Beachgrad05

I'm starting to feel torn. I am doing the AIDS Lifecycle in 2 weeks. My plan was to take my Trek Madone 4.5 with a 12-30 10 speed cassette.

I also have a Trek 5.9 Domane with 11-28 11 speed cassette. There is a relatively decent weight difference.

I'm torn as I'm thinking I may want to take the Domane for the overall comfort not to mention the benefits of the better drivetrain (Dura-Ace vs mix of Ultegra/105). It also has a seat mast vs seat post.

I need advice thoughts on this.

TrojanHorse

The difference between 28 and 30 is trivial. Take the bike that is more comfortable over the long haul.

I left my 11-32 at home for Conejo and took a 12-28 and survived. If you get to any long, extended climbs, just go a tad slower, nobody will complain.

Good luck! When do you leave?

Beachgrad05

I'm thinking same thoughts.

I fly to SF on May 29. Ride starts 5/31.

Beachgrad05

I have to drop bike off at shipping before I fly up (think 5/26 or 5/27)

TrojanHorse

Alright! I'm leaving for Italy on 5/29 and OUR ride starts on 5/31.

I hope your ride goes swimmingly!

jsigone

IMO I don't think 2 teeth will much much difference in the fitness I saw last month through laguna.

I'd take the domane, you will like the comfort aspect of it on the third century. This is what the bike was designed for. the Madone, is a very racer based geo & cabon structure, and might suck bit after a few back to back centuries.

Plus better/lighter drive cassette of the dura ace will help so much. You're talking almost 80-100grams saving + if you have some decently light/hi tpi tires such as conti GP2, you can save a noticeable amount of energy up hills. Weight weenie maybe, but rotational weight is felt, especially when in the opposite ends of the cog. I call it performance

Beachgrad05

This is the sort of input I was hoping for to confirm what I have been suspecting. I have Conti GP2 tires on the Domane. I actually "think" I have noticed I am climbing fine on the Domane of late. And I did feel strong on the C/A ride to Carlsbad.

Beachgrad05

There are several differences between the two bikes that contribute to weight difference

On Madone:
Bontrager Race wheels
Regular bottle cages forget the brand but they are not lightweight
Aqua Rack on back that holds two bottles. (I usually leave this on even when not using)

On Domane:
Bontrager Race Lite Wheels
Bontrager XXXL Carbon bottle cages
no aqua rack

jsigone

also I'd treat this ride like doing the Rapha Festive 500 we've been doing.

My motto to hard weeks.

Eat like its a buffet : on and off the bike. for me by the time I'm off the bike, Im so tired of chewing anyways so dinner is often lighter than I thought I'd need. Plus side is that my pockets gets lighter as the day goes on

Drink like your drunk ne bottle per hr MINIMUM, if your are 50mins into the hour and still have 1/2 bottle, chug the darn thing, but plan your water stops accordingly via SAG or Stores, don't be scared to drink 10-20 bottles a day if warm

jsigone

If the aqua rack is not transferable due to the seat post. I'd plan to put a small 20oz bottle in my jersey ctr pocket and food/id/music on the sides. That full bottle will only be back there one hour at a time (see above rule). When you finish a bottle that is on the bike, transfer the empty bottle to the pocket and relieve some weight off your shoulders. Playing the 3rd bottle card will help if long duration to sag or if wamer out. The empty bottle can double to food storage at SAGs if you find you're OK on water for that day.

This works for me on epic $hit ride and may or may not work for you. But always good to have a cheap backup plan. Some of the rides I've done, I don't even fill up the 3rd bottle on the start. I'd fill it up at a store at the base of a long mountain, where I will actually use all three bottles, but don't need 3 full ones to get to the store/sag.

Beachgrad05

I have not tried to move the aqua rack. I will look into that being a possibility.

Beachgrad05

Seat mast ...may be space below the part that goes onto Seat mast to put the aqua rack?



Seat post with aqua rack on Madone

jimincalif

When I got new wheels last year I got a new 12-30 cassette instead of the 11-28. I've been very happy with the change. It is slight, but noticeable when you need it. My existing chain and Ultegra derailleur handed the 12-30 with no trouble. Can you swap wheels or swap the cassettes? Pretty easy to do if you have the tool. Just a thought. I agree you should make the choice on overall comfort.

Hope you have a great ride!

Beachgrad05

From what I know..(which is limited)...the Dura-Ace derailleur won't accommodate the cassette on the Madone. Plus the 11 speed vs 10 speed issue. The Domane is an 11-speed.

RubeRad

I can't remember whether 10/11speed cassettes can go on the same hubs. If so, you could make sure you have the lighter wheels on whichever bike you choose. In either case, you should be able to use the lighter front wheel. Also, it is only a minute or two to put carbon water bottle cages onto whichever bike you choose.

jimincalif

Oh yeah, 10 v 11, nevermind!

thylton48

What is a seat mast?

RubeRad

It's a little extendable stick that can be triggered to open up a sail in the case that you have an extreme tailwind, or most of the time retract to avoid headwind

JK, see pics just above, a seatmast is a seatpost which has an aero-shaped profile, not a round profile; this makes it difficult to attach things.

RubeRad

OP, you can also get not too expensively double-cage mounts that attach to saddle rails instead of the post, like this.

Beachgrad05

Actually that is not quite correct.

A seat mast extends the seat tube up beyond the top tube and rather than a post that inserts into the seat tube, the thingy (don't know the correct term for the piece) goes down over the top. The seat tube goes inside this piece...rather than the seat post going inside the seat tube.

A seat mast somehow provides better power transfer than a bike with a normal seat post.

Beachgrad05

As the AIDS ride is well supported, I figure I will be fine with just the two normal bottles in my cages. I only use the aqua rack for rides like GMR or less organized events. The less I have to drag to SF for the ride the better. I am interested in if my rack will attach for future long unsupported rides or GMR if I ever try it on the Domane.

Thank you tho for the suggestion. I will keep it in mind

RubeRad

Interesting distinction, I wasn't aware of that. Thx.

So there are bikes that have non-round/aero seatposts. Is there a name for those? Other than non-round/aero seatposts?

More importantly, does anybody make a seat mast that will extend a sail so I can take advantage of tailwind?

Beachgrad05

Tri and time trial bikes might have non round/aero seat masts.

RubeRad

right, but is there a specific term for it?

Beachgrad05

Not that I'm aware of. The shape is likely determined by the type of bike. Tri and TT bikes "need" more aerodynamic shapes. A regular road bike does not exactly need so much aero dynamic working of the entire frame. Tho the frames do have some aero shaping to them, just not to the extreme that you see on Tri and TT bikes.