The last road bike you'll ever buy ..

[db95]

An interesting topic. As I have got older so has my choice in cycles. What was once a predominantly aluminium collection has become all steel with the exception of my 2014 Bianchi Intenso. That was a drunken purchase off Wiggle which has grown on me.
5 steel track bikes, the Bianchi and 3 steel road bikes...I imagine it isn't a matter of what I'd buy rather which I would cull.
There are still dream bikes, a GIOS Torino, Bianchi Specialissima all top dollar stuff but I have learnt that there are some great bikes out there which can be acquired for next to nothing. I wonder why anyone would ever buy a new bike.

In a similar mindset; had my 2013 Bianchi wrote off and without going into massive detail a new for old replacement is approx 3.4k which either the group representing me can supply a new bike or I can accept the 3.4k later alongside personal injury. At first I was excited at the thought of a modern Bianchi, Ultegra di2, disc brakes etc then I look at maintenance of hydraulics or even needing to do a bleed for something as simple as a stem change etc. Was in the shop looking at bikes of that value recently, Giant TCR's, Defy's etc - all nice bits of kit but nothing I thought was really exciting. I'm leaning towards something semi modern ie Ultegra di2 rim group, carbon wheelset from Elite/lightbicycle/etc that seem to be popular and building up something like an older Supersix evo, SL5, maybe even a CAAD10 or similar. Semi internal routing and preferably external BB would be ideal, plenty time for research still. Obviously we don't hold the same preferences for bike construction but I think everyone agrees pulling a bike out of the box will never be the same type of enjoyment as building it piece by piece.

 

[zerogravitas]

The bikes you mention are all in real a sweet spot for almost all the good things modern bikes have to offer without headset cable routing nonsense, press fit BBs everywhere etc. You just miss out on disc brakes and the option to fit wider tyres for more comfort.

Here is my much upgraded Cervelo Soloist Carbon from 2008. Very aero frame that more than holds its own in all the fast club riding I do. I built these wheels a year or so ago with Lightbicycle rims on DT Swiss 240 hubs and highly reccomend Lightbicycle for the quality of their carbon product.

I have thought on and off about getting a newer S5 or similar, but with this... the BB is BSA, the cables run semi internally but are easy to maintain, 10 speed Red just works beautifully, so its hard to justify! The only thing I would like from whatever comes next in the 'modern' end of my stable is to be able to run 28-30mm tyres.

 

[Ecurie Peril]

The bikes you mention are all in real a sweet spot for almost all the good things modern bikes have to offer without headset cable routing nonsense, press fit BBs everywhere etc. You just miss out on disc brakes and the option to fit wider tyres for more comfort.

Here is my much upgraded Cervelo Soloist Carbon from 2008. Very aero frame that more than holds its own in all the fast club riding I do. I built these wheels a year or so ago with Lightbicycle rims on DT Swiss 240 hubs and highly reccomend Lightbicycle for the quality of their carbon product.

I have thought on and off about getting a newer S5 or similar, but with this... the BB is BSA, the cables run semi internally but are easy to maintain, 10 speed Red just works beautifully, so its hard to justify! The only thing I would like from whatever comes next in the 'modern' end of my stable is to be able to run 28-30mm tyres.

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That is almost perfect from a modern perspective. Fast, light, efficient without the spectre of a modern maintenance headache for hydraulics and electronics. It also looks like it is flying when it is standing still!