Hi All,
I currently own a BMC Teammachine that I’ve kitted out and love riding it. However I’m looking to buy something a bit more relaxed and fit for general riding, especially in the late fall and winter as the roads get worse. What are some recommendations? I’ve looked into the Scott Addict, Cervelo Caledonia, and others. I also have an older ultegra di2 groupset sitting around that I can potentially put onto a frame. I keep going back and forth and would love some of your opinions!
You might want to give this thread a more descriptive title.
I personally love keeping a steel bike around for “b” rides, but also just to mix things up. I love my Otso Warakin, but if I were shopping for something premium today, I’d be looking hard at a Wilde Earthship.
I can personally recommend the Caledonia 5. I’ve had mine since April 2021 and definitely appreciate the capability to put fenders on for winter riding here in NW Oregon. It is my only bike, so it works double duty as a faster summer bike with the stock Reserve wheels and then a slower bike with a set of DT Swiss aluminum gravel wheels. I’ve also taken it on a handful of mixed-surface rides and it does okay up to 1/2” gravel on that summer set-up.
There have been some good frameset deals on the Caledonia. Maybe even an old Aspero would be fine as well.
I would throw the new BMC Roadmachine into the mix. It has tire clearance for up to 40 mm, which allows you to put narrow-ish gravel tires or even 40 mm wide Vittoria Corsa Control Pros in it.
I haven’t test ridden the 2024 model, but last time I sat on a Roadmachine, it had an aggressive endurance road bike geometry. The way I read your post and given the other bikes you are considering, that might be a very good choice.
If you want more tire clearance, have a look at 3T’s Exploro Racemax, it has aero features, comes in 1x and 2x configurations and seems like a very flexible platform to do anything with.