Originally Posted by PaulRivers

Thanks for writing back, glad to hear it was useful.

They sell the SL5 with the same level of carbon frame for $500 less, it's in white, spec'd lower with 105 and such, but 105 11 speed is also good. It's not usually available yet, but fyi. I don't really like white, so I'm leaning towards the black one you rode though... :-)

Of the 15 bikes or so I rode, I thought the Emonda had the best ride and was the best overall package. It was definitely the smoothest bike I rode of everything in reducing or eliminating road bumps and road buzz. A few other bikes - the Giant Defy, the steel Volagi, had funner handling I thought, but weren't nearly as good at vibration reduction through the bars. The Trek Domane supposedly has the smoothest ride, but it's very dead feeling, and the Emonda's ride is more fun and has more road feel. I'm not even sure I think the Domane is actually smoother, but I didn't do a close enough comparison to say for sure.

I keep waiting for the Emonda to come back into stock around where I live...