*]:pointer-events-auto R6Vx5W_threadScrollVars scroll-mb-[calc(var(--scroll-root-safe-area-inset-bottom,0px)+var(--thread-response-height))] scroll-mt-[calc(var(--header-height)+min(200px,max(70px,20svh)))]" dir="auto" data-turn-id= "request-WEB:a74dc3cc-662f-4a79-96ce-7afcca30d1f3-0" data-turn-id-container= "request-WEB:a74dc3cc-662f-4a79-96ce-7afcca30d1f3-0" data-testid= "conversation-turn-2" data-scroll-anchor="false" data-turn= "assistant"> Podcast Summary In this episode of the RCA Podcast, Cam Nicholls sits down with expert bike fitter Neill Stanbury to break down their top three modern race bikes — but from a bike fitting and geometry perspective rather than the usual marketing hype around stiffness and aerodynamics.

Neill explains why geometry, sizing range, and adjustability matter far more for recreational and amateur cyclists than marginal aerodynamic gains. The conversation dives into why some bikes suit a wider variety of riders, how aggressive race geometries can limit comfort and performance, and why finding the right fit can completely transform your riding experience.

The episode highlights three standout bikes:

The Pinarello Dogma for its exceptional sizing range and geometry options. The Cannondale SuperSix EVO for balancing race-bike performance with a less aggressive fit. The Polygon Helios for riders needing an ultra-aggressive, long-and-low racing position. The discussion finishes with a broader conversation about how the "best" bike is often the one that actually fits your body correctly — not necessarily the most expensive or aerodynamic option.

Key Points 1. Bike Geometry Matters More Than Marginal Aero Gains Neill argues that for most recreational cyclists, bike fit and geometry are far more important than tiny aerodynamic or stiffness differences between modern superbikes.

2. Modern Race Bikes Are All Extremely Good According to Neill, there are very few genuinely "bad" bikes at the top end of the market anymore. Most performance differences come down to rider fit and comfort rather than frame technology alone.

3. Pinarello Dogma Excels in Sizing Options The Dogma stood out because of its massive sizing range, with 11 frame sizes that allow extremely precise fitting for riders of vastly different body proportions.

4. More Sizes = Better Fit, But Higher Cost Neill explains that producing more frame molds dramatically increases manufacturing costs, which partly explains premium bike pricing.

5. Cannondale SuperSix EVO Balanced Comfort and Performance The previous-generation SuperSix EVO was praised for having a taller front end and less aggressive geometry, making it ideal for middle-aged riders wanting race-bike performance without extreme flexibility demands.

6. Modern Bikes Are Becoming More Aggressive Again Neill notes that the latest SuperSix geometry has become more aggressive, which may reduce its suitability for everyday amateur riders.

7. Polygon Helios Is Built for Aggressive Racers The Polygon Helios was highlighted for its extremely long-and-low geometry, making it ideal for younger, flexible, performance-focused racers.

8. The "Best Bike" Depends on Your Body The episode reinforces that choosing a bike based on your body proportions, flexibility, and riding goals is far more important than chasing pro-level marketing claims.

9. Comfort Can Improve Performance Cam shares how finally finding the right geometry significantly improved his comfort and long-duration power output after years of riding unsuitable setups.

10. Bike Fit Education Matters The episode concludes by promoting RCA's Bike Fit Fundamentals program, designed to help cyclists better understand what bike geometries suit them best.

Bike Fit Fundamtenals: https://roadcyclingacademy.com/bike-fit-fundamentals/ 

 

Transcript: 

Cam Nicholls (00:01.804)

Welcome to the RCA podcast designed for recreational and amateur road cyclists with a focus on performance. We dive into cycling training, nutrition, strength training for cyclists and even bike fitting tips all designed to help you train smarter, ride faster and hopefully tear your mates legs off. So without further ado, let's dive into today's episode.

Welcome back to the RCA podcast, which is also on YouTube. So please excuse any visual references. Today I'm joined by expert bike fitter, Neil Stanbury. Neil's going to give us his top three favourite race bikes, but we're not talking about how stiff it is and how fast it goes. We're talking about...

Neill Stanbury (00:45.581)

Geometry and adjustability. Or d-d-d-d-d So these are the things that really matter to me. Because when you're talking about the level that you and I would be potentially racing at, or most people watching this podcast, the tiny 1%, you know, two watts here at 50 kilometers an hour, that kind of stuff, the aerodynamics of the Frank... It just doesn't matter.

Cam Nicholls (00:46.926)

adjustability.

Cam Nicholls (01:03.786)

important very very important

Neill Stanbury (01:07.924)

Okay, all of these bikes, the top end of the road bike of the road bike world is all so good now that it's actually getting hard to sort of delineate much between them in terms of like the speed and the stiffness and the ride quality and all this sort of stuff. They're so good. There's so many that we have to choose from. There's very few real dog bikes out there anymore, I find. Yeah.

Cam Nicholls (01:28.622)

I'll also ask the boys at the Nero show, that's what they're doing every week. There's lots of dog bikes apparently.

Neill Stanbury (01:33.07)

Yeah, well, I mean, they're looking at it. They're looking at the aesthetics of it and that sort of stuff. Honestly, I've had my butt kicked by 65 year old guys on steel framed down tube shifted bikes with the levers on the down tube. I've kicked some guys with a 15, $20,000 Pinarello. The legs are what does, you know, what makes the bike go around. So this is the stuff that they're more interest me, which is the geometry. Let's go with number one. The number one that I love the most dealing with is the Pinarello Dogma.

Cam Nicholls (02:00.206)

Geez, if you've got a spare 30 grand floating around.

Neill Stanbury (02:02.913)

That's the problem.

Cam Nicholls (02:04.92)

You went bad with Pinarello these days Bill, yeah what's going on here? I've never heard you mention this bike and now all of a sudden...

Neill Stanbury (02:10.568)

I've been riding a dogma for about a week now. Yeah, Now why do I love the dogma? Yes, it is expensive. We're not talking about the cost. It is a beautiful race bike from all reports. Yeah, cost aside. This is the stuff that I love about it. So they apparently ride really well. They're very stiff. They handle well. They've got all those good attributes.

Cam Nicholls (02:14.764)

Yeah, you got three in your head.

Cam Nicholls (02:24.216)

we should have prefaced his cost to size.

Neill Stanbury (02:34.11)

like a lot of these bikes that we'll talk about. But what is best about them is the sizing range. They are amazing. So for example, just yesterday by a stroke of good fortune, I had a lovely lady from Northern New South Wales, Karen, if you're watching this, I hope you're enjoying these videos. Karen was very short, you know, not to beat around the bush. She was pretty small. She had been advised to buy a Dogma in the or the 415 size, the smaller size that they have, which was a great decision because it

matched her perfectly. The smaller size Dogma F has a reach dimension of 350mm. Which is like, it's the smallest bike in the world. there's very, it's, if someone out there knows a road bike with 700c wheels that has a shorter reach than 350 whatever, I think it's 351 or 352mm, please let me know. But they are tiny. This bike suited her beautifully. It had an 80mm stem on it. It was perfect.

She had a seat height of about 620 millimetres, so short legs, short arms. These bikes go tiny. They also go really big. And in between those, there are 11 sizes. Eleven! It's fantastic. A lot of modern bike brands, you'll get five sizes, right? There'll be an extra small, a small, a medium, a large, and an extra large. And the reason for that primarily is that you don't have to have as many frame moulds. Keeps the cost down. And there's often big jumps between the sizes or the small one is just

not that small, you know, just doesn't go that small. And so you'll have this really annoying large jumps between them and you can't quite get the geometry perfect for the person and so forth. But with Pinarello, it's fantastic. You'll often see particularly, I think there's there's five one five, a five three zero and a five four zero. And the reach change between these three sizes is about five millimeters or six millimeters, something really, really small. And it's mainly the stack that changes.

So they change because there's 11 sizes of them. They change in really tight increments. So you can spec them perfectly to suit the person. So, you know, if it turns out that the 530 is just a little bit low in the front end, you can jump to the 540 and the reach is only three mil longer. But the front end is 12 mil higher. They're fantastic. They just have so many sizes, so much adjustability.

Cam Nicholls (04:49.71)

Maybe this explains their costs now because this would cost them a lot to produce so many sizes. now maybe they can justify that price point a little bit.

Neill Stanbury (04:57.966)

Well, it's a very carefully thought out geometry chart. It's the most wide ranging geometry chart of any bike pretty much that I know of in the road bike scene. Really, really good because of the number of different frames that you can choose from. They're just fantastic. They are not cheap. And part of the reason is Pinarello name tax, you know, and part of the reason is because for each one of those sizes, you need four, five, 10 frame molds for the production process. And frame molds are not

So whe

Episode ID: 1000767664436

GUID: 1a13c06d-e7e5-45f3-bb6c-5e8194590a24

Release Date: 14/05/2026, 04:49:00