italian versus american bikes



mareblu said:
I don't know, We have Trek bikes and we also purchased a Fabio Casati Sphera Mono Box, and it is much lighter and a lot more smoother......
By the way, I had the luck of visiting the Casati factory in Monza (Italy) this year, and it is a family oriented business. I liked them. They only make about 1200 bikes a year. ;)

Just curious about your view on Casati - I have a colleague who asked me about them and I have seen their websites but I know of no-one who has actually cycled one.

You would obviously recommend them ?
 
I have a good hunch why the Italian bike feels livelier.

The "Dale"Caad3 is an insanely stiff frame. Your lightweigth bike has a lot lower stiffness and thus flexes more when your ride. This can feel better, esp. in curves, though some would say stiffness aces weigth. It depends a bit on your weigth and riding style.

When I went from steel to oversized Alu I was feeling clearly that my rear triangle was extremely stiff. I felt like I was trying to force an ironing-board through the corner, compared to the smooth (flexy) feel of the steel. I got used to it quickly and don't think twice about it now.

- Amusing thought/anecdote about stiffness and comfort. Last week I was doing a criterium on Pave and I had way to much pressure in my tires (+OS Alu frame, Aspide saddle=harsh). The first two rounds I felt like I was holding a highpressure drill. After that I was so into the race and having a heartrate close to my max that I didn't feel a thing. It proved to me that comfort holds little value when going max during a race:)
 
I'd take a hand built Italian bike over an assembly line built Trek any day!;)[/QUOTE]

I just purchased a Trek 5500 about a month ago, and once having adpated to the different feel of c/fibre am loving it, i can honestly say that i prefer it to the Bianchi i had a few years ago, but don't think that would be fair to compare two different composite types.

Don't particularly care where it's made as long as it works. :D
 
We loved the Casati over the 2 Treks we have. I have to admit though that I'm Italian and I prefer the Casati over the Trek's. It fits better, it rides much lighter and it has a real cool look. (Plus, I bought the matching shorts, jersey, socks and tape, heheheh)

I guess it is a matter of taste. :)

By the way, the Casati people told me that some importer in the US has bought about 200 of their new models. I don't know who they are. Try a bike store in Arizona, I think I saw them adverstising the new Casati models.

Happy riding! and don't drink and ride! ;)

CIAO RAGAZZI!
 
gotendurance said:
I'd take a hand built Italian bike over an assembly line built Trek any day!;)

What if you could have the best of both worlds? Check out what this reviewer did, the one that is 6'2", 220 lbs. He rebuilt a Trek 5900 superlight by removing the Dura Ace components and rebuilding it with Campy Record. Total weight at 62 cm is only 15.7 lbs (7.14 kg). He claims the campy components are 600 g lighter than the dura ace.

http://www.roadbikereview.com/PRD_290754_5668crx.aspx#reviews
 
gntlmn said:
What if you could have the best of both worlds? Check out what this reviewer did, the one that is 6'2", 220 lbs. He rebuilt a Trek 5900 superlight by removing the Dura Ace components and rebuilding it with Campy Record. Total weight at 62 cm is only 15.7 lbs (7.14 kg). He claims the campy components are 600 g lighter than the dura ace.

http://www.roadbikereview.com/PRD_290754_5668crx.aspx#reviews

Now that's more like it. I obtained a new old stock carbon Trek Y-Foil frameset a couple of years ago, in the pimp-daddy metallic gold, put on a combination of Chorus and Record components, and it rides like a dream.
 

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