What is the current king of aluminum in 2017?

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Ahillock
Posts: 456
Joined: Fri Jul 16, 2010 6:30 am

by Ahillock

What is currently the top overall aluminum road frame? Unfortunately where I live, we don't have access to the Giant Propel SLR or the Canyon Ultimate AL SLX (yet, but soon). The main options seem to be the Cannondale CAAD12, Trek Emonda ALR and the Specialized Allez Sprint. Is there anyone of those current aluminum offerings that standout as the king from the others at this point, or are they all that good that any of them would be a solid choice?

by Weenie


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pyrahna
Posts: 150
Joined: Wed Aug 14, 2013 9:53 pm

by pyrahna

I love my Allez Sprint, so much so that I just bought a 2nd one....though none of the bikes you listed are bad bikes.

morganb
Posts: 732
Joined: Wed Mar 15, 2017 5:30 pm

by morganb

Allez Sprint is hard to beat. Reasonably light and ultra stiff in a good way. I traded mine for an S3 and have considered buying another one since.

Marin
Posts: 4035
Joined: Wed Jan 22, 2014 11:48 am
Location: Vienna Austria

by Marin

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Kinesis Aithein

r33prman
Posts: 64
Joined: Mon May 08, 2017 1:05 pm

by r33prman

My caad12 is it and a bit for me. I recently went to a 1 bike home (sad I know) but I commute 30km a day plus weekend riding racing all on one bike. And because the frame is a bargain I can uprate the componentry. It's pretty light too.....58cm frame, sram red22, zipp404's(yes I commute on these), pro components alloy cockpit, Victoria Rubino pro25c = 7.21kg. Lighter parts enroute to very shortly have it sub 7. Love it.

morganb
Posts: 732
Joined: Wed Mar 15, 2017 5:30 pm

by morganb

Bowman Palace:R is another solid option. Cheap, light, not quite as aggressive as a Sprint or a CAAD geo wise if you aren't looking for a race bike, really good looking welds.

wingguy
Posts: 4318
Joined: Thu Mar 08, 2012 11:43 pm

by wingguy

Haven't ridden the Bowman, but was racing next to one the other day and was really impressed with the frame shaping / welds etc. Nice looking bike.

That said the only thing to say against a CAAD would be the low levels of frame only availability if that's what you're after. Otherwise it just does everything so well.

sooni
Posts: 39
Joined: Thu Jul 30, 2009 12:27 pm

by sooni

My Emonda ALR - Quality control issues aside, this is an excellent frameset.

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themidge
Posts: 1528
Joined: Fri Jan 13, 2017 4:19 pm
Location: underneath sweet Scottish rain

by themidge

I've got my eyes on the BMC alr01. Has had some good reviews and has very similar geometry to its carbon brothers

Thenuge
Posts: 99
Joined: Wed Jun 21, 2017 1:37 pm

by Thenuge

themidge wrote:I've got my eyes on the BMC alr01. Has had some good reviews and has very similar geometry to its carbon brothers


Don't they have a 1cm taller head tube? Maybe I'm wrong. They look sweet in person though.

CrankAddictsRich
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by CrankAddictsRich

I love my Non-sprint Smart-weld Allez.... plenty stiff, and plenty light.. 15 pounds as seen here without any weight weenie parts.

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silvalis
Posts: 765
Joined: Mon Sep 07, 2015 1:02 am
Location: Aus

by silvalis

Is there a new Aithein on the cards this year?
The current one has funky stack/reach geo.
Chasse patate

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53x12
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Joined: Fri Sep 15, 2006 6:02 am
Location: On the bike

by 53x12

Other than CAAD12, are any of the major aluminum frames Di2 ready from the factory? I know the Allez Sprint can take Di2 with a little modification. Any others?
"Marginal gains are the only gains when all that's left to gain is in the margins."

Christono
Posts: 39
Joined: Wed Dec 21, 2016 10:22 am

by Christono

sooni wrote:My Emonda ALR - Quality control issues aside, this is an excellent frameset.


out of curiosity, what issues did you have?

by Weenie


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patchsurfer
Posts: 138
Joined: Sun Apr 05, 2015 10:27 pm

by patchsurfer

53x12 wrote:Other than CAAD12, are any of the major aluminum frames Di2 ready from the factory? I know the Allez Sprint can take Di2 with a little modification. Any others?


Yep, the Bowman has a cunning removable cable stop system so Di2 can be internally routed with no fuss. I'm running mechanical on mine - mix of ultegra and DA - and I'm super stoked with it. It's also got a proper bottom bracket and clearance for 28's. I was impressed with Bowman's customer service and the little touches - headset and seat clamp - are nicely done. And the ride ... great. Happy customer.

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