by Bradcycles on Tue Sep 03, 2013 6:08 pm
I finally was able to do a test ride of the S-works SL4 bike (a 2014 S-works SL4 with Sram Red hydraulic brakes). I have to say, the bike felt incredible. To me, it felt much stiffer and responsive when doing sprint efforts from fairly low speeds. I felt that all the power I put out was transmitted directly to the frame and there was an immediate response. In contrast, when I test rode the Parlee, it felt like there was a slight hesitation when doing sprint efforts. It just didn't feel quite as stiff and responsive,and felt like there was a slight lag. To me, that's the main downside of the Parlee. In terms of comfort, I thought both the sl4 and the z5 sli felt very comfortable when riding - both seemed to smooth out the bumps on the ride much better than my current s-works sl3. Having said all that, I think I'm still leaning towards getting the Parlee. Also, I plan to keep my sl3, and the sl3 is plenty stiff for me. So, when I race crits, I may use the sl3 as my crit bike. Also, any races where I think the probability of crashing is higher, I'd probably continue to use the sl3 (as the parlee di2 will be significantly more expensive).
I did a pro/con list of both bikes for me, and this is what I came up with:
Sl4
Pros:
-Comfortable ride, feels stiffer, and super responsive for sprinting
-less risk in whether i will like the bike, as i love my sl3
Cons:
The headtube appears short for my fit
I dont love the paint job (a mix of glossy black and matte black with red lettering; the glossy black bits look cheap to me; it looks like a bunch of stickers put onto the matte black finish)
No flexibility for build components (bars dont fit, stem doesnt fit, crank chainrings need to be different, need to buy praxis, and quarq spider, no need for wheels or saddle)
Sworks crankset seems to limit possibility of dura ace crankset
Quarq appears to be better option over srm for this build
They will buy back wheels for only 1100 instead of 2200 msrp
Z5
Pros:
Better frame size for my fit
Stealth paint scheme
Flexibility of custom build (enve parts, get to choose stem length, bar width, 52/36 chainrings, srm)
Dura ace crank
Srm over quarq, with srm being only 2200
Comfortable ride
Cons:
Doesnt seem quite as stiff and responsive as sl4 when sprinting from low speed
Higher risk as to whether i will love the bike, since short test rides dont give full data