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68 VELO JUNE 2015 VELONEWS.COM

» ENDURANCE BIKE TEST

ROUGH RIDERSFour new endurance bikes, put to the test on the road and in the lab By Logan VonBokelPhotography by Brad Kaminski

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Endurance bikes were bred on back roads. They’re built for cobblestones, dirt, those roads that barely exceed the width of a bike path. The category was born out of a ne-

cessity for more comfortable bikes, in protest of the increasing brutality of modern carbon, and from a realization that race geometry works for most riders like chalk works with cheese.

Only one of the bikes tested here is approved for racing by the UCI’s current technical standards, which bar disc brakes. The UCI is looking to relax these rules, with two test events in late 2015, looking ahead to a possible formal introduction to the pro peloton by 2017.

But the bikes in this test aren’t really designed for the world’s cycling thoroughbreds. With taller head tubes, wider tire clearances, and disc brakes, these bikes are designed for the rest of us.

While improvements in weight, aerodynamics, and stiff-ness seem to be reaching a plateau, the endurance bike cat-egory is improving in leaps and bounds. The challenge: Find more comfort without ruining the ride. Every brand in this test has succeeded. Despite their comfort-providing features, these bikes are also some of the stiffest we’ve ever tested — far and away the stiffest endurance bikes to come through the VeloLab.

RIDE TESTINGSince we recently fi nished our lightweight race bike test, one might assume that throwing a leg over these endurance bikes would make for a diffi cult adjustment. But endurance bikes have become lighter and more race-ready.

These four bikes cover a wide spectrum of ride charac-teristics. For the road racer, look to the Roubaix SL4, a more aggressive handling bike than the competition in this test. We loved it two years ago, and the latest iteration is a further improvement. The current model blurs the lines intended to constrain this category.

For the budget-minded rider who wants a bike they can upgrade in the future, the Scott Solace is a great machine. It didn’t blow us away with its ride characteristics, but it was no slouch. On rough roads, every bike in this test was impressive.

With three different braking systems in this test, the tactile feel of the hoods created a sticking point for testers. The bulk-ier hoods of the Shimano RS785 (with hydraulic braking and mechanical shifting) found on the Solace and the Roubaix were not as well liked as the slimmer hoods of the rim brake levers on the Merckx, or even the R785 levers (with hydraulic braking and electronic shifting) of the Giant. The extra vol-ume required to house a mechanical shifting mechanism and a hydraulic master cylinder is detrimental to ergonomics for those without big hands.

The Mourenx was a fi ne bike on the road and on rough pavement, though it wasn’t impressively comfortable or exces-sively stiff. One tester noted that it felt plenty stiff, though not sprightly. The Shimano Ultegra 6870 drivetrain and brakes are perfect for the rider wanting every bit of the performance of Dura-Ace, but who balks at the premium price tag that the top-level group brings with it.



LAB TESTINGAll four bikes offered a comfortable ride, and the data reflects that, to the surprise of no one. What does surprise us is that, aside from the Specialized Tarmac and the Guru Photon from last month’s race bike VeloLab test, the Rou-baix and the Defy are the stiffest bikes we’ve ever tested. Not the stiffest endurance bikes, but the stiffest bikes — period. In fact, the new Defy is as torsionally stiff as the WorldTour stalwart Giant TCR.

But stiff, in this case, does not mean uncom-fortable. Where brands add compliance is a topic of much fanfare for marketing departments, but the placement and design of damping technol-ogy is fairly similar across brands. The seatpost of the Roubaix — essentially a leaf spring design — and the D-shaped seat mast of the Defy both deliver ample vibration damping when seated.


TORSIONAL STIFFNESS TOTALS (MEASURED IN MM)

TORSIONAL STIFFNESS RESULTS (MEASURED IN MM)

0GIANTSPECIALIZED

SCOTTMERCKX

4.454.45

5.165.59

TORSIONAL STIFFNESS SCORE (15 POINTS) VIBRATION REMOVAL (15 POINTS) WEIGHT (5 POINTS)0 15 30 35

GIANTSPECIALIZED

SCOTTMERCKX

15 13 515 9 4

13 12 312 15 2

LAB TESTING RESULTS

6

EDDY MERCKX MOURENX69

$5,095 17.4 lbs M (55.4 cm)

73/100TOTAL SCORE

WE DON’T LIKESeatpost is more difficult to work with than the Defy’s seatmast

WE LIKEShimano rim

brakes paired with aluminum rims are

far better than average, making us

question the need for discs

3.56GIANT3.30

3.713.99 .79

SPECIALIZEDMERCKXSCOTT

GIANTSPECIALIZED

MERCKXSCOTT

.66.63

.61

GIANTSPECIALIZED

MERCKXSCOTT

.79.52

.28

.81


GIANTSPECIALIZED

SCOTTMERCKX

7 7 98 7 9

7 6 56 5 8


HANDLING: 10 POINTS ACCELERATION: 10 POINTS COMFORT: 10 POINTS0 30

SPECIALIZED ROUBAIX SL4 PRO DISC RACE

82/100TOTAL SCORE

$6,000 16.9 lbs 56 cm

Worth noting, however, is that one tester found the Defy sluggish while climbing in the saddle, perhaps a result of the flex of the seat mast.

The Merckx finished third in both stiffness and vibration damping, narrowly beating the Scott in the stiffness test.

It’s worth emphasizing that the bike that fin-ished last in stiffness testing, and was the heavi-est, finished atop this VeloLab on points. The Solace 15 Disc finished in fourth in the stiffness test, but finished first in vibration damping. It is also noteworthy that the Solace is the least expen-sive bike in this test by a large margin. A rider who bought the Solace could upgrade its wheels to Zipp’s new thru-axle-friendly carbon clinch-ers, add a lighter seatpost, and still spend less than the retail price of the Roubaix. It’s the most future-proof, too, with Shimano’s flatmount disc mounts and thru-axles.

USER FRIENDLINESSIt seems the 27.2 mm seatpost is an increasingly rare beast nowadays, which is a shame. Thank-fully, the Roubaix and Solace stick with the tried-and-true post size, which provides extra flex, and thus comfort, and plenty of aftermarket options. That’s why both score high marks.

The Roubaix was one of the first disc-brake road bikes on the market, launched two years ago, but does not use thru-axles. That will change in June when a thru-axle version of the Roubaix will be released. It’s worth waiting for the new ver-sion. The added force of disc brakes brings a need for thru-axle technology to be adopted across the board. It provides a quieter, more secure ride.

The Scott’s front and rear thru-axles garner it higher marks in user friendliness.

The Defy scored the lowest in user friendli-ness because of its lack of thru-axles, its use of a seat mast, and its oversized steer tube, which limits stem choice.

The Mourenx uses a square seat tube and post, with a two-bolt seatpost binder system that borrows a page from the Felt aero road bike line. It’s a clever idea given the inherent strengths of carbon fiber, securing the seatpost without put-ting stress on lightweight parts. However, in the case of the Mourenx, too much force was needed to make adjustments to the saddle height. It was also necessary to use an entirely different seat-post to accommodate a rider with a 71 cm seat height since the stock seatpost would not slide far enough into the frame.


WE LIKEMost race-ready bike

WE DON’T LIKEDeep, carbon wheels are stiff and aero, but not very compliant

RIDE QUALITY

WE DON’T LIKELack of carbon

cockpit is surprising for a Specialized at

this price point


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GIANT DEFY ADVANCED SL 0

82/100

TOTAL SCORE

$10,300 15.7 lbs M/L (56 cm)

WE DON’T LIKESeatmast is a pain; downgrade to the seatpost-equipped Defy Advanced Pro and save money

WE DON’T LIKEZipp wheels are a nice touch, but already outdated by thru-axles

GIANTSPECIALIZED

SCOTTMERCKX

14 1216 14

16 1120 15


VALUEThe Solace scored big with its smart spec list and compliant ride. It is a great deal at $3,500. For riders wanting a more sprightly ride, a wheel upgrade would do wonders.

The Roubaix comes equipped with race-ready carbon wheels and sticky, compliant Turbo tires. The rubber was perhaps a bit undersized for a bike like this, but it made the Roubaix feel racy and fast, a sensation testers enjoyed. For those who value the snappy feel of a carbon wheelset, the Roubaix and Defy offer two of the top wheel sets available.

USER FRIENDLINESS: 15 POINTSVALUE: 20 POINTS0 20 35


4.5" 3"

.25" .25"

BIG BUMP (1/4") VIBRATION RESULTS

4.5" 3"

.125 "

.125 "

MEASUREMENT POINT

MEASUREMENT POINT

MEASUREMENT POINTS

OVERALL VIBRATION RESULTS(lower Gs mean less vibration)

GIANTSPECIALIZED

SCOTTMERCKX

1.65

3.021.89

1.42

GIANTSPECIALIZED

SCOTTMERCKX

1.72

2.351.87

1.11

GIANTSPECIALIZED

SCOTTMERCKX

1.57

3.681.90

1.73

SMALL BUMP (1/8") VIBRATION RESULTS

WE LIKEExtremely stiff bottom bracket rivals that of TCR


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THE FINAL TALLY

SCOTT SOLACE 15 DISC$3,500 18.6 lbs L (56 cm)

RIDE TESTING: 30 POINTSLAB TESTING: 35 POINTS

35 65 85 100

VALUE: 20 POINTS USER FRIENDLINESS: 15 POINTS

SCOTT 29 19 20 15 83

MERCKX 28 18 16 11 73

GIANT 33 23 12 8214

SPECIALIZED 28 24 16 14 82


The Scott Solace 15 is a surprise to see in the winner’s circle, for a variety of reasons: it’s on the heavy side, it

isn’t particularly stiff compared to present company, and it wasn’t a bullet on the road. But while it never blew our socks off, it never disappointed, either.

Unlike other bikes in this test, the Scott had no dramatic shortcomings. Even if it did, the price tag more than makes up for them. It was the least stiff without a doubt, but the most compliant by a long shot. It’s comfortable, with am-ple tire clearance and a ride that begs for long days and rough roads.

While it was the least stiff of these four bikes, it is quite stiff compared to other en-durance bikes on the market — including those that we’ve tested in previous years.

Simply put, the Scott doesn’t leave us needing, or wanting, anything more. Could we upgrade the wheels and save a pound in weight and drastically increase its acceleration? Yes, and it would still be the least expensive bike in the test. It’s a hitter of a bike, but in disguise. Thru-axles, a smooth ride, and disc brakes — it’s what we look for in an endurance bike today.

83/100TOTAL SCORE

WE LIKESmoothest ride, thanks to cleverly designed seat stays

UPGRADEWheels, for a stiffer, lighter ride


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