Road bike fit and buying online/direct

If it gets you riding again that's a great reason to splash the cash.

If you get the right frame size the rest is adjustable.
Could you have a word with your local trusted bike fitter just to confirm they agree the size you think is right actually will be?

Cost saving on the bike could also fund a professional fitting, I found my position was pretty good but was significantly improved with a load of small tweaks.
The only equipment recommended from my fitting were different shoe inserts and a new saddle (resolving saddle discomfort was the primary driver for me and the biggest win).

I've been riding a C3 for years and love it. Old version of the Caledonia. But Canyons seem like great bikes and everyone I know who's had one has been happy with it. It's a lot of bike for the $$.

It sounds like you're on the right track. But we're not going to tell you not to buy a bike. 😃

I think you should buy a Cervelo because they're great bikes and you can't go wrong with the C series. 🙂

But you know exactly where your fit needs to be. If you can't find geometry numbers for the bikes you currently have to compare against you can measure the relevant stuff to compare against. Or get pre fit.

https://www.canyon.com/en-us/customer-service/returns.html

Looks like you get 30 days to decide whether you'll keep it, and they'll pay return shipping if not.

I went in a slightly different direction at the start. Coughed up the cash for a professional bike fit from a guy who makes his living as a fitter first. He fit me on a GURU system to get numbers for a road bike. He then took my existing Cannondale roadie and fit it to those numbers. He also did a fit in my triathlon position, then gave me three or four examples of tri bikes that would easily fit my numbers. When I bought the tri bike I had it shipped directly to him. He also does tune ups and maintenance on my bike, since I'm much less knowledgeable and patient about bike repairs than most who are posting here.

Looking forward to following your bike selection thread to the new purchase. I have several roadie friends in the Canyon and S-Works camps, as well as numerous Cervelo lovers among the triathlon set.

I was agonizing about this in the spring! I have an OK road bike, but as a birthday splurge I was considering buying a much nicer one. The Canyons look really good!

What saved me about $3k was that nothing was available-- and I see that the one I wanted (Endurace CF SL Disc 8.0, Medium size) is still out of stock. I bought a bunch of parts and accessories instead.

Note: there continues to be a global bicycle shortage! Maybe wait until next year? Maybe buy a shorter stem for your existing bike?

The fitting issue also bothered me. Three of my local shops offered fitting, even during quarantine. It came with a discount if you bought a bike from them afterward, but it really wasn't all that significant, and they charged a discounted rate for any part substitutions (with labor), which usually meant either a different seat or stem. The fit gave you a recommended geometry, which you could compare to the Canyon specs and order the one that comes closest, making substitutions as necessary (e.g., to the stem and seat).

Now, the downside of fitting: You spend an hour on the fitting system deciding how you want your bike to feel. The fitter can ask questions about what kind of riding you will do and set you up for it. But, if you request a fit for the fastest time-trial geometry available, they will fit you to a very low aerodynamic position, which you may or may not like after an hour of riding (or even after 15 minutes). In other words, there is a question of preference, which can and will change over time. I now ride an "endurance" geometry, for example, whereas in my 20s I was very happy to ride a criterion bike for hours on end.

NorthCascades wrote: »

I think you should buy a Cervelo because they're great bikes and you can't go wrong with the C series. 🙂

Cervelo Caledonia was the other leading choice for me! Well, maybe next year!

If you want to buy direct, cool. It will save you money. Cervelo vs Canyon? They're both great. I purchased my SpeedMax direct from Canyon. It arrived intact in a large, well engineered packing box. They had a URL to instructions on assembly, but I just jumped in and figured it out. I did look at the comparable Cervelo bike closely, but felt it wasn't as good a deal economically because the wheels were inferior and would have needed to be swapped out. That would have been another $2500.00 or so.

I would like to caution you not to ignore what's much more important than brand: FIT. The harder you ride, the greater an issue fit will become. If you intend to win a race, fit is a top priority. You should see a professional bike fitter to have them figure out what geometry you need while on your bike. Your fitter will have access to which sizes of which bikes can be adjusted to your needs. The fitter will either be able to adjust the bike for you or give you a very specific (down to the millimeter) set of instructions for a bike shop to adjust.

I figure bike fit made a >1 mph difference in my speed through my last triathlon bike split. In addition, a good fit allowed me to avoid pain and fatigue that was holding me back on the run, and that made a huge difference.

jjpptt2 wrote: »

Just for context...

I've been fitted, 3 different times to 2 different bikes. The fit for my tri bike was awful, and there's not much room for error on a tri bike. Both fits to my road bike have been fair.

IMO, It's a crapshoot, largely dependant on the fitter and your ability to feel subtle changes on a trainer/fit machine, and those changes don't always translate well to actual miles on an actual road.

Maybe that's why I'm a bit soured on the real need for a formal fit. Will I take advantage of it if I buy through an LBS? Absolutely. But I'm pretty sure I can feel my way to a fit that's 95% as good as what a pro would give me.

Agree completely that the fitter's knowledge and your ability to communicate with him/her is key. My fitter uses the GURU fit system and we spent over 3 hours working together during my first fitting. After many of the upfront measurements were made, and being observed while I rode my bike on the trainer, he put me on the GURU and we compared the feel of my "requested" optimal fit to different positional options. This was particularly helpful with the tri bike. I thought I wanted a very aggressive position, but when riding at higher power outputs, it just wasn't working. We added height to the aerobars and voila! much better.

He also had me take the bike out and ride for two weeks to see how it performed and whether I liked the fit. I then came back and we tweaked it a bit more. So it was money well spent in my case.