- 23 hours ago
There are hundreds of road bike manufacturers out there, and this results in road bikes which miss the mark for a multitude of reasons. All of these reasons end up with the consumer being left with a product which doesn't deliver the correct amount of value or just has inherent problems with the quality of the build. Sam Gupta takes a closer look at some road bikes which just should not exist. What do you think about his choices? Can you think of any other bikes which shouldn't exist?
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00:00In a world where there are hundreds of road bike manufacturers, there will of course be some road
00:04bikes that may not meet the needs of the consumer. From odd spec decisions to bizarre views on
00:10pricing, I've pulled together a bunch of bikes that I wish just didn't exist.
00:19The same generation of bikes that enjoy integrated cable routing, disc brakes,
00:24and fancy carbon shapes seem to have a few occupants that also play host to steering stops.
00:30If you're unaware, steering stops are a mechanical feature often found within the head tube of a bike
00:35which stop the bars turning after a certain point. The theory is that by stopping the bars from turning
00:42excessively, you reduce the risk of causing damage to the brake lines and you also stop the potential
00:48of the handlebars to swing into the top tube. However, there is a reason why steering stops
00:53have been included on this list. And that's because I have seen multiple cases where the
00:59handlebars have been turned with such force that the steering stops have then ripped into the frame
01:05itself, essentially killing it. Now, this rarely happens through normal riding, but instead it can
01:12happen when the wind catches the front wheel, when the bike is lent up and stationary, or when you're
01:17putting the bike in the back of a car and then the fork catches something, or perhaps an overzealous
01:22mechanic may yank on the bar slightly too hard and cause some accidental damage.
01:27Happily, some bikes that did adopt steering stops are already starting to ditch them. For example,
01:33the fourth generation of the Cannondale Super 6 lost them after they were debuted on the third
01:38generation of the bike. Also, as integrated cockpits evolve and cable routing methods improve,
01:44the positioning of those hoses can be threaded in ways that mean that oversteering won't damage the
01:50hoses. My view on this is quite simple. Steering stops should just be a flash in the pan of road
01:57bike tech trends and hopefully in the next few years will eventually disappear. Too many bike frames
02:02end up having to be warrantied after innocuous accidents. I'm sure that when manufacturers start
02:08to realise how much money the steering stops are going to be costing them, they'll be as fast to remove
02:13them as they were to install. Certainly, one innovation to forget.
02:22We recently made a video about the biggest false economies in cycling and in that video,
02:27I discussed the recent upsurge surrounding the incredibly cheap bikes that can be found from big
02:33generic retailers. Now, I'm sure to some, those bikes do serve a purpose, especially for those who
02:39don't want to or can afford to spend any more money on a new bike. However, I'm a strong believer
02:45that
02:46you should spend that same amount of money, but on a secondhand bike instead. You'll get something
02:51that originally costed much more and you'll be giving a bike that already exists a new lease of
02:56life. And should you have any issues, most bike shops will be able to help you out. I believe that
03:02these bikes are awful for the environment. Bikes are supposed to last for many, many years. But the way
03:08that these bikes are constructed and the components that they're kitted out with mean that you're
03:13essentially buying a disposable bike and one which will only last for as long as the rider can bear
03:19to deal with its problems. In my opinion, these bikes should just not exist. And we should all be
03:25buying secondhand bikes when we can, especially if monitoring cost is a large contributing factor to
03:32your purchasing decision. Right on the other end of the spectrum, we are now seeing bikes hit the
03:41market that seemingly cost more than the sum of all their parts. In my opinion, this is a pretty big
03:48problem. I think it also shows that the shop increases in prices are far outpacing the rest of
03:55the price increases that we're seeing in other areas of the industry. And there are a couple of
04:00pretty high profile examples of this. First is the Cannondale Lab 71 Super 6 Evo. It retails at £12,500
04:08here in the UK. But I've been able to create an equivalent build for £11,000. Unsurprisingly,
04:17there are some caveats to that price. Yes, that is by utilising the best prices that I could find
04:23all over the internet for all of the components. For example, I found the Dura-Ace groupset for £200
04:28off at one retailer. Also, I didn't opt to spec the same wheels as the Lab 71 stock build. Instead,
04:36I chose some Zip 303S Firecrest, which some may argue is actually a better wheel set. Also,
04:43I wasn't quite sure how much their Momo handlebars would cost. So, I went for an estimate and did a
04:48worst-case scenario of £600. I did also factor in a £300 labour cost to cover the cost of having
04:55a
04:55mechanic build up the bike in its entirety. The Specialized S-Works Athos is another example.
05:01Here, I'm able to save about £350 over the cost of the stock build. And it's worth highlighting that
05:08on this build, I actually specced some Zip 353 NSWs, which again, some would argue are a much better
05:15wheelset than the Roval Alpinist CLX wheelset that is found on the stock build. Also, I actually added
05:22in the Roval Alpinist integrated cockpit to really take the build to the next level. But if you weren't
05:28to upgrade the components and you were to mimic that stock build, you'd actually be closer to saving
05:33£1,400. In the case of the Lab 71 Super 6, at full retail pricing of all the components,
05:40the build came in at £11,700. And that's still cheaper than the £12,500 asking price of the stock
05:48bike. So, we really have to wonder, what are we getting for our money at this level? In the lower
05:54echelons, it is more like business as usual, where the bike manufacturers are able to pull on their
06:00economies of scale and create bikes, which we wouldn't be able to go out and create for less
06:05money. Perhaps even the bike manufacturers are struggling to buy things for the right price.
06:10We have no evidence to support this, but it would be one explanation as to the obscure situation that
06:17some top-end bikes have found themselves in. While I'm sure that there will be plenty of comments
06:21surrounding the fact that brands are just charging silly money for the sake of it, and you may well be
06:27right, I wouldn't be surprised if they need to sell at those levels just to maintain the margins that
06:32those products need to achieve to make them commercially viable. You cannot forget and disregard
06:37the impact that COVID, Brexit here in the UK, and shipping issues will have had on the cost of some
06:43of
06:43those products. Pair that with a struggling world economy and you can have a little understanding. Plus,
06:50if there are customers out there who want to buy those bikes, who are we to stop them?
06:54While I understand that there could be reasons outside of the control of the bike brands, meaning they
06:59have to charge such high prices, I don't think I'll be a customer for a bike that I know I
07:04can build up
07:05for less money and also enjoy the ability to spec some of my own parts.
07:14As I'm sure a lot of you know, not all bikes are created equally. Some are created by artisan
07:19frame builders who can spend weeks creating a bike which has been handcrafted to perfection.
07:25On the other end of the scale, we have bikes which maybe haven't quite seen that same level of care
07:31and attention. Much like my issue with bikes that are too cheap, bikes which are created without the
07:37appropriate amount of due care should not be hitting the market. They will always have inherent
07:43problems because if strict manufacturing tolerances aren't adhered to, the components that then get
07:48mated to that frame will never operate as they should. Happily, frame facing, which is the process of
07:55removing excess material from a frame to ensure that a flat surface is achieved, is something that
08:01can be done by most mechanics. Frame facing is something that's actually really important to do
08:06anyway because it ensures that when bottom brackets, headsets, brake calipers and the like are bolted to
08:12a frame, they are mated to a perfectly flush surface. Also, the process of re-tapping threads is
08:19something which can be done after a frame has been built if needed. But if the bikes have deeper, less
08:26rectifiable problems, that's when things get serious. The bottom line is when considering the energy and
08:33materials required to produce a bicycle, manufacturers should be ensuring that it does not go to waste.
08:44I love riding on semi-deep carbon wheels for so many reasons. They look good, they're generally pretty light,
08:52they sound cool and of course they help you go everywhere faster. It's rare for a set of these wheels
08:59to
08:59actually make the experience of riding your bike any worse. However, these tend to be wheels that you upgrade
09:05too, rather than having them on your bike from stock, unless you're spending a pretty serious
09:11amount of money. My issue lies in the bikes that come with alloy deep section wheels and I can
09:16understand why the brands want to fit those wheels to stock bikes. I'm sure that the brands would argue
09:22that the profile of the rims do offer a speed advantage over box section rims and I'd be inclined to
09:29agree with them. I'm sure that they also fit them so that the much larger tubes of a carbon bike
09:34don't look quite so unbalanced and odd against the wheel choice. And of course, by fitting alloy wheels,
09:42they can sell the bike looking as they want it, but offer it at a more affordable price. And some
09:47may
09:47see this as a pretty fair exchange. For example, Oro sell the Venturi Evo in a 105 specification with
09:55Fulcrum DB800 wheels. And it's hard to deny that on the face of it, the bike does look fast. But
10:03to be
10:03honest, I would rather opt for a box section rim as it will be lighter and more practical in the
10:09short
10:09term before I have the chance to upgrade the wheels to something that I really want. Plus, the extra
10:14circa 300 grams that you'd have to carry around just to have something that numbs the ride and is
10:20harder to spin up just isn't a good trade-off. Happily though, wheels are easy to change, so the
10:27problem's never terminal. Let me know down below what bikes or trends do you wish didn't exist?
10:34I've no doubt it's going to get pretty feisty down in the comments section. If you enjoyed the video,
10:39then please do drop it a like, subscribe to the channel for more content, and I will see you again
10:43very soon.
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