Trek Madone 9 Sram eTap

SJH76

Recently upgraded my Madone to eTap. Such a massive difference in performance over Ultegra. Professionally fit a few weeks ago and never have I been so comfortable on a bike before of any kind.

sloppyschleckonds

SJH76 wrote:

Professionally fit a few weeks ago and never have I been so comfortable on a bike before of any kind.

That usually happens when the handlebars are higher than the saddle

rickeverett

Erm

tonysj

SJH76 wrote:

Recently upgraded my Madone to eTap. Such a massive difference in performance over Ultegra. Professionally fit a few weeks ago and never have I been so comfortable on a bike before of any kind.

Thats the bike my OH wont let me have

SJH76

SloppySchleckonds wrote:

SJH76 wrote:

Professionally fit a few weeks ago and never have I been so comfortable on a bike before of any kind.

That usually happens when the handlebars are higher than the saddle

Just the angle of the pic. The bars are much lower.

But since you know so much better, let's look at a pro cyclists bike. Doesn't do Caleb Ewan any harm

pma73

Wow - sweet ride!!! - If it's a 54(med) where do you live and what time do you goto work?

Just upgraded to etap myself on a Gallium Pro.

SJH76

pma73 wrote:

Wow - sweet ride!!! - If it's a 54(med) where do you live and what time do you goto work?

Just upgraded to etap myself on a Gallium Pro.

Its a bit small for you I think . I'm a certified midget. Loving eTap. I'm definitely a converted non believer in electronic gears . They just work. 8)

ww88

Wow looks insane

SJH76

Well, I've been busy upgrading the bike again. So far managed to take a £3500 spec bike and upgrade it to one that would have cost £9500 for just over half that with some shrewd buys. New bars, groupset and wheels all sourced at massive savings. Net spend around £5100.

Need a new project now.

Matthewfalle

SJH76 wrote:

So far managed to take a £3500 spec bike and upgrade it to one that would have cost £9500 for just over half that with some shrewd buys. New bars, groupset and wheels all sourced at massive savings. .

So you bought some stuff at Merlin and ChainReaction? Cunning. Those dastardly RRP setters would never have seen this coming.

#shrewd

SJH76

Matthewfalle wrote:

SJH76 wrote:

So far managed to take a £3500 spec bike and upgrade it to one that would have cost £9500 for just over half that with some shrewd buys. New bars, groupset and wheels all sourced at massive savings. .

So you bought some stuff at Merlin and ChainReaction? Cunning. Those dastardly RRP setters would never have seen this coming.

#shrewd

No. I found new items for sale on eBay, Facebook and Mantel. I could have gone on the websites you mentioned but then I'd have paid more. Any fool can pay what the big companies offer. Try looking around and find things cheaper #understandwhatshrewdmeans

Matthewfalle

wow. shrewd buying. or what everybody does. not much to crow about tbh.

#cawcaw

SJH76

Matthewfalle wrote:

wow. shrewd buying. or what everybody does. not much to crow about tbh.

#cawcaw

Didn't realise I was , but if somebody points it out I'll take note.

Matthewfalle

SJH76 wrote:

Matthewfalle wrote:

wow. shrewd buying. or what everybody does. not much to crow about tbh.

#cawcaw

Didn't realise I was , but if somebody points it out I'll take note.

someone has pointed it out.

#cawcaw.cawcaw

SJH76

Matthewfalle wrote:

SJH76 wrote:

Matthewfalle wrote:

wow. shrewd buying. or what everybody does. not much to crow about tbh.

#cawcaw

Didn't realise I was , but if somebody points it out I'll take note.

someone has pointed it out.

#cawcaw.cawcaw

I said SOMEBODY not NOBODY :roll:

Matthewfalle

SJH76 wrote:

Matthewfalle wrote:

SJH76 wrote:

Matthewfalle wrote:

wow. shrewd buying. or what everybody does. not much to crow about tbh.

#cawcaw

Didn't realise I was , but if somebody points it out I'll take note.

someone has pointed it out.

#cawcaw.cawcaw

I said SOMEBODY not NOBODY :roll:

how can nobody post?

#confused

Vino'sGhost

hahahahaha excellent

touchy touchy

FUGLY bike though

sandyballs

Sorry to be that guy, but you seem to have raised your saddle about 3inches since your professional fit?

Nice bike though.

SJH76

Sandyballs wrote:

Sorry to be that guy, but you seem to have raised your saddle about 3inches since your professional fit?

Nice bike though.

Cheers for comment. If you look closely, I've changed the seat post. The one before had a longer reach back so I swapped it out for a straighter on. I have all the measurements from the fit and I have it back where it was now. The saddle was only that high while I took the pic.

Vino'sGhost

Looks crap but could be improved with some thought about the presentation.

Sorry to sound negative

darkhairedlord

So you have spent £5k on a bike.
It still says trek on the side.

SJH76

Vino'sGhost wrote:

Looks crap but could be improved with some thought about the presentation.

Sorry to sound negative

Your opinion. I disagree. My opinion. It's the way it rides and that is amazing. Fast yet extremely comfortable. Pretty bikes are for propping up against coffee shop windows.

There were a few options when I bought this, S-Works Venge. Hard to find in my size. Giant Propel - same problem. Cervelo S5 - complete dog of a bike and aged design. This thing was the best option. Plus lifetime warranty on the frame. Only other bike I liked close to it was a Bianchi Oltre XR4.

vespario

Ignore the haters. Ride it like you stole it!

whatleytom

I do like the look of these bikes, but in anything other than sizes >54cm they look dire. Zero saddle to bar drop not helping matters either.

SJH76

whatleytom wrote:

I do like the look of these bikes, but in anything other than sizes >54cm they look dire. Zero saddle to bar drop not helping matters either.

I did mention it was the angle that made it look like that and isn't as close as you think. Now I have the new bars on it is much better.

I would also say, bikes are thete for riding. They are not ornaments. Agree many bikes in smaller sizes don't look perfect but I can't do anything about that. And there are much worse looking bikes eg. Scott Foil and any Cervelo.

fixedgeartester

As a qualified bike fitter I have to make comment on this! There are various ‘errors’ in your thought processes regarding position. You have changed the seatpost to one with less set-back so you have gone against your original ‘professional’ fitters advice and by moving the saddle forwards you quite rightly have raised it but you have raised it by around 75mm which is way too much to compensate for the small forward change. Also, when fitting the one piece bar/stem have you matched stem length, bar width and bar reach to those originally fitted when you had your ‘professional’ fit.
On the subject of Caleb Ewen’s bike you have clearly not taken account of the fact that he is VERY short and has to have a very small frame but in order for him to get sufficient drop to the bars he uses a classic bend bar with a very deep drop to compensate for the limited drop he can achieve on his small frames. You will also notice that he is using a long stem of at least 130mm to help get him long and low for sprinting.
On your bike I can see that your shifters are actually pointing downwards which promotes an unnatural hand position and one which should have been picked up on by your ‘professional’ bike fitter to prevent wrist and arm ache on longer rides.I would be interested to know what Bike Fit system or process was used by your ‘professional’ bike fitter. In the first pictures with the set back seatpost, your position makes it look as if the frame is too big for you as there is absolutely no drop to the bars.
Just my observations, but from somebody who works in the bike trade and I sell these bikes.

fixedgeartester

SJH76 wrote:

Vino'sGhost wrote:

Looks crap but could be improved with some thought about the presentation.

Sorry to sound negative

Your opinion. I disagree. My opinion. It's the way it rides and that is amazing. Fast yet extremely comfortable. Pretty bikes are for propping up against coffee shop windows.

There were a few options when I bought this, S-Works Venge. Hard to find in my size. Giant Propel - same problem. Cervelo S5 - complete dog of a bike and aged design. This thing was the best option. Plus lifetime warranty on the frame. Only other bike I liked close to it was a Bianchi Oltre XR4.

This made me smile! The Venge, Propel and S5 ALL have a lifetime warranty on the frame and you say that ‘pretty bikes are for propping against coffee shop windows’ but then say that the S5 is a complete dog of a bike (probably) having never ridden one, and the new totally revised model has now been launched! I can’t quite understand why you bought the model you did and then spent a lot of money upgrading it to a bike which already existed in the Trek line-up!

SJH76

fixedgeartester wrote:

As a qualified bike fitter I have to make comment on this! There are various ‘errors’ in your thought processes regarding position. You have changed the seatpost to one with less set-back so you have gone against your original ‘professional’ fitters advice and by moving the saddle forwards you quite rightly have raised it but you have raised it by around 75mm which is way too much to compensate for the small forward change. Also, when fitting the one piece bar/stem have you matched stem length, bar width and bar reach to those originally fitted when you had your ‘professional’ fit.
On the subject of Caleb Ewen’s bike you have clearly not taken account of the fact that he is VERY short and has to have a very small frame but in order for him to get sufficient drop to the bars he uses a classic bend bar with a very deep drop to compensate for the limited drop he can achieve on his small frames. You will also notice that he is using a long stem of at least 130mm to help get him long and low for sprinting.
On your bike I can see that your shifters are actually pointing downwards which promotes an unnatural hand position and one which should have been picked up on by your ‘professional’ bike fitter to prevent wrist and arm ache on longer rides.I would be interested to know what Bike Fit system or process was used by your ‘professional’ bike fitter. In the first pictures with the set back seatpost, your position makes it look as if the frame is too big for you as there is absolutely no drop to the bars.
Just my observations, but from somebody who works in the bike trade and I sell these bikes.

If you read what I said. I changed the seat post. The photo is pre-resetting. I did mention this. You obviously didnt read that bit. The saddle now is in exactly the same position as it was before. I was given all the measurements post fit and have set the saddle in exactly the same height and position as before. I haven't photos of it as it is now so pay no attention to the last pic. Bars were fit using same measurement. I know how to build a bike to thank you very much. I also showed it to the fitter post swapping and he sees nothing wrong. I have actually brought the shifters up a bit more, it was a case of adjusting that bit but in comfortable on it. I'm 5'6" and that's Treks recommended size. I did check this before purchase.

As for the upgrades. Trek didn't have a eTap version available in 2018 unless you went project one (I paid £750 for it. Go find etap for that price anywhere) The bars and other upgrades I got at a much lower price than would normally be available (Bars £220, new spacers I got on Facebook from a mate with same bike headset cover £25 but sold old non integrated spacer set for £75. Seat post was £60 but I sold old one £90 so it cost me much less than the RRP for a similar model. At least 2 grand more than my net spend.

SJH76

Btw, the cervelo is an uncomfortable dated bike which has been rehashed not redesigned.

fixedgeartester

SJH76 wrote:

Btw, the cervelo is an uncomfortable dated bike which has been rehashed not redesigned.

Wrong! 2019 is redesigned frame and cockpit (I looked at one last week with the UK Rep') and I presume that you are basing your 'uncomfortable' description on your extensive amount of time riding an S5 (or maybe untested opinion more like!) It appears from another comment you made earlier that you simply and rather narrow mindedly have a problem with ALL Cervelo bikes without being able to base this on sound experience or testing. Opinions are only ever valid if they are based on sound knowledge or evidence, otherwise it is worthless pub banter. Team GB riders both male and female have had unprecedented success on Cervelo bikes and they are continuing with them for good reason. I guess we are fortunate that their technical and equipment advisors don't take notice of pub banter but look more closely at the product!

SJH76

fixedgeartester wrote:

SJH76 wrote:

Btw, the cervelo is an uncomfortable dated bike which has been rehashed not redesigned.

Wrong! 2019 is redesigned frame and cockpit (I looked at one last week with the UK Rep') and I presume that you are basing your 'uncomfortable' description on your extensive amount of time riding an S5 (or maybe untested opinion more like!) It appears from another comment you made earlier that you simply and rather narrow mindedly have a problem with ALL Cervelo bikes without being able to base this on sound experience or testing. Opinions are only ever valid if they are based on sound knowledge or evidence, otherwise it is worthless pub banter. Team GB riders both male and female have had unprecedented success on Cervelo bikes and they are continuing with them for good reason. I guess we are fortunate that their technical and equipment advisors don't take notice of pub banter but look more closely at the product!

The Cervelo you mention wasn't available when I bought that so it's a pointless observation. The 2018 model was quite old.

Team GB success is on track mainly where it's hardly the same, no gears, no worries about bumps on wooden velodromes. I mention the S5 mainly and yes I had ridden one quite extensively. I didn't like it at all. Just my personal preference but it was very uncompromising. This is a lot more comfortable due to the ISO speed decoupler. You say you sell these but you don't come across as knowing much about them