Well, checked out the Specialized today. Helluva nice bike. I was definitely a fan of it. The SRAM Apex is something I could certainly get used to. The bike, as expected, rode great. Would I say it was better than the Trek? Nah. Too close to call... but both were solid rides.

The one thing I was confused over is the Specialized I rode was a 56cm, which felt great. The 54 felt a little on the small side. The Trek 2.1 H3 was a 54, and I remember getting on a 56 by Trek and feeling entirely too stretched out and thinking there is NO way I could ride a 56 (I'm 5 foot 10.5"). But when I got on this 56 it felt great... Comparing the geometry specs, in particular the top tube, reveals that the Trek and Specialized are only 5mm apart (comparing Secteur Elite Apex and 2.1 H2). What the? The difference I felt I don't remember being 5mm, I thought I remember it feeling like a 5 inch difference or something crazy. I can only assume maybe the Trek 56 I tested had a longer stem, so I'm going to give that another go, but like I said, 56 H2 this time around and hopefully a comparable 90mm stem.

So now my goal is tomorrow, I want to check out the Trek 2.1 again.

One thing that kind of disappointed me was the Elite Apex didn't have an external crankset. I guess I just expected all bikes in the 1k + category to have it, but this one did not. Kind of put me off about it. I still liked the bike though, but I want to check out that Trek again... and especially after riding the 56 Specialized I want to check it out even more...