Originally Posted by
camhabib
That sounds about right to what I was told earlier today. Something like the front half the the bike is maintained from the previous generation (stiffer) while the back was redesigned for this year to be a little more comfortable. I thought it was pretty good to be honest with you. The R3 I tested was far too squishy, but the S3 seemed just stiff enough for me. I'm only 130lbs so I doubt I will really be flexing the frame that much.
As for the wheels, I rather something just factory built for now, instead of custom. Basically my four choices are between the Bontrager, Mavic, Shimano, and Zipp. What's my best bet between those four brands? I've heard some great things about those Zipp 404's, as well as some not so great stuff.
I'm pretty sure the S3's rear triangle is taken off the R3... they combined the SLC-SL and R3-SL into the S3. The S3 probably 'feels' stiffer than the R3 because of the downtube. The R3 is a very stiff frame... nothing squishy about it IMO. It does 'bounce' a tad over really rough roads - but that's due to the rear triangle design.
If you want factory built, and I'm going to assume clinchers, I'd be getting Reynolds DV46C's.... 404 clinchers are too heavy IMO.,, especially if you're going to go all out and build an S-3.