Originally Posted by
MikeEckhaus
Congrats on ordering the bike. I have a Caledonia 5 in silver with Ultegra Di2, and I love it. Came from a first generation Trek Domane, which just had the rear IsoSpeed. I didn’t like the new Domane with all the extra gimmicks, and the Caledonia was plenty endurance-ish for me while still retaining some sporty handling and zero extra gimmicks. Ordered in October, got it in March (had other bikes, so that was ok for me) and I’ve had no problems at all with the bike. I’ve done several 5+ hour rides so far, and it’s plenty comfortable for me. Hope you get yours quickly and love it.
Hi, I visited this thread from a couple months back, as I am seriously considering a Caledonia. Appreciated all the comments here. The one thing that has me pausing is about all the new bikes with the “gimmicks”, particularly the Domane IsoSpeed and Specialized’s FutureShock. There is no way I can do a direct comparison of bikes in this marketplace, and I honestly haven’t ridden a “modern” carbon bike. I’m on an aluminum frame from almost 20 years ago.
I need a road bike with endurance geometry, and I’d like wide tires. So while I like the Caledonia, I wonder if I’d be buying a bike with old tech; i.e., in five years will all endurance bikes having some kind of shock absorption? Or are these really gimmicks that just add complexity, weight, and little in results? The roads around my house are good, but I want it try and do longer rides (4-6 hours on the bike). I have neck issues and neck pain is the thing that gets to me first after 3+ hours, so geometry matters a lot.
Since you have experience with the Domane and the Caledonia, are features like IsoSpeed mostly unnecessary? Do you miss it? Any thoughts would be appreciated.