New bike shopping list - cheer me up!

bsharp77

Hi guys,

Following the swift departure of all my bikes from my garage last night thanks to some lovely person, I thought id cheer myself up by at least looking at some replacements when I can afford it!

I loved the Domane 5.2, but want to get something a bit extra special this time - i narrowed it down to:

Domane 6 Series Frameset + Force 22 Groupset
Cervelo R3 Frameset + Force 22 Groupset
Emonda SL8 Red Complete Bike

All 3 are amazing, and as far as I can tell have pretty similar geometries.
Im honestly torn - The Domane served me so well and the 6 series would be an upgrade from what I had, but the Cervelo....well its a Cervelo (and it looks bloody lovely....R5 looks even better, but no way can I stretch to that!) and the Emonda is lighter than the Domane, which would be great as I like challenging hills and still has the ISO speed decoupler and a h2 fit....hmmmmm.....first world problems eh?!!

Listen, I won't be racing, its all about having fun but at the same time riding hard to keep fit, doing around 250km a week all told and having a bike to be proud of, thats responsive and fun and won't kill my back!

After the misery of getting everything nicked, its nice to at least look at all the nice shiny stuff and plan ahead.
Look forward to your recommendations and thoughts!
Also if theres something you think I should add to the list for consideration, please let me know.

Anonymous

Synapse?

dstev55

Have another look at the Emonda, I'm pretty sure it hasn't got the Isospeed Decoupler. The Madone 9 series has but not the Emonda. However, I test rode an SL8 a few months back and I was pleasantly surprised how good the ride was.

bsharp77

Whoops - my bad on the ISO Speed - but what you say agrees with every other review I've read - the Emonda is supposed to be a very smooth ride.

The Cervelo is the only one I have no experience of and would love someone's views that has tried both the R3 and Treks.

Coriordan - thanks for the recommendation on the Synapse, but for some reason I'm just not mad about Cannonades - I don't know why....but this will be my only bike, so I have to love it!

dstev55

The only thing that let the Emonda down were the wheels, you could almost literally feel them holding the bike back so I'd budget another £500 on top of the cost of the bike if I were you if this is the bike you go for.

Phil&hisbikes

I don't know if this works for you ....

I've got the Cervelo R2, which comes as a complete bike with 11spd 105 and Rs010 wheels. It's the same frame as the R3 albeit with a slightly different fork (the mud fork used on r'3's in the classics?) giving you a little more tyre clearance.

It's a great bike, love the ride. I've swapped my wheels & tyres (Vittoria Elusion & Conti GP400s11 25mm) and it rolls great.

The retail price is 2k and the new model comes in black (looks fab) Or last years model, which is white (I've got this) is being sold at J.E.James in store at £1699. They have a couple, so may be worth looking at sizes etc.

You could sell the wheels and 105 and build from there?

964cup

As many on here will know, I'm a Cervelo fanboi (I've had an R3, and currently have an R5VWD, an S5 Team and an R5Ca). With that bias acknowledged, I still think they're in a different league to most other frames. The R3 is a lovely thing. As an aside, if you're not bothered about external cable routing, you may find an R3 "Dark" at a bargain price. These are in fact the 2013 R5 resprayed (to clear stock when Cervelo changed distribution). Worth a look, and if bought new will still have a full warranty.

johnny25

I'd also invest in some decent security when you get your new bike.

http://www.storck-bicycle.cc/road-bikes ... -comp-2016

bsharp77

964Cup wrote:

As many on here will know, I'm a Cervelo fanboi (I've had an R3, and currently have an R5VWD, an S5 Team and an R5Ca). With that bias acknowledged, I still think they're in a different league to most other frames. The R3 is a lovely thing. As an aside, if you're not bothered about external cable routing, you may find an R3 "Dark" at a bargain price. These are in fact the 2013 R5 resprayed (to clear stock when Cervelo changed distribution). Worth a look, and if bought new will still have a full warranty.

Thanks for the info - really love the design of the 2015/16 R3 so think I will hold out for it - looks like the R3 has won me over, but ill take a trip up to Swift Cycles in London to have a look first hand and try the sizes, or maybe out to Sigma Sport, then I can get a look at the Emonda SL8 as well...just to put my mind at rest!!

964Cup - how do the Cervelos size up? Im a 56 on the Domane, I know the R3 is slightly relaxed, but Cervelos tend to have a longer top tube from what i have read - my lower back isn't great, so I'm guessing a 54 might be a better fit? Ill make sure to get properly sized, but its always nice to hear from someone who has had a few Cervelos, so I'm not going in blind so to speak.

964cup

bsharp77 wrote:

964Cup - how do the Cervelos size up? Im a 56 on the Domane, I know the R3 is slightly relaxed, but Cervelos tend to have a longer top tube from what i have read - my lower back isn't great, so I'm guessing a 54 might be a better fit? Ill make sure to get properly sized, but its always nice to hear from someone who has had a few Cervelos, so I'm not going in blind so to speak.

I'd look at reach and stack. The Domane has a stack of 59.1 and a reach of 37.7; the R3's stack is 56.0, the reach 39.4. So the R3 is materially lower in the front end than your Domane (30mm) and also more stretched out. I'd say go with a 56 but consider taking 10mm off your stem length and run some spacers to begin with until you adjust. I think a 54 would be too small - the differences between Cervelo sizes are more pronounced than on some other marques; notably I think a 54 would be too low at the front (it's a 54 stack, so 5cm lower than your Domane).

As ever the obvious advice is to try one out. Note that there's a 56 R3 in the classifieds on here at the moment; might be worth a look.

bsharp77

Popped up to Swift Cycles to try the sizing on the Cervelo this evening...and left with more choices than I came with!!

They didn't have an R3 in a 56, but said they would try me on an S3, as the geometry is exactly the same.

Bike fits like a glove! I had never considered an aero bike as I thought it would kill my back and be rough as hell, but this seems to incorporate the best bits from the R3 and S5 together in one bike. As the geometry is the same and the weight difference is negligible, I can find no good reason for not choosing the S3!

...well, the only sticking point is that its dearer, but I'm only going to have one bike and I want it to be special, so don't mind forking out a little bit more. Id like to get the frameset and build it with force 22 and choose my own wheels, but it doesn't represent good value up against the fully kitted out ultegra bike - I'm not a massive fan of the cosmic wheels, but I guess that could always be an upgrade for the future.

If anyone has any thoughts on the S3 id love to hear them, especially up against the R3. (plus any deals on framesets would be great!)