Originally Posted by
Lombard
The Pilot 5.0 immediately felt more compliant and didn't have as much road buzz. I have a feeling they let some air out of the tires to make it feel smoother as I now know that frame material affects ride feel very little. Could be geometry was a little different as well which CAN affect ride feel. They took $600 off to sweeten the deal, so I got a $2400 bike for $1800. Knowing little at the time, I bit.
There was nothing odd about the geometry of the Pilot, certainly when compared to the Specialized Roubaix. I started working for a Trek/Specialized dealer in 2008, and wrenching full-time around 2010. We saw very few Pilots coming in for tune-ups or warranty claims. Next to the hype around the Roubaix, it's easy to guess why they weren't a big seller. One regular member of our Saturday group ride had one. He eventually retired it for a Domane.
I totally skipped over the "buzzy aluminum" generation, migrating from steel directly to low mid-grade carbon. I was immediately impressed by the damping effect of carbon forks. A few years ago I rented some newer alloy bikes, a Giant Defy and a BMC Teammachine ALR. Neither were what I'd call buzzy, and I wouldn't have hesitated to make the BMC my main ride.