Can a Tour-Winning Bike Make an Average Cyclist Faster?

LAST TIME I racked my 18-year-old entry-level carbon road bike at a triathlon, it looked like it should have streamers hanging off the handlebars. Against the thousands of dollars in speed machines of my competitors, my rig had a serious bike inferiority complex.

It became clear that its not very aero design, relatively heavy frame, thin tires, external cables could use an upgrade, and I was looking to give my whole cycling game one, too. But which bike to buy? I didn’t want to spend tons of time looking at head angle, stack height, reach, components and all those other head-spinning details. I also was afraid of making a thousands-of-dollars mistake on buying the wrong bike. Bike sellers and accomplished riders love to tell you that the right bike for you is the one you’ll ride. But what the heck was that?

I Had My Eye on a Stage-Winning Bike

I LOOKED AROUND at who was passing me in the park. I looked online. I developed a huge crush on the sleek, sexy, fast-looking Canyon Aeroroad CFR. It didn’t escape me that Jasper Philipsen had won more than a few stages of the Tour de France on it, or that at least nine athletes chose to ride it in the Olympics. And it’s by Canyon, which, to the bane of bike shops everywhere in the US, is direct to consumer. That means that by cutting out the middleman, you get more bike for your money. (The downside: Your local bike shop—the one you’re gonna need to fix your bike when stuff goes off—is having a really hard time staying afloat to begin with these days, and DTC isn’t helping). The more I thought about it, the more I pictured myself on that Aeroroad, ready to compete—albeit as the age grouper I am.

There Was a “But”

WHEN I DESCRIBED the bike I wanted to fitters, accomplished cyclists, and retailers I explored other bikes with, they scoffed. “That’s for a 20-year-old crit rider,” they’d say. “It’s too aggressive for you.”

One fitter who measured me told me, “the problem is not the bike, it’s you,” he said. “You need to learn to ride the bike you have.” I foolishly tried that for months, hating every ride. I wanted to quit cycling altogether.

I Tried It, Anyway

EITHER UNDETERRED, COMPLETELY stubborn, completely enamored, or just totally over my old bike, I tried the Aeroroad CFR (note: they just came out with a brand new version that I haven’t tested). The first time I took it on my usual morning loops in the park, I wondered if they’d accidentally sent me an ebike. I popped up the hills, speeded across the flats, took off from stops. It felt like cheating. Its stiffness makes for an easy transfer of power from me to the road, and good feedback from the road to me. I hoisted it up the stairs when I got home to my apartment except at barely a touch over 18 pounds, no hoisting needed to be done. The new one is even lighter (and has a host of other tweaks to make it faster).

I started to like riding again. It started to show. I might not be a 20-year-old crit rider, but I took it to a sprint triathlon and got on the podium. (The run was also better, since I was spending less energy on the bike.) It’s not the exact one Philipsen used—it’s at the lower end of the range and has different components and wheels, which means it’s great for someone who doesn’t have a TDF salary or sponsors.

I Learned Some Things

The experience of trying a Tour de France bike taught me a lot that might help you, too:

Buy a bike you can test.

Some bike shops let you test bikes on the road. Others just let you spin around on the trainer for a few minutes, which doesn’t necessarily predict how your body will respond over 50, 70, or 100+ miles. (Canyon lets you test bikes for 30 days and return them if they’re not right for you.)

The bike you think you want might not be your long-term jam.

(See: “buy a bike you can test,” above). I loved the stiffness of the Aeroroad—it responds really well to the power that you put out. But when you ride a stiff bike, it’s on the rider to stay loose and absorb the road’s bumps and grooves. For me at this point in my life, that costs a little extra effort.

So Canyon offered to have me test their Endurace CF SLX. I was worried that its relaxed geometry, designed for “all-day comfort,” according to the company, would make me slower. And nobody’s riding it on the Tour (for mountain stages, Canyon riders tend to use the Ultimate). When I got on it for the first time, I couldn’t believe how smooth it was; cruising…up, down, on the flats…was a beautiful thing. Being less stiff, it does some of the absorption of the road that I had to do on the Aeroroad. I did a head-to-head speed test on my morning loops. Results: Exactly the same as the Aeroroad, likely because this bike and I work together a little better. And to be honest, the relaxed geometry is probably better for my wonky back on distance rides.

Don’t reject tech.

Retro-grouches will complain about disc brakes and electronic shifting all day long. I’m a superfan of old-school bikes, too. And I didn’t want to have to worry about keeping my shifters charged up. Yet the Endurace came loaded and I learned that electronic shifting is genius when it comes to keeping the joint pain in my hands away.

Don’t put more faith in the naysayers than you put in yourself.

Those people who say “you’ll hate it” might be right. They might be half right. They might not be right at all. There are people who want to sell you bikes who make it sound much more complicated than it needs to be. You want a bike, not a headache. Find the shops and people who will work with you and talk in words that make sense to you, not talk in bike parts. They’re out there.

Speed has many ingredients.

For most age groupers, there’s a lot more to speed than your bike. Nutrition, training, bike fit, wheels, handling skills, and many other factors all go into the equation.

So do you need a Tour-winning bike? The ones I tested aren’t the only fast and smooth bikes out there. A bike that’s right for you and takes advantage of at least some newer tech (better aerodynamics, smoother shifting, smoother riding) might make a difference—but it depends on what your old bike was, of course. And bike fitter guy was a little bit right. Buying the stuff won’t make you a better cyclist on its own. You do have to learn to ride the bike you have. But it’s far, far better when you like the bike you have, too.