Road Cycling

Soldato
Joined
23 Nov 2004
Posts
10,646
I don't really like it. Looks really high at the front almost like a £1000 Cannondale synapse.

Bikes are silly at the moment and with the demand outstripping supply for the near future it'll probabaly stay that way.

Shortages of shimano parts has meant microshift gears on low end mountain bikes so watch this space for shortages of road parts.

Rockshox or fox are 250 days to supply forks to OEMs so that might hold up production for higher end mtbs even if they can make frames.

I can't see why you'd spend more than £3-4k on a bike unless its pocket change. Used to get a Felt F1 frame for £1650 down to £1300 or so. Top end frame you're looking at double that and then some for boutique brands.
 
Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
4,617
£10000 bikes exist almost entirely to make £4000 bikes seem like a reasonable expenditure

£1500 or so is as much as most people will ever *need* (want is a very different matter ;) )

the aethos is clearly aimed at the highly profitable fat-old-bloke-mincing-round-the-lanes market. Those guys have got 10k. Skinny 20 year old racing snakes dont.
 
Last edited:
Soldato
Joined
28 Apr 2011
Posts
14,761
Location
Barnet, London
Had my first 'crash' this morning. A few of us out, the guy at the front realised he was about to miss a turn, so slammed the brakes on and started to turn across to the left. I was quite close behind, slammed the breaks on and thankfully got most of the speed off, so I think after bumping with him, I essentially just then fell over. Still got a sore and scuffed elbow and slightly sore hip, but no other bike or clothing damage. It wasn't a great ride all together really. Clearly my legs now need a break after 180 miles this week. After about 20 of todays 50 miles I could feel they weren't feeling good. Then a puncture with about 18 miles to go. An actual 'something stuck in my tyre' puncture. :(
 
Soldato
Joined
22 May 2003
Posts
10,855
Location
Wigan
Idiot. No sudden movements in bunch rides! We had a coming together at the start of the year on one when someone went left, the other went right, and then both switched their directions back into each other! Daft mistake that should never have happened.

Best case you end up all running into the back of each other and need a new mech each!
 
Soldato
Joined
19 Jun 2004
Posts
19,437
Location
On the Amiga500
First day out with leg and arm warmers today. Bit of a game changer really as I've never had them before and the versatility of being able to change my layers so much is brilliant. Why have I never done this before!
 
Associate
Joined
7 Jul 2015
Posts
1,225
Location
Portslade area
its been a long time since I got in a tiff with someone on the road while riding amazingly some of the stories in here are pretty bad

does anyone have a recommendation for a good bike lock by the way? mine got stolen along with my bike ha ha
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
4,617
Get anything with a sold secure rating that matches your insurer's requirements. Locks are there to stop chancers, a professional will have your bike if they want it.
 
Soldato
Joined
25 Feb 2004
Posts
18,138
Location
Hampshire
Need a new BB for my Canyon.

  • SRAM Pressfit GXP is on their currently, anything worth upgrading to considering the punishment it gets from CX or just replace with the same again and put up with swapping it once a year.
 
Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
8,420
Location
Hereford
Specialised Aethos. Ahahahahahaha

The price is outrageous and I can’t see how they are trying to tell people that aero is now nothing after years of it being almost everything.

The sweet spot is obviously the Tarmac/Emonda level of frame at the moment.

I can’t wrap my head around bikes costing over ten thousand pounds and there being the market of people to buy them!
I feel the same, I mean I know it's all marketing, especially the pricing - crazy high price hikes which the shortage of bikes this year has only really made worse. I can't believe that Joe Bloggs getting into cycling the last few years can sink 10k on a bike. I couldn't justify it. I could barely justify spending that amount on changing the car! :rolleyes:

Just glad my cost of living is significantly lower, but then it does kinda put things into perspective about where these premium bikes are 'aimed' at. Just annoying the pricing of the other stuff generally goes up too. Shame those of us on lower incomes, don't get lower bike prices! ;)

But I do think you missed the point of 'it' a little. They clearly state - it's not a WT frame, it's not made to be a race bike, it's not UCI approved, or even aimed to be. It's not aimed at being aero, it's a complete frame from the ground up aimed at being a lightweight disc 'road' bike, rather than an evolution of what they've been doing all along with all their existing models.

The fact the geometry is almost the same as the Tarmac and the fame has come out looking like an early Tarmac is very obvious, as they're probably doing similar research/similar technology/similar designers/etc. At least before they started tweaking the Tarmac design to be more aero/faster the last couple of generations (at obvious compromises to comfort/stiffness/lightness/whatever else the Aethos is 'better' at).

I can't see why you'd spend more than £3-4k on a bike unless its pocket change. Used to get a Felt F1 frame for £1650 down to £1300 or so. Top end frame you're looking at double that and then some for boutique brands.
Agreed. When you compare the prices between some frames, from even the same brands, it's crazy.

Just the Giant TCR as it's an easy one - Giant TCR Advanced SL Disc £2449 vs Giant TCR Advanced Pro Disc £1449. By all accounts less than 150-250g difference between the two and the only real world difference being the ISP.

the aethos is clearly aimed at the highly profitable fat-old-bloke-mincing-round-the-lanes market. Those guys have got 10k. Skinny 20 year old racing snakes dont.
Totally, but then couldn't it also be consider the 'pinnacle' of what Specialized can do when not constrained to the ties/rules of the UCI?

Really interested to see if such a light frame has a lower maximum weight. Might put all the fat blokes off! ;)

Had my first 'crash' this morning
Rubbish day, but glad nothing more damaged other than your ego a little! We all get them!

First day out with leg and arm warmers today. Bit of a game changer really as I've never had them before and the versatility of being able to change my layers so much is brilliant. Why have I never done this before!
WTF. I've been in arm warmers and knee warmers for months! Through most of the late summer and the last couple of weeks switched to long sleeves. Last week even to softshells and thermals but I am a commuter.

does anyone have a recommendation for a good bike lock by the way? mine got stolen along with my bike ha ha
State what you're protecting, where you're doing it and how much you're willing to pay for a good lock... Although as most will say depending on where you live spend at least the same, if not more, on insurance per year. Great name ;)
 
Soldato
Joined
25 Nov 2009
Posts
5,278
I needed a new headset for my Allez Sprint. Turns out Specialized made a proprietary headset bearing for these that's available for £60... Ouch!
So I bought one, knocked mine out, and offered up the new. The new bottom bearing was bigger than the one I knocked out. I rang the concept store in Nottingham, they said there's different sized bearings depending on the size of frame! Geez... Anyway, long and short of it, they had one in stock but he said they aren't available to order from Specialized any more, so look after it!
So if anyone has any tips for keeping the h/s clean and dry in bad weather LMK. I was hoping the ass saver front mudguard would fit but unfortunately not.

Also, switched out the P Zeros. Hated them from the start, despite how awesome they look IMO. Came from Vittoria Corsa Gs and found both wet and dry grip far superior with the latter. Also had 3 punctures in 200 miles and none in the previous 1000 miles with the Vittoria.
Switched to some Schwalbe One Addix's, 1) because they were cheap (£33/pair iirc) and 2) I fancied trying 28c for the cooler/potentially wet rides. So far, way more confidence inspiring in both wet and dry and the braking is night and day over the P zero.

Bought a JRC Hokka saddle roll. Great piece of kit, packs down snug so no jingling or swinging. Got it out to show a mate at the coffee stop only for the BOA dial to fail. Their CS was fantastic, sent me a replacement straight away and basically said a bit of cruddy water can jam the pawls up. Easily remedied with a tiny PZ screwdriver and some lube but still a ball ache when I had to fit everything in my jersey pockets.

Ordered a pair of Scribe 365s for the in-laws bike, 1st ride out and he managed to smash the rim. Claims to have not even noticed hitting anything noteworthy! Only spotted the damage as his tyre went flat :eek: Spoke with Alan at Scribe and he was brilliant, no quibble replacement sent out! We even offered to pay but he stands by his brand.

After a summer of chasing the cat 1s in our 20 or so mile chain gang (here if you're curious) I'm kind of at a loss as to how to catch up with them. My KOMs are only as they're too pro to use Strava... But week in week out I just seemed top get slower and/or pop sooner. They're wise, they know when recover and when to push. I'm an idiot :D
Since that kind riding has died out anyway with the light/weather I've resorted to longer rides again for the first time in a long while, just bought some DHB Roubaix thermal tights to hopefully keep me out riding this winter. Enjoyed racking up 125 miles this weekend in 5-6ºC and sporadic showers!
 
Back
Top Bottom