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
00:42turning excessively, you reduce the risk of causing damage to the brake lines and you also stop the
00:47potential of 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
02:02frames end 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 them
02:13as 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, I discussed
02:28the recent upsurge surrounding the incredibly cheap bikes that can be found from big generic retailers.
02:34Now, I'm sure to some, those bikes do serve a purpose, especially for those who don't want to
02:40or can afford to spend any more money on a new bike. However, I'm a strong believer that you should
02:46spend that same amount of money, but on a secondhand bike instead. You'll get something that originally
02:51costed much more, and you'll be giving a bike that already exists a new lease of life. And should you
02:57have any issues, most bike shops will be able to help you out. I believe that these bikes are awful for
03:03the environment. Bikes are supposed to last for many, many years, but the way that these bikes are
03:09constructed, and the components that they're kitted out with, mean that you're essentially buying a
03:14disposable bike, and one which will only last for as long as the rider can bear to deal with its
03:19problems. In my opinion, these bikes should just not exist, and we should all be buying secondhand bikes
03:27when we can, especially if monitoring cost is a large contributing factor to your purchasing decision.
03:38Right on the other end of the spectrum, we are now seeing bikes hit the market that seemingly
03:42cost more than the sum of all their parts. In my opinion, this is a pretty big problem. I think it
03:50also shows that the sharp increases in prices are far outpacing the rest of the price increases that
03:56we're seeing in other areas of the industry. And there are a couple of pretty high-profile examples
04:01of this. First is the Cannondale Lab 71 Super 6 Evo. It retails at £12,500 here in the UK,
04:10but I've been able to create an equivalent build for £11,000. Unsurprisingly, there are some caveats
04:18to that price. Yes, that is by utilising the best prices that I could find all over the internet for
04:24all of the components. For example, I found the Dura-Ace groupset for £200 off at one retailer.
04:31Also, I didn't opt to spec the same wheels as the Lab 71 stock build. Instead, I chose some Zip 303S
04:38Firecrest, which some may argue is actually a better wheel set. Also, I wasn't quite sure how much their
04:44Momo handlebars would cost, so I went for an estimate and did a worst-case scenario of £600.
04:50I did also factor in a £300 labour cost to cover the cost of having a mechanic build up the bike
04:56in its entirety. The Specialized S-Works Athos is another example. Here, I'm able to save about £350
05:04over the cost of the stock build. And it's worth highlighting that on this build, I actually
05:09specced some Zip 353 NSWs, which again, some would argue are a much better wheel set than the
05:16Roval Alpinist CLX wheelset that is found on the stock build. Also, I actually added in the Roval
05:22Alpinist integrated cockpit to really take the build to the next level. But if you weren't to
05:28upgrade 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 those products. Pair that with a struggling world economy, and you can have a little understanding.
06:50Plus, if 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 can 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 problems
07:43because if strict manufacturing tolerances aren't adhered to, the components that then get mated to
07:49that 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,
08:26less rectifiable problems, that's when things get serious. The bottom line is when considering the
08:33energy and materials required to produce a bicycle, manufacturers should be ensuring that it does not go
08:40to waste. I love riding on semi-deep carbon wheels for so many reasons. They look good, they're generally
08:51pretty light, they sound cool and of course they help you go everywhere faster. It's rare for a set
08:58of these wheels to actually make the experience of riding your bike any worse. However, these tend to be
09:04wheels that you upgrade to rather than having them on your bike from stock unless you're spending a
09:10pretty serious amount of money. My issue lies in the bikes that come with alloy deep section wheels and
09:16I can understand why the brands want to fit those wheels to stock bikes. I'm sure that the brands would
09:22argue that the profile of the rims do offer a speed advantage over box section rims and I'd be
09:28inclined to agree with them. I'm sure that they also fit them so that the much larger tubes of a
09:34carbon bike don't look quite so unbalanced and odd against the wheel choice and of course by fitting
09:40alloy wheels they can sell the bike looking as they want it but offer it at a more affordable price and
09:47some may see this as a pretty fair exchange. For example, Oro sell the Venturi Evo in a 105
09:54specification with Fulcrum DB800 wheels and it's hard to deny that on the face of it the bike does look
10:02fast but to be honest I would rather opt for a box section rim as it will be lighter and more practical
10:08in the short term before I have the chance to upgrade the wheels to something that I really want.
10:13Plus the extra circa 300 grams that you'd have to carry around just to have something that numbs the
10:19ride and is harder to spin up just isn't a good trade-off. Happily though wheels are easy to change so
10:27the problem'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 very soon.