Sending it to calfee is a bit of a pain... and I don't trust myself or the local lbs to drill..

Like someone else said, Calfee can make your R5 di2 ready. I agree it is annoying that it is not already.

IMHO the S5 looks better in person than in photos (especially in the smaller/medium sizes) and the TMR01 looks worse.

But I'm still seriously considering the TMR01.

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R5 VWD | 2008 SRAM Red | Rotor 3D+ SRM | Zipp 101s/Enve 3.4s
S5 Team | 2012 SRAM Red | Rotor 3D+ SRM | Enve 6.7s
P3C | Zipp Vuka Aero/R2C | Omega | FSA SRM | Zipp 808/Super 9 Disc
T1 | Scatto | Rolf Prima FX58

I'm perfectly agree with this opinion. very nice frame!

Test rides should be compulsory. It's not just weight and aerodynamics, the bikes ride qualities are very very different. For me, the Evo is a bike that qualifies as an all rounder. Stick some aero wheels on it and it will be good on the flats without compromising all day comfort or climbing efficiency.

Both Neil Prydes have incredibly stiff front ends that make them a more challenging ride over a long ride. Good bikes for short rides on perfect road surfaces.

I hear the Bura SL has a stiff fornt end but one of the changes suggested by the pros on the first Alize was to stiffen the front up a little. I think they did on the new second generation Alize that UHC is riding now. They also added PF30 and changed the internal routing to Di2 ready.

I have Zip SL bars and I find the front very smooth and plenty stiff for me. The carbon bars was a nice upgrade in feel when I was on my old CAAD10. The Alize is more enjoyable on longer rides than my CAAD10 and I loved my CAAD10.

Also one thing that is nice about the Alize is that they offer a TT seatpost so you can run it with some clip on aero bars for your sprint races. http://www.neilprydebikes.com/bikes/tt- ... rview.html

Now they have the Bayamo TT bike so they don't run the Alize for TT anymore.

Bura, Diablo and Alize all had far too unforgiving front ends for me. Quick bikes mind. And the company were great to deal with.

The Diablo was very quick - I just found other bikes to be more forgiving over the bumps. Good shout for the carbon bars though - I found they were a must have.

I don't really get to test ride bikes where I am from

wait for the propel & 2 prs wheels..job done

Sent from my GT-I8160 using Tapatalk 2

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tcr's rule !

stefanpearce@rocketmail.com

If test riding any of the bikes is not possible, then you're going to have to take the comments from forum members with more emphasis. If you're not in a rush, wait until test rides are possible for these frames.

Well, I don't have all those bikes, but both the Venge and the S5 are pretty fine rides.

I have one season on Bert's McLaren from '11, but only a few rides on Dan Martin's S5 from '12. Still waiting for my Foil from GreenEdge... Notwithstanding that the carbon layups on the World Tour race bikes (and forks) are different than the stock bikes, with the power most of us can produce, it wont make that much of a difference.

I would say that both bikes 'feel' more aero than a conventional bike. They are both plenty stiff at the bottom bracket and headtube. Personally, I think that the S5 looks better.

Geoff - what % of the team Venge's used by OPQ for example are non-stock lay-ups? I would have guess Cavendish might have a non-stock one, but most would be on stock??

OP - I was facing the S5/Venge issue recently and went with the Venge. Geo suited me better and it's significantly lighter. Aero-wise there didn't seem to be much in it.

Personally prefer the looks of the Venge though both look awful in large sizes IMO.

Had my R5 retrofitted at Ruckus Composites. Loved the job they did, it took about 4 weeks.

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My Cervelo R5

@sawyer, I was not speaking specifically about Quickstep, but professional bikes in general. As it turnes-out, the Venge racebikes are actually 'stock' bikes in the sense that they are the same McLaren lay-up schedule that you can buy from Specialized, but with the Team paint (and a reinforced steerer tube, that you can also get).

Hmm... Then whatcha gonna do with your Dogma? :S

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It isn't going to be easy, but it's going to be worth it.