which trek?

showry

Hi all,
I'm looking to upgrade from my '04 Giant TCR2.
I've a fairly limited budget and want to buy from my LBS.
I'm looking at either a Trek 1.9 or a Madone 4.5.
The difference is about 300 euro, with full ultegra on both.

Is the Madone worth the extra 300? I've been reading up on it and apparently it's not the same carbon as the rest of the Madone range so might not have too much to offer me.
I'll be using it for weekend club spins, club leagues and ROK, Sean Kelly, WW 200 etc.

Any advice appreciated.
Cheers
Showry

penexpers

Sorry but "fairly limited budget" and "madone 4.5" don't really go well together

ridertothesea

Trek 520 all the way.

12kg of steel

steel is real, baby, steel is real.

showry

penexpers wrote: »

Sorry but "fairly limited budget" and "madone 4.5" don't really go well together

so it's a no brainer then?

zzzzzzzz

If I had the choice between the two I'd take the madone.

I'd be interested to know how much lighter the carbon frame is over the 1.9 frame though.

Just comparing the two on the trek website - you seem to be getting a good deal if you're getting full ultegra on the madone and it's only 300 yoyos more...

http://www.trekbikes.com/uk/en/bikes/compare/#/madone45,19e,empty

blorg

Definitely take the Madone if it is only €300 difference. Yes it is most certainly worth it. Bear in mind though that the 4.5 as far as I know is 105 rather than Ultegra. I'd still take it over the full Ultegra 1.9 (you can always upgrade) but if it has already been upgraded it is even more of a bargain.

http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/bikes/road/product/madone-45-08-29372

The only difference with the 4.x Madones is that the carbon is made in Taiwan rather than the US. There is nothing whatsoever wrong with this. The geometry etc. is the same. I had a made-in-Taiwan Trek 5000 and it was a very nice bike indeed, and soaked up road vibration far more than the aluminium Treks.

showry

blorg wrote: »

Definitely take the Madone if it is only €300 difference. Yes it is most certainly worth it. Bear in mind though that the 4.5 as far as I know is 105 rather than Ultegra. I'd still take it over the full Ultegra 1.9 (you can always upgrade) but if it has already been upgraded it is even more of a bargain.

http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/bikes/road/product/madone-45-08-29372

The only difference with the 4.x Madones is that the carbon is made in Taiwan rather than the US. There is nothing whatsoever wrong with this. The geometry etc. is the same. I had a made-in-Taiwan Trek 5000 and it was a very nice bike indeed, and soaked up road vibration far more than the aluminium Treks.

cheers lads,
yeah, there's 105 on it at the moment but the price I got was for him putting Ultegra on it,

decrrrrrr

Where are you looking to buy, are these the 09 Trek Models and can you share the exact prices that you are being quoted...?

Dec

showry

decrrrrrr wrote: »

Where are you looking to buy, are these the 09 Trek Models and can you share the exact prices that you are being quoted...?

Dec

I'm in the south east and I'm fairly sure they're the 08 models.
The prices I got included the trade-in on my own so I'm not sure what the retail price is.

Quigs Snr

Like I said earlier Showry, thats a good deal for the 08 Madone. Especially with full Ultegra (especially the chainset, apparently the bike comes with <spit> Bontrager chainset as standard). They say its a lower grade of carbon and low end as carbon bikes go. Marketing crap. It uses TCT carbon instead of the OCLV. Big deal, made in taiwan rather than wisconson, again, big deal, just like 90% of every frame in the peleton then !. It still has treks 15 year warranty too. I love the way they try to market it to the more leisure rider as if its not a race bike. Cervelo do the same with their R3 RS frame. And surprise, surprise there are riders on the CSC team who rode the RS instead of the racy R3 and soloist because it just suit them better.

The trek is a fine bike. I love my 9 year old trek 5500 and the Madone 4.5 is probably a better package than that even though the 5500 was the best of the best in its day - as demonstrated by Mr Armstrong in 99, 00 and 01 in France. You know that yourself, I turned up on it a good few times for your clubs league races when I had a pimped out Cervelo R3 SL available also !

I think its fair to say you are getting a pretty special deal, perhaps on account of your clubs association with the shop in question. You are getting a fair price on your own machine too, a lot of the expensive parts were reaching the end of their useful life and you got good use out of it last year champ, plus you are nearly getting your money back on the old bike if I recall the original price.

The trouble (personal reservations about Bontrager stuff aside) with the 1.9 is the frame. Its a pretty paintjob but at the end of the day its still Treks entry level bike with a better groupset attached. I don't think its a real upgrade on what you have, especially considering that it clocks in at a scale busting 9kg or so. Hardly much of an upgrade on your TCR...