Hi guys, first time poster here.

I am about to pull the trigger on buying a bike to replace my 2007 Trek Madone 5.0 (60 cm) that was stolen some months back. As it turns out this is a bit of a blessing in disguise as the 60cm was too big for me (always felt too long). Having been properly sized it turns out I'm literally a bit like a woman. I have long legs & a short torso (men are typically the reverse of this). So despite being 6ft2 the 58cm is the way I've been advised to go.

I have my eye on two 2012 models on sale right now:

1. Trek Madone 5.9
2. Scott CR1 SL

With the deal I can get the Scott will be £400 more expensive (however it's a 6.6 kg bike with full mech DA & kysrium SL wheelset so I doubt I'd ever feel the need to upgrade any bit of it). The madone is cheaper & is ultegra di2.

A bit about me & what I want the bike for:

1. I'm 33. Weigh 95 kg currently. Now living in Geneva, Switzerland.
2. Goal is to complete next years etape & get back into cycling now that I'm living in such a perfect location for it. I'd like to tick off a lot of the famous climbs as I live within a few hours of so many of them eg. Alp d'huez.
3. I have a few years good riding experience but not much the past 18 months. I did ride the 2008 etape in under 8 hrs & used to ride around 200 miles per week. My weight has been down to 82 kg in the past & I hope to be 85kg (aggressive goal) for the etape.
4. I just found an old pic of my 2007 Madone & was shocked to see just how many spacers I had 3-4cm) so a longer head tube should take me back to where I was before without using spacers.

Thanks for any constructive offered & hope everyone is enjoying the holidays.

Peter

Hi there, welcome to the forum.

I went through a similar choice last year(custom specced CR1 or Madone 5.2) and went with the CR1. Sounds like you have a similar build to me, I'm 6'5" and 95kg. Long leg and short body. Ended up going for the Scott and am very happy with it. I work in a shop that sells both Trek and Scott though, so the price didn't factor as much as it might otherwise.

If I were you I would go with the CR1, the Dura Ace is hard to fault and I am a big fan of the Ksyrium wheels. Di-2 is good, but I just can't get past how massive the front mech is... The frame is also silly light so if you want to lighten it up a bit later(this forum can have a bad effect on people:lol:).

We have had a few Madones back for warranty though, bigger guys have been breaking the seat mast bolt causing it to smack down on the frame and do some damage, this was enough to put me off the Madone frame. I was also going to be right at the limit of seat post extension and didn't want my saddle/pedal.shoe options to be limited by that .

Had a ride on both, I thought the Scott was more comfortable, but that could just have been the saddle and bar tape that were on the demo. If there is a chance for you to ride both of them before you buy, that's probably the best bet!

Campbell.

Thanks Campbell. Unfortunately this whole test ride thing seems to be largely an American concept. Around here they might let you sit on it. Most don't even have the size (French seem to all ride 56cm from what I always see in store). I am from the UK but have lived in the US..........I do miss customer service!

The most comfortable I have ever been on a bike was on a Cannondale Six13 (no longer made) 58cm. The geometry of that bike (attached) looks very close to the CR1 (head tube not quite as tall).

I have attached a photo of how many spacers were under my bike (to the left)--how many cm would you reckon (no way to verify now as it was stolen)?

Will the Kysrium SL wheels be OK with 85-95kg weight range?

p

The Ksyrium SL's should be fine, I rode a set for a couple of years through the worst the Scottish roads/weather could throw at them and they were great. Light, stiff and strong.

The test bikes are largely a lottery depending on the shops in your area. They have to buy them from Trek/Scott and a lot of owners just can't justify spending the extra money on them. Certainly we had to scrape the bottom of the barrel to buy ours!

Looks like around 4cm of spacers, maybe even 5 assuming a 43mm stack height on the stem. If you needed that many spacers the Scott's more relaxed geometry(longer headtube) could be a better idea. I had the same problem when I used a frame with pretty aggressive geometry because my legs are long the saddle to bar drop was way to big for me.

Will any of the shops in your area let you put one in a turbo trainer in the shop so you can at least spin your legs? That's a bit pointless though if they don't have your size.

Hey Campbell,

A lot of the stores don't have any stock in right now. I suppose I could wait until a bit later until they get something in however as I am riding the etape in July & am out of shape I would like to start immediately. Looking out window today in Geneva it's a very rideable day.

hargroves have a deal on the 2012 Scott CR1 SL for £3k (& I would get about 10% back on that with the de-taxing). It's a lot for a bike however it does seem like a lot of bike for the money.

p

At £3k I think that is a very good deal and I would snap it up! Only thing that would hold me back is warranty with Switzerland not being part of the EU, although I know very little about how that would affect any warranty claims you might have. Maybe ask Hargroves if they know how it would affect you?

Thanks Campbell for raising that point on the warranty. I will ask them.

I also want to ask them about whether I can get it compact. Do you know what crank length if comes with 172.5? With my legs would a 175 be better?

Provided on what they say I will pull trigger tomorrow.

If you are 6'2" with long legs you will be a 175mm crank I suspect, would be very very surprised if you needed a 172.5(normally wouldn't need them above a 54cm frame).

Certainly, if they say they will honour the warranty I would pull the trigger asap!

I think they came as standard with a compact option but not sure if they will have that. Mind you, with the money you save on tax you could always buy a compact Dura Ace crankset and sell the standard... You wouldn't be too out of pocket at the end of the day, especially with some of the big sales on just now.

If you do go for it, make sure to post it up in the gallery with an actual weight!

Can't find the details of the crank length but trust it comes with 175. Just wanted to ensure that because I was going for 58cm & not 60cm & I don't end up with shorter cranks than appropriate for me leg length.

I think it came in both a standard & compact crank version. Hargroves are offering the standard. In fairness I prefer 53/39 for everything but things like the etape. I actually have a set of Ultegra compact cranks in my cupboard so I suppose I can swap those over for the event itself & then swap back to the DA 53/39.

Open to weighing her. Just trying to figure out how do it.......

You can pick up some luggage scales pretty cheap, that's what I use at home! Not very accurate but they will give you a ball park figure!

For a more accurate weight, maybe head to an LBS and make a token purchase and see if they will let you use their scales? Most that I have been into have something like Park Tool ones that are nice and accurate!

Have just ordered it!!

Finishing it off with:

1. 2 Scott carbon bottle cages 72g ( 32g x 2)
2. Look Keo 2 max carbon pedal 118g

So theoretically at least the bike fully built with cages & pedals should come to a feather light 6.66 + 0.072 + 0.118 =

6.85 kg!

I'm fairly certain that's per pedal...

Drat, you are right!! Why give the weight of just one pedal when advertising!? It's pretty common that bikes have 2!

This bike is now going to be a pig.....

Which is why I use iClic2 Carbon Titans on my Scott...

One question on your CR1, how upright is the riding position? It's not Roubaix like is it?