Why Race Bikes Aren't Real Road Bikes
That title comes from Matt Phillips of Bicycling Magazine. He wrote an article about the downsides of modern aero road racing bikes and why they don't live up to the marketing promises. Bicycling Magazine: Why Race Bikes Aren't Real Road Bikes.
Phillips has tested thousands of bikes over his decades long career. He knows something about what makes a good bike. Here are a few of his insights from the article.
The Best Road Bikes Are Not Race Bikes
Phillips makes a useful distinction between race bikes and road bikes. Race bikes are temperamental, fragile, are tiring to control, and aren't faster in the real world.
"Calling race bikes road bikes, is a disservice. It pushes riders toward the wrong equipment. [...] Race bikes are for racing. Road bikes are for riding."
All The Reasons
Phillips parses the issues into what Seven sees as four categories: speed, handling, comfort, and fragility.
Speed Or Appearances
"[A non-aero bike may be] slower on flat, perfectly smooth roads, [but] the moment bumps, debris, or cracks enter the picture, [the non-aero bike] starts making up that disadvantage. Quickly."
"Gaining a bit of efficiency on the smoothest roads [...] isn't worth the tradeoffs."
Confident Control Or Stress
"On a race bike, you're constantly dodging bumps, holes, cracks, and patches of sand. Riding in a group on race bikes is stressful, with constant callouts and last-second juking."
"Steering a bike [in the modern racing] position can be challenging."
Comfort Or Exhaustion
"[A race] position can be challenging [for] absorbing unseen bumps."
"28-millimeter tires aren't suited to long stretches of [poorly] paved roads in the modern world. 32-millimeter tires are barely adequate anymore."
This quote refers to how harsh riding and unforgiving faux-aero carbon bikes are. And that the only way to take the teeth chattering edge off is to increase tire size.
Durable Or Temperamental
"Race bikes are high-strung and delicate. Riding them demands constant attention and vigilance. "
"All of that makes a lot of sense when you have a mechanic, a spare bike, and a team car. It makes a lot less sense when you're paying the bill and turning the wrenches yourself."
Where Rubber Meets Road
Figure 1 illustrates the how the most popular carbon bikes have gotten an average of 17% harsher in the vertical plane over the past decade. The latest generation of aero-shaped road bikes is even stiffer vertically. A harsher ride makes the bike more difficult to control.
For extensive information about how carbon bike performance has declined over the past decade, read Seven's article "Carbon Frames Deliver on Few of Their Promises".
Footnotes