Originally Posted by
HarborBandS
I have a large network of "rails to trails" crushed limestone bike trails running through the center of my town, and am getting tired of nearly getting picked off by inattentive drivers on the roads, so I have been looking at "gravel bikes" or endurance/touring bikes with greater clearance to make greater use of the trail system. I do notice that the vibration from gravel trails affects my hands and wrists as I get older, so the IsoSpeed decoupler is something I am interested in (and this is coming from a guy who used to race hard-tail mountain bikes in the '90's). I thought dialing in the bike fit would fix the issue, but it hasn't.
I recently tested a Checkpoint at a local bike shop. I am about 195 lbs these days, and really powered in to some sprints, but didn't notice any undesirable flex. To be honest, I didn't notice the IsoSpeed decoupler at all. If it does anything at all, it is very subtle. But I was only able to try it on some paved roadways and a mildly sloping hill, so perhaps the effects are more pronounced on bumpier terrain. My main criticism is that the bike is a bit heavy for full carbon. But the Checkpoint still appeals to me since I have found 35's or 38's to be optimal tire widths on our crushed limestone paths, and I could have a second wheelset with 28's on it for road rides. And it's hard to nitpick a couple pounds of bike when I could stand to lose 15 pounds off my body.
It seems to me that the only advantage of the Checkpoint over the Domane is greater tire clearance. Trek had a "Domane Gravel" a year or two ago, and it was panned for lacking clearance for larger tires. But with the Domane, you get the front IsoSpeed and have a few more options.
I had the same issue with vibration in my arms and hands too. I test-rode the Domane and Roubaix and ended up getting the Roubaix; you might want to check it out too. Personally, I thought the FutureShock worked a lot better for reducing vibration in the handlebars than the Domane's front IsoSpeed, but different people have different preferences. I also somehow felt like the Domane was just slower; not sure why.
The other big advantage of the Checkpoint over the Domane, IIRC, is that the Checkpoint has a bunch of mounts on it for a rear rack, extra water bottle cages, etc., that the Domane does not have, so you can take it bike-camping if you want. But it's a heavier bike than the Domane.
I like to ride on crushed-gravel trails too, and I've found the 28mm tires (actually 30mm when I measure them with my calipers) on my Roubaix seem to be sufficient.
And a big thank-you to our moderator for banning Campag4life from this thread. Honestly, I'm really sick of that guy butting into every single thread about endurance bikes, and blathering on endlessly telling everyone how we don't need them, when he doesn't even have one of these bikes and has probably never ridden one. I wish they'd just ban him from the whole board if he can't shut up about how much he hates "gimmicks" (i.e., new technology). It's not a one-time outburst with him, it's constant; I've been watching him do this endlessly ever since I joined this board. It's really made it so I don't even want to read stuff here because I'm so sick of him bashing stuff with long message after long message about stuff he hates.