by Stats on Fri Feb 20, 2015 12:08 pm
Welcome to the forum!
I live in Australia as well so can share some of my experiences with the bikes you've mentioned as well as comparing local prices.
First off, I bought a Cannondale Supersix Evo Hi-Mod recently and it was a very disappointing experience. I had two bikes, the first bike had a problem with the crankset not being true (bit of a warp in it) and the second bike of the same model had issues too - paint on the top tube not being straight, bleed marks where the white met the black, a dip and pit/crack near the bottom bracket as well as contaminants under the clear coat in various places. These were both brand new bikes. On both bikes the SiSL2 cranksets had a gap/play between the spacer and the wave washer on the NDS - I had to get separate shims to space it out (which I never used because both bikes were taken back for problems). At the end of the day the quality, especially considering the price is very very poor and I wouldn't buy another Cannondale - an email to Cannondale expressing my disappointment went unanswered.
I've no experience with any Scott or Specialized bikes - I'm not sure if Scott are their own importer or whether they come through another importer but Specialized have their head office in Port Melbourne I believe so any warranty issues that may come up should be sorted quickly.
I've had a Pinarello Prince, Dogma, Dogma 2, Dogma 65.1 and ALL have been far better finished than any of the other bikes you have mentioned. They're definitely a cut above the rest in terms of finish (and one of the last makes to still offer a threaded bottom bracket, a good thing IMO) plus the ride of these bikes was unbelievably good. Plus the Dogma F8 can be made up into mech or Di2 builds on the same frame. However, cost is a massive issue here and I think you'll find it tough buying an F8 locally with DADi2 fitted for under $10k with any sort of decent finishing kit. However, of the one's you've mentioned, the F8 would have the best fit and finish and would be the one I would buy, money not being an issue.
No experience with the Trek's either but I'd get the Emonda over the Madone for the simple reason that the rear brakes are in a crap spot on the Madone (under the BB) and it appears that they might be phasing the model out because you can only get the 7 series Madone in a carbon frame for this year model - they used to have heaps of variants with differing modulus carbon to suit different price points but this appears to have all stopped for this year.
The only other brand I would recommend you have a look at if you wanted to save a bit of cash is the Giant TCR Advanced SL bikes. The 2014 models can be found for 40%+ off RRP as a complete bike with DADi2 - heaps of spare cash with your budget to buy the best wheels you can find and anything else you may want to add. Only downside to the Giant is it's certainly no exotic and I don't like ISP's that much personally (and like most new bikes these days you're also getting Giant branded everything except the groupset and saddle).
Anyway, enjoy.
which coming from a Pro, takes some doing.
