Trek 3.5 vs 4.5 Madone

mmmm...marmite

Have narrowed down my bike purchase to one of two Trek Madones.
I'm considering either the 3.5 or the 4.5 2013 models.
Interested to hear thoughts, opinions and/or unbalanced rants regarding which would be the better purchase.
Thanks
b

Calpol

Better for what?
What sort of riding do you do?
Give us a bit more to go on.

grony

I recently had the same quandary, couldn't decide so I bought the Madone 5.2. Sorry, probably no help at all.

ShutUpLegs

Probably no help at all but there are much better bikes for the money

stepdavi

I have a 2012 mad one 3.5 had it 4 months racked up 1200 miles and its a excellent ride. Don't quite understand why people have a downer on treks? I got mine for £1200 from royles and for a "big name" car bone with mostly ultegra you can't beat it. Only thing I plan on changing is wheels after winter. Not sure how much of improvement 4.5 will be but both would be a fine bike. You'll get people with £200 carreras or appolos telling you how poo trek are but all I can say is ride one.

xtc_special

What group set is on both bikes? Take a look at that first, i don't think there will be much between the frames so it might be worth going for the 3.5 and using the extra cash to upgrade the wheels.

I had a 2011 4.5 and fitted a set of Pro-lite Bracciano's to it, made a good bike great.

maddog 2

I heard that the 4.5 has a better frame, as the 3.5 was designed to run a better spec, to attract customers at a competitive price point, and so runs a 'cheaper' frame. Whether you could tell the difference between the two frames is another thing.

3.5 certainly has a better spec (Ultegra/105 mix vs 105). Wheels, as always, are the weak point at this price and would benefit from an upgrade.

mmmm...marmite

Thanks for the feedback.

Calpol - will be using the bike for general training and sportives.

ShutUpLegs - be interested to hear what you think are "much better bikes for the money" given that bikeradar ranked the 2012 3.5 as a bike of the year contender.

stepdavi - thanks for the info, sounds like you're enjoying the 3.5

XTC SPECIAL - group sets for the 3.5 and 4.5 can be seen here:
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/trek/madone-35-c-h2-2013-road-bike-ec040347#features
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/trek/madone-45-c-h2-2013-road-bike-ec040348#features
The frames look a bit different. Thanks for the info on upgrading the wheels on your 4.5, sounds like a good thing to do.

maddog 2 - looks like the spec of the components is slightly better on the 3.5 (ultegra/105 vs ultegra/105/r565) as you mentioned. Also seems like there is a consensus to upgrade the wheels.

giant_man

mmmm...marmite wrote:

Thanks for the feedback.

Calpol - will be using the bike for general training and sportives.

ShutUpLegs - be interested to hear what you think are "much better bikes for the money" given that bikeradar ranked the 2012 3.5 as a bike of the year contender.

stepdavi - thanks for the info, sounds like you're enjoying the 3.5

XTC SPECIAL - group sets for the 3.5 and 4.5 can be seen here:
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/trek/madone-35-c-h2-2013-road-bike-ec040347#features
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/trek/madone-45-c-h2-2013-road-bike-ec040348#features
The frames look a bit different. Thanks for the info on upgrading the wheels on your 4.5, sounds like a good thing to do.

maddog 2 - looks like the spec of the components is slightly better on the 3.5 (ultegra/105 vs ultegra/105/r565) as you mentioned. Also seems like there is a consensus to upgrade the wheels.

But have you actually tried one or are you just blind buying and going by online reviews?

mmmm...marmite

giant man - have ridden the 3.5 but not the 4.5

stepdavi

Another thing , treks can't be that bad, lance Armstrong won 7 tdf's on them. Oh hang on...

xtc_special

stepdavi wrote:

Another thing , treks can't be that bad, lance Armstrong won 7 tdf's on them. Oh hang on...

You could say the Trek got him round France 7 times