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Submitted by
agbagel
a Recreational RiderDate Reviewed: May 7, 2010
Strengths: Stiff, absorbs road well,Weaknesses: Lot of juddering with the OEM forks, semi-compact geometryBottom Line: Years of travel and thousands of road miles(even took it to Italy for 2 wks) and it's still riding excellent. I'm 6'3" 215# and find its stiffness and vertical compliance perfect for my large frame. At the time, it was one of the largest and stiffest BB, but looks small compared to a Pinarello today. Stiff enough to hill climb, comfy for centuries, and very steady for descents. Handled my first crit last Spring very well. The orig fork juddered alot with hard braking, particularly when turning. I switched out to an Alpha-Q GS-10 and descents are solid . It's also a semi-compact frame, which has been good for the hard accelerations, but I'd prefer a more traditional geometry for my longer legs.
Favorite Ride: Beartooths
Price Paid:
$2100.00
Purchased At: LBS
Similar Products Used: Litespeed Tuscany & Vortex, Spec. Allez, Van Dessel Gin & Trombones, Cannondale Six, Madone 5.2
Bike Setup: DA gruppo, Rolf Vigor RS wheels, SRAM crankset BB, carbon stem & handlebar.
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Submitted by
Gilgamesh2003
a Recreational RiderDate Reviewed: June 16, 2009
Strengths: - Beautiful ride quality.
- Fulcrum 5 Wheels (insanely stiff, very durable trainers. not racing light). Good tires(Specialized Mondo Pro).
- High-quality drive train.
- Responsive geometry but still comfortable.
- Stock saddle (Toupe Team) is surprisingly excellent, as is the ultra-cushy bar tape. Handlebars are ergo with a flat top.
- Beautiful paint job, and the frame has an elegant shape.Weaknesses: - Very light, but not going to satisfy ultralight weight weenies.
- My particular bike came with a link in the chain that was ready to blow - LBS fixed it.
- Stock bars and seat post may not satisfy cyclists with more refined tastes than mine.
- Not the raciest seat position; I don't know enough about racing to determine whether you'd be able to set this frame up for a real racing position.Bottom Line: I was looking to upgrade my steel frame, 105 level road bike into something carbon. I didn't want to go for a bottom of the line carbon frame with 105 components, so I was looking at bikes around the $3,000-$4,000 price point. My local bike shop had this beautiful 2008 Specialized for a very good price so I went with it over a Trek Madone, which would have been well over $1,000 more. As an aside, I found the Trek Madone to be ever so slightly lighter and stiffer, but definitely not enough to get me to shell out all that extra money; the Specialized was also more comfortable, and didn't have the Madone's unusual custom features (seat mast, bizarro bottom bracket), which made me a little fearful.
The highlight of this bike is the incredible ride of the carbon fiber frame. It has a glassy-smooth glide over pavement, and is incredibly stiff if you stand up to sprint or climb. The geometry is racy but not by any means uncomfortable (in fact, I found it more comfortable than the Specialized Roubaix, which is supposed to be insanely cushy). I found it superior to my Reynolds 631 steel-frame road bike, which is no slouch in the ride quality department.
The wheels are Fulcrum 5, the drivetrain is all Shimano Ultegra or better (you get a Dura-Ace rear derailleur, for whatever that's worth), and the paint job is fabulous. This bike is right there with you, a joy to climb, well-behaved on high speed descents, responsive but not twitchy, all in all superb.
NB - this review is for the 2008 model, although the form made me select 2007. The 2009 model is all Ultegra SL if I'm not mistaken, but I don't think there were any other major changes.
Favorite Ride: Princeton-Pennington loop
Price Paid:
$2200.00
Purchased At: Goodale's, Nashua NH
Similar Products Used: Test-rode Trek Madone (SRAM and Ultegra setups), Specialized Roubaix.
My main previous ride was a Jamis Quest, which is actually a totally rad bike if you want a modern steel-frame road/touring model.
Bike Setup: All stock plus Ultegra pedals and Specialized water bottle holders.
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