Price Paid:  $1500.00 at jakarta

Model Year:
2007

Favorite Ride:
jakarta

Bike Setup:
full ultegra comp,shimano wheels,mavic tires,toupe team saddle,

Summary:
Good frame design,comfortable to ride in long distance and uphill.
all my friend which are using giant's and litespeed bikes,are agree with the good things of this bike.
so if you are in $1000-$1500,kind of guys take this bike you 'll be surprise with the smoothest,powerfull,lightest feeling.

Strengths:
responsive

Weaknesses:
i can,t find it

Similar Products Used:
giant

Price Paid:  $1300.00 at Old Town Cyclery

Model Year:
2007

Favorite Ride:
Orting trail

Bike Setup:
Mavic Axiom wheelset, All 105 components, Specialized Pro tires.

Summary:
Had been riding a 1976 Peugot PR-10 w/ Reynolds 531 aluminum frame. It was good quality 30 yrs ago but I decided it was time to take advantage of the new technologies. Took me a season of riding to actually take the plunge & was then faced with trying to sort through the many choices in this price range. Did all the research (magazines, on-line, friends, etc) & then settled on the recurring theme from all this advice...get what feels right. I checked with various LBS & test rode a number of bikes. Finally concluded that I couldn't really justify the additional cost for what felt like nominal differences between components (Ultegra vs 105) since they were all such a huge upgrade for me. Narrowed it down to the Cannondale & Allez compact. Test rode them back to back to back & am very pleased with the choice. The Allez felt more responsive going up a steep hill & more stable going back down. It had a softer ride, yet seem to want to surge forward more when I got on it. I've got about 300 miles on it now & am very pleaseed with the way it handles/rides. I did swap the seat out because it was so uncomfortable. Using my old split leather seat added the comfort I needed & softened the ride further. This bike shifts smoothly & accurately...a blessing on the hills (vs the friction shifters on my Peugot). I dropped about 7 #s of weight from my old frame & have seen my speed/time go up. I'm looking forward to the sprint triathlon season to see how much of an impact this new ride will have.

Strengths:
Lightweight, responsive, smooth, comfortable. Good bike for speed & distance.

Weaknesses:
Only the seat. Carbon is lightweight but it's painful after only 10 miles.

Similar Products Used:
Test rode Cannondale, Felt, Trek, Fuji & Novarra.

Price Paid:  $1659.00 at Belmont Wheelworks

Model Year:
2003

Favorite Ride:
Wendell/Northfield/NoHo/Leverett

Bike Setup:
Full Ultegra 9 speed double. Nuevation M28 Aero wheelset. Hutchinson Fuzion Long Distance tires.
180 pound, 18+ mph rider.

Summary:
I love this bike. I've averaged about 2,000 miles a year for the last three seasons and I couldn't be happier. I've ridden it in many centuries as well as the Harpoon Brewery ride. (136 miles at 19.1 mph!)

It's fast, comfortable and quite a good looker. It is the "titanium gray" paint scheme. Mine was on the floor as a triple, but the nice people at Wheelworks converted it to a double for my purchase.

The bike fits me well. All Specialized products seem to. (Cannondales do not.) I was able to test ride the bike in aluminum and steel and chose the aluminum. It just wants to GO! It’s very exciting. The steel was too soft.

It does everything well. It climbs reliably. It descends with authority and cruises the flats smoothly and with grace.

I did only get about 3,000 miles out of the Shimano R540 wheelset. I've since put on a set of Neuvation M28 Aeros. (Check them out!)

I love to ride and I love to climb. I put in a decent amount of miles each season. I don’t see needing more of a bike than this. An excellent value.

Strengths:
Stiff yet all-day comfortable.
Excellent value with full Ultegra (at least it was in 2003)
Quick handling, yet not nerve-racking.
Fast, yet fast.
Did I mention it's a good looker. Mine is all black, gray and polish.

Weaknesses:
Shimano 540 wheels were squishy and I killed them after only 3,000 miles or-so.

Toes overlap front wheel swing, making it hard to do track stands. This tightness makes for an excellent performer though.

Frame welds ain't too pretty to look at.

Similar Products Used:
Canondale

Price Paid:  $999.00 at Harry Hall

Model Year:
2006

Favorite Ride:
Peak District and Cheshire

Bike Setup:
105 10 speed groupset, specialized mondo tyres, Mavis Aksium wheels, specialized saddle

Summary:
I rode 1200 miles and i can say this bike rides smoother than usual aluminium frames, might be the carbon bits or the antidamping inserts. Not the lightest set up ever, on my scale, including saddle bag with one spare tube and plastic tools, pump but no bottle it's 9.5 Kilos, so it's probably just below 9 as sold. But then again, I'm 5 kilos overweight, so cannot blame the bike, really. It's fast on the flat, easily reach 25 mph and feels safe downhills, very strong brakes, too strong, tyres struggle to cope at times. Specialized tyres are fast and reliable but wear quickly, changed the rear after 1100 miles, the front is still rather good. Shifter (105 10 speed) needed tuning after 1000 miles (I was nearly one speeded by then) but they told me it's normal. Saddle is steadily unconfortable after two hours. The Mavic Aksium wheels with flat spokes are quite fast but annoying with side wind. Overall I'm happy, reasonably priced, good overall performance and robust.

Strengths:
Good overall, smooth and fast ride, smooth shifting with the new 105 and very strong brakes (unless wet, then inexistent, but that's common to all calipers). Looks good.

Weaknesses:
Tyres wear quickly, saddle is uncofortable. Flat spokes hard to handle if windy.

Similar Products Used:
Specialized Roubaix

Price Paid:  $1000.00 at employee purchase

Model Year:
2005

Favorite Ride:
the hard one, with the hills

Bike Setup:
stock, except traded 143mm width saddle for 130mm width. old-as-dirt time ATAC mtb pedals.

Summary:
i'm a xc and city-fixie rider of several years, and finally bothered to save up enough for a decent road bike this spring. at the shop i worked at, this bike was basically the only choice in the price range.

lucky f'n me.

i do have a couple minor quibbles with this bike, but overall it's a killer ride for not too much dough, even for those not blessed with the old employee discount. the carbon bars, seatpost, seatstays, and fork suck up road vibration and minor potholes quite nicely, the mostly D-A 10spd drivetrain is buttery smooth to the point of rediculous (shifting just shouldn't be this precise), the short wheelbase makes the handling tighter'n a duck's butt (though granted, i like tight-to-the-point-of-twitchy handling), and in general everything is absolutely rock solid awesome. i couldn't race this season due to a string of injuries, but next season i'm'a feel nothing but confidence in my equipment when i toe up to the starting line. this bike rides _great_. it's fast, responsive, durable, comfortable, stylish, (relatively) affordable, and pretty much an awesome bike in every way i can think of.

the few minor exceptions:

- the saddle was more than a little uncomfortable for the first 400 miles or so. it did finally break in, and now feels great.
- the stem, while mighty stylish, is heavier than it should be for a bike in this price range. should've been carbon or ti.
- the wheelset (mavic ksyrium equipes) is kind of weighty. i would've shelled out an extra bill or two for the ksyrium elites or ESes, which would probably drop almost a pound off of the bike, but that wasn't an option offered.
- the tires are cracking on the sidewalls after only 1500 or so miles, all in good conditions. not OK - i'll be getting some schwalbe or maxxis replacements.
- the FSA integrated headset keeps loosening up. this is something i've seen in almost all of the bikes i've worked on that were equipped with that headset. not cool, though i guess i can think of some worse things to go wrong.

overall - i've ridden nicer road bikes, but i haven't ridden any in the price range that even come close.

Strengths:
price, mellow road-feel, nice tight handling/wheelbase, drivetrain, cornering, etc.

Weaknesses:
headset - i have yet to see an integrated headset that didn't loosen up over a period of several months, usually more than once. also the bars have developed a worrying creak and the tires are getting worn out before their time. and weight - at 19.25lbs with my (admittedly rather heavy) pedals, it's just barely in the realm of race weight.

Similar Products Used:
colnago dream, lemond tete de course, spec tarmac, trek madone, etc.