Was pretty close to buying an emonda and LBS was pretty cool and let me take a bunch of bikes on a decent test rides...not just parking lot laps. Also a Specialized dealer so got to put an allez dsw comp through its paces too. First, I would slot the ALR firmly between the S and SL carbon frames. My guess it's cheaper to go with aluminum than the previous 400 series carbon they were using so from a marketing standpoint it made more sense for trek to slot it in there.

between the alr and the allez dsw, I felt that the bottom bracket area was a bit stiffer on the Trek...I'm not the sveltest of people (6'1''-2'' and 205) and when I was pushing a big gear or out of the saddle i could feel the allez flexing a bit...how much that would affect my everyday biking and enjoyment of the bike is debatable...I don't sprint that hard and my climbs are mostly moderate. So as to whether the ALR5 is the ultimate value, it really depends on the individual. I didn't end up with an emonda, but did get a different trek h2 frame...basically it came down to fit. A 60cm H2 was fairly perfect starting position for me that I could get lower and more aggressive on as I progress, whereas specialized and caad 58s were a little too small and I was way too stretched out on 61s. The shop had a guru fit machine which let me feel how different stem height/lengths/angles and saddle adjustments would actually affect my position. The tweaks I'd have to make between being in a super comfortable upright position to fairly aggressive was literally a couple spacers and a stem flip on the trek, whereas I'd have to swap seat post and stems on allez and caad....When it comes down to it, a bike can have all the right components on it and an amazing price, but if it doesn't fit, the $200 you saved really doesn't mean anything.