robbyville

Let not the haters detract, and shed no tears for beautiful vintage Trek bikes which are also welcome.

Mostly I feel bad for posting on someone else's thread and had not seen one of these in a while (and yes, truth be told I'm a little bored). I've enjoyed many other bikes but frankly none have fit me as well as this one even though it may not look as cool as others.

My Bike pictured here:
Trek Domane 5.9 frame (52), hung with Dura Ace 9070, Enve stem, Ritchey Carbon Curve bar, Lizard Skins 3.2 tape, Specialized Toupe RBX saddle, and November RFSC 38 wheels with Chris King hubs and Bontrager R3 tires.

The Stem has since been flipped as I adjust my posture. I've also put on my winter wheels which are Bontrager Race Lite tubeless with R3 Tubeless tires.

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DaveWC

Here's my Madone 7.9 with Ultegra Di2, Selle Italia SLR Superflow and Boyd 50m clinchers w Powertap Pro+ wheels. Bought it last September and have put over 13,000 kms on it so far.

robbyville

wow that's a stunner! Project 1 custom paint?

DaveWC

It was Project 1 and I chose the paint, but it was just one of the standard choices.

floridamtb

For all of the Trek haters out there here's a novel idea... I rode several brands and chose the bike that had the best feel, components etc. When all things were tied between the Trek and Specialized the best bike shop won out.

Trek Madone 4.5

robbyville

Ditto, I had a beautiful Ridley before this, loved it (and it fared well in the Hot or Not thread), but I just could not get it to fit right no matter how much I tried. But the Trek just had it right for my age, posture, riding style.

Still, I've never posted this one in that thread, my ego just couldn't handle it, even with my stem now back to normal!

DaveWC

The best idea is to just ignore them. I've never experienced anyone hating on my bike when I'm out riding. Mind you I'd have to look backwards to notice.

floridamtb

OK here's a question not really related to the thread... how is that you get the large format image loaded? I tried loading from a photobucket.com URL and it keeps saying the image is too large, if I upload image from computer it only shows a thumbnail.

Nice bike btw!!

Thanks

DaveWC

I'm not uploading the image. There's no reason to. When you click the image button choose the "From URL" tab and give it the URL for your photobucket account. Mind you I skip that altogether and just type in the (IMG) and (/IMG) (using square brackets of course) and paste the jpg URL within.

floridamtb

I know... it's odd how when someone posts a question like "what bike should I buy" all these people say buy the one that rides the best and so on. But then you do that and pick a Trek and you're evil. I guess it's related to Lance, fahk Lance, I wouldn't buy a bike or any other product based on anyone that uses it (except for a friend that I trust). I currently have 3 Treks (road, MTB and comfort) and my girlfriend has a Trek comfort bike. I've had 4 other Treks in the past. I'm a loyal customer BUT if the Specialized had really felt that much better I would have bought it. But the Madone was a better bike with better components and the 2 local Trek bike store staffs are incredible. But like you said, if they give me funny looks I'd have to turn around to see, especially on our "hills" otherwise known as drawbridges here in South Florida (I came from Northern California and still climb like a billygoat).

floridamtb

I tried loading from URL but get a "image too large" error on a 800x600 image. But typing like you said, hey it works! THANKS!!!!!

areFish

My budget conscious 1.2 w/ Mavic Aksium wheelset and Continental Grand Prix clinchers.

Ghost Ryder

When you attach you pics from URL just unchecked the check box before you upload... Viola.

floridamtb

THANKS!!! That has been a burning question for me for a while

DGlenday

Hey - when did you take my bike out for a spin?!?

(I have the same bike - a Madone 4.5 with mostly Ultegra.) I plan to upgrade my factory-spec boat anchor wheels some time, and get an Ultegra crank...

floridamtb

Nice choice of bikes!! I bought mine at the end of July and have put 1355 miles on it so far. The wheels are ok for my purpose, if there was anything more than a 75 foot tall drawbridge around I might spend the money on some lighter wheels. At least they are Bontrager wheels and not "Bontrager Approved" wheels like the 3 series has. I'll probably spend the money to get a little bit better saddle or a Garmin.

robbyville

When you do change out the wheels it might still be worth it to convert them to tubeless. Here's mine just prior to a quick ride today posed playfully in the snow we made last night.

I bought a set of the Bontrager Race Lite's tubeless for a Fondo I was in that had a ton of uphill gravel riding and I gotta say the ride quality coupled with the wider brake track has been fantastic. I also added a remote shifter on the bar tops for that same ride which has been great fun to shift from the tops.

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DGlenday

Thanks - I've been thinking about tubeless. My factory spec wheels are tubeless-ready, but I haven't made the switch because I have a few un-answered and admittedly un-asked questions:

- What if you get a really bad puncture - how easy / hard is it to do roadside repairs?

- Seems to me that pumping up a tubeless from scratch is a challenge..?

- What about weight and rolling resistance? I ride 23s pumped to 120 (!!) to hopefully enhance speed, and simply don't worry too much about comfort. I do that on short rides (like 15km TTs) as well as long rides (like rando rides and a 300-mile / 20-hour race).


Incidentally - 2 years ago, my LBS was talking everyone into tubeless. They've changed their tune, though, and are back into clinchers. Next time I'm there, I'll ask them what was behind that change of heart.

Lasrsktr

Sealant should take care of most punctures, but the beauty of Tubeless is the fact that it can be converted to tubes if needed. So most guys i know that go for a long ride still carry a tube for emergencies...

But for the most part sealant takes care of most punctures.

~Steven

robbyville

Well I imagine there are a few issues...

Big hole that sealant won't fix, you would just pop a tube in, the downside is that the tires are incredibly hard to put on. Some of the manufacturers have worked on this, apparently hutchison has a new hand friendly tire. I will say that at the fondo I was speaking of there were no less than 30 people on the side of the gravel road working on punctures whereas I was hunky dory.

Weight of tire is definitely a factor for some, and I definitely wouldn't use them during race or TT but many do. The Bontrager R3 tubeless is not much heavier than 220g so that is pretty light, add the sealant and it's a tiny bit heavier but no tube takes out about 55g too! Still some of the rims are heavier and some are not.

Price of tire is certainly a challenge but for me it's totally been worthwhile and new tires are hitting the marketplace at more affordable rates.

I think many people and shops drank the Kool Aid a few years back and the wheels/tires simply didn't deliver well, but the newer generation certainly seems to. I have used my floor pump to pump up my tires with no problems, but I have heard that it helps to seat the tires with a compressor first.

I'd say that they have been the single largest differentiator in ride quality and cornering for me but some of that certainly comes from the wider rim as well. When I upgrade to the November Rail (hopefully sometime in my near future), I've read that they have been set up tubeless, if that's the case I'll probably give it a try.

Gramercy

I have the exact same bike so I'm not going to post a picture, but why did you change the wheels? How do they compare to the stock ones?

areFish

Although I haven't weighed them, in the hand, this Mavic feels a tad lighter than the stock Bontrager Approved wheel. A friend had these wheels ('09 model), with one ride on them, laying around. I swapped him for a pair of raffle won Oakleys. Makes it my $20 wheelset.

iamtim

I've owned many Treks and I don't rightly care if others like them or not. I ride them for me, not anyone else. Here's my most recent one: it's a 2000 Trek 5200 in USPS team colors. It's my first CF frame and holy hell am I loving it; I take back everything I've ever said about CF frames.



Sorry for the Instagram-filtered shot, I haven't had it long enough to take any good pics.

My son just bought a brand new Trek Madone... 2.5 (I think). It's a really nice bike; he's put his Bontrager Aeolus front wheel on it; as soon as he gets the rear wheel hubbed for 11 speed he'll put that one on as well.

midschool22

My 2011 5.2 Madone.

Ghost Ryder

How are those aeolus? Weight, performance, etc.
I can get a set for cheap.