GlennR

Two years ago i upgraded from a Trek Madone 4.6 to a Trek Emonda SLR. The new bike was 3x the cost of the old.

Every time i ride it I have a smile on my face.

If you want that kind of improvement, get a Trek Domane SLR9.

PepeM

Were you always weeping on the Madone?

How many SPM (smiles per mile) are we talking here?

Anthony2

PepeM: Thank you, sir.

ptempel: I'll check them right now. Thanks.

Dan333SP: Oh, no, I didn't mean to give off that impression. My desire for more comfort didn't in the least stem from anything that had to do with the Roubaix. In fact, there's definitely not a single thing that's uncomfortable about it. It's heavenly. I just thought maybe there was something out there that, as mentioned, would be a kind of Roubaix 3.0.

That said, I completed my first Century last year and my left hand felt weak for some time after. I think (though I'm not sure) that maybe the seat post was a bit too high, because I was leaning (probably somewhat heavily) on the handlebars. I made sure to move around constantly (and I did), but it still felt weak afterward. Not numb, just weak. And I was sized by two different bike shops, so I don't know for sure if it had anything to do with that. For what it's worth, though, I never experienced that on any 70-80 mile rides, but I wound up doing 130 miles on that Century and I felt it then. So...not sure what to think there.

oldnslow2: Wouldn't mind testing these bikes out, so I'll give that one a run, for sure. Thanks for the recommendation. I appreciate it.

redfooj

besides upgrading the motor itself

-better tires if you want more comfort
-get lower if you want more speed on the flats
-drop weight if you want more speed on the hills

frame 'efficiency' wont do any of this

Dan333SP

I think the answer there is... you rode 130 miles. Any time you go much further than your body is used to going, you'll feel it. If you have no issue on 80 mile rides I wouldn't worry about it. If you're trying to do more rides in that distance range, start upping the distance of your training rides and your body will adapt.

Dan333SP

This.

@oldnslow2 we've seen you post about how happy you are with your Emonda on many occasions, but you've never confirmed how your SPM ratio changed vis a vis your Madone. Personally, I find it hard to believe that you'd have 3 times as many smiles per mile as the old bike.

PepeM

How about spm? Will frame efficiency help there?

redfooj

depends if youre counting in metric or imperial

PepeM

Do they have reasons to smile for outside 'merica?

redfooj

wall only built on southern border, not along pacific or atlantic coast

GlennR

I purchased my Madone in October 2011, sold it February 2015 and put 6800 miles on it. So figure 3 years 6800/3 = 2266/year.

I purchased my Emonda January 2015 and as of today, 2 years later, I have about 11,000 miles or 5500/year.

I'd say the Emonda provides twice as many SPM as the Madone.

When i first purchased the Emonda i thought i was just spending "stupid" money because I could (last child got his Masters and was out of the house). But every time I rode it i really appreciated how much better it rode, handled and felt. The geometry was almost identical to the Madone and I just set the "fit" exactly as it was on the Madone.

The most expensive bike is the one you don't ride. As of now, the Emonda is in the $1/mile range. If I continue as my current rate, it will be $.050/mile in 2 years.

Dan333SP

@PepeM needs to confirm, but I'm pretty sure your SPM calculations are wildly inaccurate.

redfooj

probably just needs to calibrate his pitot tube

Anthony2

redfooj: Getting lower and losing weight I've been doing, so I'll need to try the 28's and see where that leads me.

Dan333SP: Yea', you're right. Would have been good to gradually build up to that, but when I started I thought I'd only be doing "20 more miles" (20 more than my usual 80, I mean), but then somehow I did (or at least the GPS said I did) 130. Not sure if there was any real way to know in advance that I'd be doing that much more, but now I know and will try to build up to that number this year, hopefully. Thanks, by the way, for your insight and help.

Dan333SP

For some completely unrelated help, you can use the "@" sign to tag users in your post.
@PepeM can confirm. He loves being tagged.

Anthony2

Haha...will do. Thanks for the tip.

CliffordK

If it was me, I'd get something completely different.

You have a good comfort road bike.

Cross Bike? Rain Bike? Touring Bike?

There are lots of good bikes coming out... and I presume selections will change over the next few years.

https://www.rei.com/product/892430/c...d-14-bike-2017
Slate Force CX1 Cannondale Bicycles

Lots of unique option out there. Some of the wide tire bikes are supposed to be pretty quick too.

Anthony2

Strange how that never actually crossed my mind. You're right, though. I'll look into the differences between the others you mentioned and see if any of them spark any interest. After all this push against a race bike, I might just wind up with a race bike. @Dan333SP - I think you may have been onto something prophetic with that whole cash/hole/pocket thing.

PepeM

Wildly inaccurate indeed. More miles =/= more smiles per mile. Just no. Maybe more total smiles, but that is not what we're talking about here.

maartendc

Sounds like you already own a great bike, that is still very new. Just ride it and enjoy it. Why would you buy another, similar bike?

Lt Stonez

You dont need a new bike. You have a exelent frame and proberly all you need is a better wheelset(uppgrading). A good one that you can put on your next bike also.

Anthony2

My objective was not to find a similar bike, it was to find a bike that had double or triple the smoothness, speed and comfort that my current bike has. If there was anything out there that fit the bill, I would have sold my current bike and bought it. If it fell within my budget, of course.

Been down that road before and the general consensus was that the difference between wheelsets was pretty negligible. So I passed on the upgrade, based off of what I was told.

profjmb

How about getting a cross/gravel bike like the Trek Boone? That'll give you something you don't have with your road bike.

Dan333SP

That's the thing, though. It's so hard to quantify smoothness and ride quality. "Speed" is going to be what your legs are capable of, so that's a moot point. I still think oldnslow is right that you should test ride a high-end Domane, just so you can get a feel for what the ride quality is like. It's possible it will actually feel so much better that you have to buy it that day, but based on experience it's more likely that you will barely notice a few little differences and will realize that the bike you have now is excellent and worth keeping for a while, albeit with 28mm tires.

HTupolev

If you want to simultaneously double or triple speed and smoothness, get a motorcycle.