My carbon roadie suffered a critical failure last week, breaking at the chainstay near the BB. Warranty claim is in but has been denied - I was offered a replacement frame for $800 plus mechanics cost to swap the running gear.
So now I am looking at the changes to bikes generally, and wondering if I should take this as an opportunity to radically update my bikes.
Right now I have a broke rim brake, Ultegra 6800 equipped roadie, and a disc brake/QR, 105-5700 equipped Alu CX bike.
My riding consists primarily of a 20km commute from Bundoora to Melbourne CBD, with some semi-frequent group rides.
I have previously raced CX and would look to do that again.
I have some bikepacking gear and want to get out on more trips.
I am interested in getting out on some Audax rides, both tarmac and mixed terrain.
I am thinking that I could look at going for through axles and disc brakes across the board, and going for a carbon roadie, an “all road/adventure/etc” bike (something that would be able to take 45mm+ tyres, but would also be good for fire trails etc) and, potentially, a dedicated carbon CX race bike.
I freely admit that I am a victim of marketing, but if it gets me out riding, I’m not going to complain.
So, current thoughts:
Bike 1 - Carbon roadie
Lightweight or aero, not sure.
Room for 28mm tyres at least.
Bike 2 - CX race machine
Carbon, possibly 1x?
Aggressive geo
Bike 3 - All rounder/monstercross/bikepacking
Flared bars
Fork bosses for cages
Possibly cage mount under the downtube
Room for 45mm+ tyres, maybe 50mm?
Does this seem reasonable, or should I cull something in there? Maybe compromise on the road and CX bikes given that I am unlikely to be a top-tier racer, and go for something that will fill both roles? (Yes, I am a chronic over-thinker/procrastinator, how can you tell?)