I love tech. I love the confidence and predictability that disc brakes bring when pushing it in the wet. I love electronic shifting that is just a click of a switch when I'm gasping for air uphill and ruined from a long day in the saddle.
But, there's a But.......
Here in the UK, we live in a maritime climate. It statistically rains 135-165 days a year here. This means that to enjoy cycling on demand, UK cycling is significant from the blue skies and dry roads that we see on Instagram. Our Facebook friends tend not to post photos of their cycling in the grey 'mizzle' days. So our bikes need to be weather resilient and capable of being reasonably maintained regularly and at short notice.
And there's more, finding your perfect fit is a journey where the destination often is never reached. Personally, I've had maybe six fits, delivered by some of the industry's best known fitters. Not one of them has sent me away with a position that I won't subsequently micro adjust. Often this can because a replacement component no longer is available.
So bikes need to be serviceable and adjustable.
This is why bikes with integrated cockpits and brake hoses that run through the upper headset bearing are not for everyone. If your window of fit is tiny, you have a well developed position and you have the mechanical skills to bleed brakes, re-route hoses through handlebars they're fine. But be prepared to either invest significant time or money in these machines. A few really wet rides can easily result in a £250 bill to fit a £20 part at your local bike shop. At 35 Km/h, the average speed a capable amateur trains at, a bike with fully hidden cables and hoses will save, at best, about four watts. To train at that speed that same rider is probably producing around 275w. It's nothing, not worth the heartache.
Secondly, fit. Virtually every single day, people ride pst my home on bikes that cost nearer £10k than £5k. I spot that their fits aren't right. Sat too far back, too much reach. If they came to me, I could sort them out. But the reality is that just altering where the bars sit fore-aft by 10mm could be a £900 job. Easily. Is the bike shop that offers a free fit with the purchase of a new bike going to get it bang on, first time?
You'll see in the gallery that I run a titanium Reilly as a 'demo' bike. This machine is featured and available to see, to showcase a curated bike that has every component chosen with fit, serviceability forefront in my mind. A headset service is literally a five minute job for an organised home mechanic with the most basic skills.....that's no exaggeration. The contact points of bars, saddle and their relationship with the pedals can be altered within a window of fit easily and at reasonable price. The drivetrain has power curve matched gear ratios achieved by a bespoke mix of compatible components and its wheels are, again UK road and climate suitable.
I have a relationship with the good people at Reilly and am happy to help you go this path should you choose.