My Madone2.1/Domane2.0/Genesis Equilibrium20 test rides
Steve236
Posts: 212
After months and months of internet trawling for reviews and forum opinions I finally got to ride some potential new road bikes to replace my 20 year old Raleigh hard tail mountain bike. I’m trying a few different styles as I have no experience of modern road bikes at all so I thought I’d record the process here as it’s the kind of info that I’ve found useful from others. My test rides were a circuit of Regents Park so weren’t as long they probably should have been and very flat but I only had a couple of hours.
Equilibrium was first – this one is in there as I was intent on a steel bike for quite a while but realised my budget probably isn’t going to cover high end steel (i.e. Reynolds 725 on the Genesis). I still wanted to try one maybe for future reference (or just because I could) and you never know, if it was the ride of my life.... I’d describe it as very easy to get on with, very stable and well behaved; a bit slower to get up to speed (compared with the other two) but certainly moves once it’s there. The reports of less than satisfactory braking power I’d read were on the money (again compared to the other two). If it was important to have commuter-capabilities with mudguard fittings etc I’d be tempted but this will be a bike for riding fast at the weekend, maybe in a group and maybe for 50+ miles at a time. Next was the Domane. Weight felt similar despite the steel/Alu difference, in fact the Genesis was probably the lighter of the two – I haven’t checked exactly how close the weights of these are. Despite this I think the Domane was a bit nippier for acceleration and was a very nice ride. The smooth back end was noticeable, even compared to the steel despite the latter’s reported quality – no doubt due to the iso seat tube thingamy. Relatively the front end was noticeably less smooth but still seemed nice (at least over this short distance). One kind of revelation (although I’d read as much) was that there wasn’t much in terms of operation between the Genesis’s 105 and the Domane’s Tiagra. The 105 was possibly a bit smoother and the Tiagra missed one or two more shifts first time. Having said that, the 105 on the Madone didn’t operate as well as the Tiagra so obviously a lot to do with setup. So one lesson from today is that I probably won’t pay more for a 105 model of a given bike over a Tiagra one. The Domane comes with a triple though which (for me at least) is overkill. I didn’t go up any hills but I’m 99% sure I wouldn’t need the Granny ring (well maybe if I was riding up the Angliru!). So last, the Madone, which I only tested as the guy in the shop was very excited about it and said I should really try that one too. As it turns out it was probably my favourite of the three. It wasn’t as smooth as either of the other two (particularly noticeable over the little cobbled sections near the entrance to Regents Park) but not far off the Genesis and, at least based on this ride, I wouldn’t not buy it because of that. It was still very nice compared to what I’m used to and that’s good enough for me. It was easily the liveliest ride of the three, quick acceleration and ripped along nicely (seemed lightest which no doubt helped). One of the main things I want to get out of this process is a feel for different geometries. I finished the ride thinking I felt a bit more stretched out on the Madone although it seems that this and the Genesis have almost the same horizontal top tube length and the latter has a shorter head tube. So can only assume its down to stem length or that I was expecting the Madone to be racier (i.e. placebo). If the choice was just between these three I think I’d be more inclined to go for the Madone and try a shorter, angled stem if I couldn’t get used to it as it is. I certainly wasn’t uncomfortable so I think I probably would get used to it.
Next to try will be the Cube Peloton Pro and the Felt F85 so I’ll report back on those in due course.
Equilibrium was first – this one is in there as I was intent on a steel bike for quite a while but realised my budget probably isn’t going to cover high end steel (i.e. Reynolds 725 on the Genesis). I still wanted to try one maybe for future reference (or just because I could) and you never know, if it was the ride of my life.... I’d describe it as very easy to get on with, very stable and well behaved; a bit slower to get up to speed (compared with the other two) but certainly moves once it’s there. The reports of less than satisfactory braking power I’d read were on the money (again compared to the other two). If it was important to have commuter-capabilities with mudguard fittings etc I’d be tempted but this will be a bike for riding fast at the weekend, maybe in a group and maybe for 50+ miles at a time. Next was the Domane. Weight felt similar despite the steel/Alu difference, in fact the Genesis was probably the lighter of the two – I haven’t checked exactly how close the weights of these are. Despite this I think the Domane was a bit nippier for acceleration and was a very nice ride. The smooth back end was noticeable, even compared to the steel despite the latter’s reported quality – no doubt due to the iso seat tube thingamy. Relatively the front end was noticeably less smooth but still seemed nice (at least over this short distance). One kind of revelation (although I’d read as much) was that there wasn’t much in terms of operation between the Genesis’s 105 and the Domane’s Tiagra. The 105 was possibly a bit smoother and the Tiagra missed one or two more shifts first time. Having said that, the 105 on the Madone didn’t operate as well as the Tiagra so obviously a lot to do with setup. So one lesson from today is that I probably won’t pay more for a 105 model of a given bike over a Tiagra one. The Domane comes with a triple though which (for me at least) is overkill. I didn’t go up any hills but I’m 99% sure I wouldn’t need the Granny ring (well maybe if I was riding up the Angliru!). So last, the Madone, which I only tested as the guy in the shop was very excited about it and said I should really try that one too. As it turns out it was probably my favourite of the three. It wasn’t as smooth as either of the other two (particularly noticeable over the little cobbled sections near the entrance to Regents Park) but not far off the Genesis and, at least based on this ride, I wouldn’t not buy it because of that. It was still very nice compared to what I’m used to and that’s good enough for me. It was easily the liveliest ride of the three, quick acceleration and ripped along nicely (seemed lightest which no doubt helped). One of the main things I want to get out of this process is a feel for different geometries. I finished the ride thinking I felt a bit more stretched out on the Madone although it seems that this and the Genesis have almost the same horizontal top tube length and the latter has a shorter head tube. So can only assume its down to stem length or that I was expecting the Madone to be racier (i.e. placebo). If the choice was just between these three I think I’d be more inclined to go for the Madone and try a shorter, angled stem if I couldn’t get used to it as it is. I certainly wasn’t uncomfortable so I think I probably would get used to it.
Next to try will be the Cube Peloton Pro and the Felt F85 so I’ll report back on those in due course.
0
