Soldato
Hi guys, it's time to replace the current steed with something a little more serious and was hoping for some recommendations with a budget of around £2500. Full ultegra minimum and an aero frame would be preferably, but not if it compromises on weight as climbing performance is more important to me. £2500 budget would need to include a decent set of mid depth carbon clinchers (not interested in tubs).
I originally had my heart set on the allez sprint expert (i actually have one ordered) with a set of decent carbon wheels, but i have recently been second guessing my choice and questioning whether such an aggressive bike would be suitable for every day. I'm starting to think doing 80-100 miles on what is essentially a crit bike could be rather unpleasant.
At the weekend i rode a specialized tarmac elite, and was left rather underwhelmed. I didn't particularly like the handling (it felt twitchy) and it didn't really feel much stiffer than several Ali frames i've tried.
I then tested a Trek emonda SL 6 pro and was blown away. While it's slightly out of budget at £2700, it does seem very good value considering its such a high end frame, full ultegra and comes with very well reviewed metron 40's. I loved it so much i was standing at the till, bike in one hand and wallet in the other. My sensible side prevailed and i walked out knowing there were a few other bikes i wanted to try first.
I have a Giant propel advanced pro 2 booked out all day saturday and am very interested to see how it performs compared to the emonda.
My question to you (at last), what else should i be looking at? I've considered the emonda ALR with a decent wheel set, and although i'm really not sold on the look of the bike, its very hard to ignore the reviews of the CAAD12 that are being slapped in my face left, right and centre.
Thoughts?
I originally had my heart set on the allez sprint expert (i actually have one ordered) with a set of decent carbon wheels, but i have recently been second guessing my choice and questioning whether such an aggressive bike would be suitable for every day. I'm starting to think doing 80-100 miles on what is essentially a crit bike could be rather unpleasant.
At the weekend i rode a specialized tarmac elite, and was left rather underwhelmed. I didn't particularly like the handling (it felt twitchy) and it didn't really feel much stiffer than several Ali frames i've tried.
I then tested a Trek emonda SL 6 pro and was blown away. While it's slightly out of budget at £2700, it does seem very good value considering its such a high end frame, full ultegra and comes with very well reviewed metron 40's. I loved it so much i was standing at the till, bike in one hand and wallet in the other. My sensible side prevailed and i walked out knowing there were a few other bikes i wanted to try first.
I have a Giant propel advanced pro 2 booked out all day saturday and am very interested to see how it performs compared to the emonda.
My question to you (at last), what else should i be looking at? I've considered the emonda ALR with a decent wheel set, and although i'm really not sold on the look of the bike, its very hard to ignore the reviews of the CAAD12 that are being slapped in my face left, right and centre.
Thoughts?
that said I would still expect it to be notably faster having equated for this 
