews is really hard. Especially against a bike with known good suspension parameters (large low pressure tires and possibly *some* suspension). If buying a bike with 2.3" tires + suspension still beats carbon, I have already owned that and it doesn't solve my issues entirely.
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I should have mentioned all my old steel bikes were custom made for me, it is the only way to guarantee a perfect fit and ride. I would love to get a custom electric bike made but there is no one in the UK offering this service, hence I went with the 2022 Vado 5.0.
 
ColinUK said:
I should have mentioned all my old steel bikes were custom made for me, it is the only way to guarantee a perfect fit and ride. I would love to get a custom electric bike made but there is no one in the UK offering this service, hence I went with the 2022 Vado 5.0.
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With steel I get that from a fit perspective. My assumption is you would need to like the way steel rides for your specific bike type and surfaces. With a non-electric bike, I can give up some comfort as I simply won’t be able to get to the rougher roads without a motor. I just don’t know the balance there yet.

The tero x 6 continues to be my first choice in chain e-bikes.

Interestingly, I do have an option for custom e-bike, but they are generally bosch based. And the pricing is crazy.
 
dynamic said:
With steel I get that from a fit perspective. My assumption is you would need to like the way steel rides for your specific bike type and surfaces. With a non-electric bike, I can give up some comfort as I simply won’t be able to get to the rougher roads without a motor. I just don’t know the balance there yet.

The tero x 6 continues to be my first choice in chain e-bikes.

Interestingly, I do have an option for custom e-bike, but they are generally bosch based. And the pricing is crazy.
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The Tero X 6.0 looks great, for me I did not want the whole rear suspension MTB vibe so went a different route.

Are you sure you want to buy Specialized again? I have a feeling your current LBS may decline your custom going forward.
 
ColinUK said:
The Tero X 6.0 looks great, for me I did not want the whole rear suspension MTB vibe so went a different route.

Are you sure you want to buy Specialized again? I have a feeling your current LBS may decline your custom going forward.
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I am not sure. But, I am also not sure they have a choice unless specialized itself declines me as a customer. I have learned things about the specialized contract with LBS (generally) and it is pretty aggressively in favor of Specialized corporate especially on the topic of D2C orders and as compared to other bike manufacturers (can call out Trek specifically as that is what other dealers in the area tend to carry).

I, of course, will not force the issue. That solves nothing for me besides waste my time. But refusing a customer with documented warranty claims on 2 out of 3 delivered bikes (with the 3rd potentially on the fringe of a warranty claim) is a recipe for PR issues. Refusing me is essentially saying “we are not responsible for delivering a functioning bike”. Or, more specifically "The business case is more important than the customer experience". At this point whether the problem originates with Specialized or the LBS is basically immaterial.

Here is what I think: Specialized itself (meaning corporate, not the LBS) is not used to dealing with customers. Across the board, from their e-commerce experience, warranty support, abbot & costello direct customer communication run around... etc. The only experience I had with them that was positive is when I sent the nicely worded request to consider a refund after 6-8 weeks of problems on the first bike. I got zero argument, just the we do our best... blah blah blah..., but we will make a one time exception. And then he explicitly asked me to stay within the 30 day window for any future bike purchases. Which I have now done. I ordered the bikes an april 12th and received my refund on may 20th. I gave them their full 30 days to make my wife's bike work correctly, it never did.

I am complying in every way that I have been asked by policy or communication and yet, still, a problem can not be fixed. I think the specialized internal functioning is so driven by strict processes, that they take the "humanity" out of customer relationships. This is a problem with any company where the balance of pre-existing rigid structure (often to protect the business) and freedom to do the right thing are at odds with each other.

Anyway, that's my two cents. The difference with specialized and other times I have seen situations like this: I actually find the product to be the best there is. Usually, this kind of problem filters down into the product experience in other ways. Here, this bike is hands down the best thing I have experienced. And so, the tero X is still sitting at the top of the list for chain bikes.
 
dynamic said:
Who's steel?

There were custom stainless steel bikes at the shop today. I was drooling. I love stainless steel for so many reasons.
Click to expand...
I have a custom stainless steel bike. Looks terrific with contrasting areas of matte and shiny steel with logo and tubing alternating that affect. Rides like a solid steel girder. No flex, no absorption. I got it as a replacement for a regular wonderful riding custom "regular" steel tubing bike that I managed to rust through with my toxic sweat.

My next custom was titanium which rode well but I then needed motor support.
 
Stefan Mikes said:
Nay, Dynamic. Go with Trek to get the hard lesson 😊
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You just entered a kobayashi maru scenario. Which is it? The LBS or the brand at fault for me? If it's truly the LBS, wouldn't I be better off with a trek and a superb LBS than a specialized and a bad one? If it's the brand/model, am I better off at this LBS or with trek and an at this time, unknown LBS experience?

So, which is it? Is this a brand problem or an LBS problem. Hmmmm?

Do I stay with this LBS or not?
 
ColinUK said:
I would love to get a custom electric bike made but there is no one in the UK offering this service
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Sven Cycles in Weymouth, Dorset will make a custom Reynolds 631 steel frame with a Shimano mid-drive. Some examples shown on their Facebook page.

Other UK e-bike builders that offer more customization than importers include:
Transportation bikes - Rodford in Bristol
eMTB - Orange in Halifax
Trikes - ICE in Falmouth

Of the importers, Islabikes in Ludlow, Shropshire, reportedly offers bike fitting for their excellent lightweight e-bikes, and their Imagine Project was an attempt (currently put on hold) to collaborate with Reynolds and other local companies to assemble children's bikes.
 
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dynamic said:
You just entered a kobayashi maru scenario. Which is it? The LBS or the brand at fault for me? If it's truly the LBS, wouldn't I be better off with a trek and a superb LBS than a specialized and a bad one? If it's the brand/model, am I better off at this LBS or with trek and an at this time, unknown LBS experience?

So, which is it? Is this a brand problem or an LBS problem. Hmmmm?

Do I stay with this LBS or not?
Click to expand...
I said "learn the hard lesson" :)

"There's an old Polish proverb that says
An uncle has swapped his axe for a stick"
/Inspector Banacek/
:)
 
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