Sunday, July 17, 2011
Today marks one week since Erik was killed in a cycling accident. Today is also the day that friends, colleagues, and family with gather in Winston-Salem to celebrate his life, share stories, and drink Heineken. Since I am 1) on call, and 2) in Indiana, I won't be there, and I won't be drinking Heineken. So I thought I'd pay homage to Erik by doing a gear post about something he and I both love: the Trek Madone.
Mine looks like this:
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His looked kinda like that, except more manly and about twice as tall.
When I got my Madone about 3 years ago, it was a significant upgrade from my previous road bike, a used and too-small trek 1500. There was nothing wrong with m old bike, but I made some extra money working over the summer, and had an opportunity to get a new bike at a really great deal, so I jumped on the chance.
The Trek Madone 5.2 (2009) is a full carbon fame with Ultegra SL components and Bontrager race Lite wheels. I've kept pretty much everything stock except the handlebar tape, which I switched to teal.
Not having much experience with other full carbon bikes, I can't really compare it to anything else. But I can say that I love it! Other than the fact that its light and snazzy looking and riding smooth, the thing I like most it the geometry. I have a long torso and short legs, so standard geometry means that standover height limits how big a frame I can get, and the top tube length is pretty much universally too short for me. The WSD geometry has a sloping top tube, giving a larger frame size a shorter standover height. My Madone is a full two sizes larger than my previous bike and is WAY more comfortable!
The other thing it does very well is climb. I'm a horrible climber. But with the Madone, I can at least make it up pretty much any mountain without rolling backwards!! In NC, this was important. I needed to know that even if I was totally spent, I could get home through the rolling hills without falling over on the side of the road. Now, living in IN, I don't think this will be as big of a problem...
So there you have it. I love my Madone 5.2 I don't think at my level, anything more expensive would make a bit of difference in my riding. But there is definitely a difference between an old aluminum frame and a solid carbon fiber bike.
And since this is a tribute gear post to Erik (which, PS, I DID start on Friday night during his wake), I'll leave you with this. When he got his used, new-to-him Madone we talked about going for a ride together. I said he'd have to take it easy on me because he'd be way faster with his ridiculously long Scandinavian legs. His response: "You know, you'd think that'd be the case. But it's become clear that they provide absolutely NO kinetic advantage."
Mine looks like this:
His looked kinda like that, except more manly and about twice as tall.
When I got my Madone about 3 years ago, it was a significant upgrade from my previous road bike, a used and too-small trek 1500. There was nothing wrong with m old bike, but I made some extra money working over the summer, and had an opportunity to get a new bike at a really great deal, so I jumped on the chance.
The Trek Madone 5.2 (2009) is a full carbon fame with Ultegra SL components and Bontrager race Lite wheels. I've kept pretty much everything stock except the handlebar tape, which I switched to teal.
Not having much experience with other full carbon bikes, I can't really compare it to anything else. But I can say that I love it! Other than the fact that its light and snazzy looking and riding smooth, the thing I like most it the geometry. I have a long torso and short legs, so standard geometry means that standover height limits how big a frame I can get, and the top tube length is pretty much universally too short for me. The WSD geometry has a sloping top tube, giving a larger frame size a shorter standover height. My Madone is a full two sizes larger than my previous bike and is WAY more comfortable!
The other thing it does very well is climb. I'm a horrible climber. But with the Madone, I can at least make it up pretty much any mountain without rolling backwards!! In NC, this was important. I needed to know that even if I was totally spent, I could get home through the rolling hills without falling over on the side of the road. Now, living in IN, I don't think this will be as big of a problem...
So there you have it. I love my Madone 5.2 I don't think at my level, anything more expensive would make a bit of difference in my riding. But there is definitely a difference between an old aluminum frame and a solid carbon fiber bike.
And since this is a tribute gear post to Erik (which, PS, I DID start on Friday night during his wake), I'll leave you with this. When he got his used, new-to-him Madone we talked about going for a ride together. I said he'd have to take it easy on me because he'd be way faster with his ridiculously long Scandinavian legs. His response: "You know, you'd think that'd be the case. But it's become clear that they provide absolutely NO kinetic advantage."
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