New Bike for Racing
w00dster
Posts: 880
Trying to decide on a new rim brake bike for next season.
Two choices, Trek Emonda ALR 6 or the Emonda SL6 Pro.
https://www.trekbikes.com/gb/en_GB/bike ... 6000-2018/
It will be used only for racing, mixture of crits and road races. I also have two hilly road races in Europe next year.
From a cost perspective I'm drawn to the ALR6 - my thinking is that with the cost savings I can then get a powermeter. I train to power on a watt bike but I've never bothered when racing, not sure if this is something I need or would benefit from, especially the crit racing. The ALR is approx. 1kg heavier, prob some of that will be in the heavier 50mm wheels with the alloy braking track. So the wheels are heavier but may be better for braking and slightly more aero (not relevant for crits but maybe for road races)
I'm not limited to these bikes, but they are a decent spec and with both bikes there is no need to upgrade the wheels - so its a one off cost and no upgrades to do before the season starts. I know they are very similar and probably either bike will be fine and I'm over thinking it. I'm also half looking at a CAAD12 or Supersix Evo - but having read reports, I'd want to swap the wheels out, so probably at least another £800 on top of that to be spent.
Two choices, Trek Emonda ALR 6 or the Emonda SL6 Pro.
https://www.trekbikes.com/gb/en_GB/bike ... 6000-2018/
It will be used only for racing, mixture of crits and road races. I also have two hilly road races in Europe next year.
From a cost perspective I'm drawn to the ALR6 - my thinking is that with the cost savings I can then get a powermeter. I train to power on a watt bike but I've never bothered when racing, not sure if this is something I need or would benefit from, especially the crit racing. The ALR is approx. 1kg heavier, prob some of that will be in the heavier 50mm wheels with the alloy braking track. So the wheels are heavier but may be better for braking and slightly more aero (not relevant for crits but maybe for road races)
I'm not limited to these bikes, but they are a decent spec and with both bikes there is no need to upgrade the wheels - so its a one off cost and no upgrades to do before the season starts. I know they are very similar and probably either bike will be fine and I'm over thinking it. I'm also half looking at a CAAD12 or Supersix Evo - but having read reports, I'd want to swap the wheels out, so probably at least another £800 on top of that to be spent.
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Comments
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My concerns with those 2 bikes are the chain sets. 50/34 is not the best for racing. I find 52/36 is far better and with an 11/28 you never have to think about gearing regardless of parcour. Also the ALR 6 is quite heavy.
I may be biased but I raced an Evo until it developed a problem and spent an extended stay at the distributor. I replaced it with a CAAD 10 Ultegra and raced it all season. As you say wheels were binned and power meter added but with Shimano C24 it was only 400g heavier than the similarly equipped Evo, and seemed to handle better.
There are quite a few CAAD 12 on sale, and if you can find one thats your size I would seriously consider. They are an aggressive geometry so don't go too small.0 -
Recently saw a Tarmac SL4 Sport in the sales for £1099 - can't remember where, sorry.
Alternatively, the Allez Sprint is good value and perfect for your kind of races - will leave plenty more left over for a power meter.
CAAD12s are such good value though, I'd start towards one of those.
If I was in your shoes again I'd prioritise the power meter over wheels, definitely.0 -
Sigma Sportnicklong wrote:Recently saw a Tarmac SL4 Sport in the sales for £1099 - can't remember where, sorry.
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All the AL frames suggested on this thread would be perfect, leaving funds for a PMI'm sorry you don't believe in miracles0
