I normally don't worry much about crunching a frame, but I gave this one some thought before taking it out to the Driveway just 6 days after building it up. There were 2 wrecks in the first 5 minutes of the 3/4 race and I kept thinking "just get through week one and Murphy will go away after that". It was fine and I'm just not going to stress about it. I can't see having a bike like this and not racing it.

As a long-time Specialized fan, I must say I'm pretty impressed with Trek. I did the "project 1" program where you can customize the bike. With the paint I picked (matte white, minimal logos), it only cost me $100 more than a standard "non-custom" frame. It took me less than 3 weeks to take delivery. You also have the opportunity to pick from different seatpost setback and handlebar width and reach (since there is no separate stem). I'm not sure whether that's part of buying a standard frame or not, but it's something you certainly want to get right. If your reach is off, you are looking at $600 to buy a new "stem" (ie complete handlebar). The bike is extremely well thought out and assembly was surprisingly easy with all the integrated stuff and internal cabling.