I recently purchased my first road bike, upgrading from a Hybrid. At first I was looking at a Trek Emonda SL 6 with Ultegra and Disc brakes (though I think they were cable). I was pretty excited about it when the sales person showed it to me and we talked about how great it was. But then I started to do a little research and decided on a Emonda ALR 6 with Ultegra and Rim brakes, with a great Aeolus wheel set. The difference in weight was minimal, about 1/4 a pound, I liked the idea of Aluminum over Carbon and frankly at 58 I'm not going to break any speed records out there except for my own. I decided that the ALR6 was the bike I wanted at the price (which was substantially less than the SL6) I wanted to pay. Would that be anyone else's decision? Maybe, maybe not. But this is what I wanted, and that's really all that matters. Get what you think is best for you.