kbinns

Buy a new Madone 6.5 or Cervelo S2.

I ride a minimum of 150 miles a week and do at least 3 fast group rides a week at 25 to 29 mph with sprints to 38mph. I might try racing this coming season and thought I would use the 4.5 Madone for that until I gain some experience. I guess my question is the 4.5 is heavy with saddle bag, computer, and water bottles, 21 lbs to be exact and I am barely 5'6" and 135 lbs. Should I spend any money upgrading the old bike, such as wheels, or get a new one?

BLR_0719

Personally, I'd get a nice new wheelset and race the 4.5. 6.5s are sexy though, as are many of the other bikes in that price range.

fastbub

If you have lots of disposable income then upgrade your bike. If you are tight on money, use the money you would use to upgrade your bike on entry fees, team kits, tires, travel expenses etc. Upgrade components as necessary as you wear out and break stuff. If you are really thinking about racing, all that stuff can really add up and as a new racer, the bike isn't going to hold you back very much.

wrr1020

If your still using the Bontrager wheels that came on the 4.5 i'd look into upgrading that first before upgrading to a brand new bike. The wheels are pretty heavy and you can shave off a lot of weight if your looking to lighten the load. I dropped 1.8 pounds off my Trek 2.1 by upgrading my Bontrager SSR wheels.

longbeachgary

You won't be racing with the saddle bags so that lightens the bike up a bit.

kbinns

Razor eventhough that sounds good, that would put me at almost 4/5 the cost of a new bike.

I forgot to mention in my original post, my 4.5 is a size 50 frame that I bought on closeout. I feel like its a little small and that i should have gone with a size 52. Does 2 cm make much of a difference?

bike_boy

I think your can purchase frame replacement insurance ~ $200 w/Cervelo. I hear Trek gives a discount on purchase of a new frame when turning in
crashed one. Read up on Trek 6.5 carbon steerer tubes as un-approved and improperly installed stems can break them.

You could always just buy either A Trek Or Cervelo frame and move all your components and wheels to it. I almost chose a Cervelo S2 frame, but went
witha Trek 6.5 frame. It's in 15.5 lb range. I have carbon bars & cages, and SRAM Red. I hope to get carbon wheels & saddle, and titanium pedal spindles
to get weight down in 14 lb. range.

kbinns

yeah, I've already raised my seat post up and put on a longer stem as well as flipped it and put 2 out of 3 spacers on top. Sounds like the most popular option is a new set of wheels.

Thanks for the replies guys, Ive been a long time lurker on the forum and now I have more free time, so I figure I will start posting.

jamesdak 

I'll agree with changing the wheels for certain. Those stock wheels are heavy. I'm in the process of saving up for a pair of Rob's wheels myself. I personnally wonder if you'll see much gain for the dollars spent on a new body. I'd look at upgrading components myself. My 2010 4.5's broken frame was warranty replaced with a sweet 2011 Madone 5.9 but the complete bike itself is stil quite heavy with the 4.5's components, wheels, etc. I think the best bang for buck gains are with component upgrades. If my calculations are right Psimet built wheels alone will drop the total weight of the bike by over a pound easily and that's for durable everyday wheels to hold my 185 lbs not light racing wheels. Of course, if I swapped out the Brooks B17 saddle I'd save a ton of weight also but I like a "happy butt".