Six13, Damocles, Tarmac, r2.5: Which to get?

[StefanB]

Hi all,

New here so I am sorry if I am repeating things. I am looking for a new bike and have narrowed down my search to the following bikes:

Cannondale Six13 r3000
Ridley Damocles frame with my 9speed Dura Ace on it
Specialized Tarmac Pro
Cervelo r2.5 Chorus

Basically these all have similar geometry in a 58cm frame and I am confused as hell as to what would make the best general fast club riding, crit racing, and centuries once in a while. I am 6' 190lbs racing weight and don't really worry too much about a third or half pound weight difference. Sacrilege on this board I know. I live in Northern California so hills are a fact of life, even in crits, but mostly I just want a great bike for $3500 out the door. I have read good and bad about each of these bikes. I'd like to hear from folks who have bought them or ridden them and what they do and don't like. I don't want to make a mistake on the bike as my wife basically lets me get a new bike every decade it seems.

Currently I am leaning towards the Cervelo or the Ridley though I have ridden neither. The Cannondale seems good and I plan to test ride it tomorrow. The Specialized bugs me as it is a pound and a half heavier then the others and is not the top of the line frame. For this kind of cash I think I should expect to get a really nice frame that I can upgrade on for a while.

So, if you had to pick between these bikes or if you had $3500 to spend out the door (including tax and pedals) what would you do? Hell if I know and I get more confused every day.

Thanks in advance for your opinions!
Cheers,
Stefan

[brianwchan]

I would get the cervelo. If i remember correctly, it's pretty light, pretty stiff, and the biggest draw for me would be the chorus group. Do you know if it's a full chorus set up? Or are they just calling it that and swapping out items like brakes and cassette for lower end stuff?

Anyway, of course you should test ride it first. But on paper it sounds like a pretty sweet bike.

[Paco Bonnin]

The R2.5 rides great but there are some drawbacks. The brakes are Cervelos own and are made by Tektro. The wheels are Velomax's (now Easton) low end and aren't super nice, but they are durable. The stem is inexpensive and heavy, the seat is kind of a triathlon model and the chainline with the Isis BB kind of sucks.
On the plus side, you do get an AWESOME frameset worthy of many upgrades in the future. The seatpost is carbon, so are the cranks and you get a genuine Campy cassette and a Connex chain.
If you budget some extra money for later on, you'll have a killer ride. The fork is all carbon and weighed in at 353 grams for a 54cm bike (230mm).

I have no comments for the other bikes as I don't know enough about them to have an aducated opinion on them

[buddyboy]

have a friend who knows about bikes
He got borrowed a Damocles for 1 ride
I also had a go
It looks wild – lots of tube manipulation etc
But man that thing was stiff
Too stiff though, as after 80 miles the guy could hardly walk he looked so beat up
The bike did not seem to have any of the compliance you see with the real top end frames

Know this is just 1 opinion – with no statistical relevance = but I thought since you’re asking……

[carlos]

i would get the tarmac. the cervelo is nice but i have seen lots of frames broken, the cannondale is pretty heavy, cant coment about the ridley, never tested one.

[campyman099]

I would go for the Tarmac, keeps your in your budget and almost all Dura-Ace 10.