bookieb wrote:
> Big Jon wrote:
> > Hi,
> >
> > I know it is a good bike, any bike should be at this price - but I have
> > the option of selling my current carbon Dolan road bike and buying a
> > Trek 5.5 Madone for £2150 (retail £2600).
> >
> > I am interested in peoples opinion on this compared to other bikes @
> > the £2Kish mark.
> >
> > I am looking for a road bike with Dura Ace groupset and carbon frame -
> > not competition use, just leisure and some commuting - but carrying 15
> > stone I need whatever advantages a good bike can give me!!
>
> The Madone is marketed as a flat-out racing machine.
> One thing you don't mention wanting to do on it is to go racing.
>
> I'd look towards the Trek Pilot models (I think someone else mentioned
> them), the Cannondale Synapse models, Giant SCR Composite range, and I
> think Specialized ave somthing similar. This are a little less full-on
> race bikes, though still more than adaquate for club racing, time
> trials etc. They're designed (or at least, marketed) as being a better
> bike for comfort, particularly over long distances.
>
> If you are commuting regularly on it, you'd need to be thinking about
> some luggage capacity - the Madone and all of the other bikes mentioned
> above will struggle to take much more than a saddle bag and/or bar bag.
> Fitting any mudguards other than Race Blades will also be a problem.
> Luggage/mudguards may not bother you at all, or at least not any more
> than they do with the Dolan - just some things to think about.
>
> Stg£2k gets you into "whatever the hell you want" territory - I'd be
> looking at getting a custom build as well, though the conventional
> wisdom is that buying a complete bike is better value than a custom
> build, if you can get what you want.
>
> Finally, although Dura Ace is nice to have, it's not functionally much
> better than Ultegra (or arguably than the newer 10s 105) - though it is
> genrally thought to be a little more hardwearing (particularly the STI
> units), and some items are lighter. Pretty high bling points though...
>
> YMMV,
>
> bookieb
Thanks, some very good points.
Luggage, mudguards etc. are not important. My commute is a couple of
times a week to work (only 40 mile round trip) and I leave my change
of clothes etc. at the office.
I haven't looked at the Pilot bikes, I will go and check them out.
Comfort is an interesting one, I guess I have got used to out and out
race bikes from the Dolan, but there again I rarely do over 50 miles in
one go (don't know if that is considered a long stint or not).
You are probably right about the Ultegra/DuraAce point, I said exactly
the same when speccing the Dolan - but when you can get a bike half
price and the bike already has £450 off it's list price it all seems
very tempting to 'bling it up' especially if I plan to keep it for 3
years plus.
Thanks for all your suggestions.
