Originally Posted by
Red7
Hmm, another thing I'm wondering about is how the crank arm comes into play. Over the past week I've come across several articles stating that road bikes don't need as long of crank arms as mountain bikes where we can use the extra torque for short bursts over a rock or up a steep trail section. These articles stated that road bikers should run substantially shorter crank arms than what is "normal". I'm not sure how true it is but it made me wonder if I were to get the 2016 Domane 4.0 and eventually upgrade to a Ultrega goupset, if going to maybe a 170mm chainset would keep me from having to slide the seat forward to put my knee right over the pedal spindle. Making smaller circles might help my knees and make the 56cm feel more roomy when pedaling, not that it felt uncomfortably tight.
Thanks for your comments. They agree with everything I've been thinking about. The price is good enough on the 2016 Domane that I can buy it, use it this summer and then if I know I'm really getting into road cycling, I could probably sell it for about what I've paid.
Coming from a mtb background, I think comfort is going to play a big role in how much I enjoy longer road rides. So I'm thinking at minimum I want to get some better quality and wider tires but don't know how much better the 32mm would be than 28mm. The 2018 SL 5 had isospeed front and back and 28mm tires. I wonder if 32mm would give me a comparable ride without isospeed compared to 28's on the SL 5 with isospeed up front? I'm not sure if I could run 32mm with the stock wheels or if I'd need to go to wider wheels. Whatever upgrades I make to this bike I want to make sure that they are ones that I could move over to a new bike if I later upgrade so I could see maybe investing in some affordable carbon wheels at some point (maybe Far Sports or Yoeleo cheap but good quality Chinese).
I do think if I'm buying a new Trek in the future I will go with the 58cm as it does seem like the better size for me but I should be able to get this 56cm close in the meantime.