Cervolo or Trek

Cipo said:

Hello Everyone

After a spill a couple of weeks ago I can add a cracked frame to my crackd elbow and cracked thumb.

I'm looking at a cervolo R25 or Trek 5200

Any thoughts or opinions?

Thanks

Cip

you'll get 20 for one and 20 for the other, each swearing their choice is the only legitimate option.

IMHO, the 2.5. Serious road [censored]. 😄

Recent Cervelo buyer here, so I'm obviously biased. 🙂

I researched the purchase of my new frame for a long time (I chose the steel "Superprodigy"😉, and what impressed me about Cervelo is that they seem to have developed a fantastic reputation in the few years they've been around (about 7 or 8), and they've only been producing road frames for about half that time (they started doing time-trial bikes). I've hardly read a bad review or heard a bad word about them.

I was also impressed by the performance of almost all of their frames in the EFBe strength test done by a company in Germany: http://www.efbe.de/defbefrm.htm (click on "English version", then "Road frames New 06/2004", and scroll down).

My two cents 🙂

531Aussie said:

Recent Cervelo buyer here, so I'm obviously biased. 🙂

I researched the purchase of my new frame for a long time (I chose the steel "Superprodigy"😉, and what impressed me about Cervelo is that they seem to have developed a fantastic reputation in the few years they've been around (about 7 or 8), and they've only been producing road frames for about half that time (they started doing time-trial bikes). I've hardly read a bad review or heard a bad word about them.

I was also impressed by the performance of almost all of their frames in the EFBe strength test done by a company in Germany: http://www.efbe.de/defbefrm.htm (click on "English version", then "Road frames New 06/2004", and scroll down).

My two cents 🙂

Cervelo Soloist rider here (and Colnago carbon). I love the bike, wouldn't even consider a Trek. To prove my unbiased opinion, I will add that I think the Cervelo guys are a little surly, and somewhat uncooperative, at times. Most of my communication with them has been annoying in one way or another.

Cipo said:

Hello Everyone

After a spill a couple of weeks ago I can add a cracked frame to my crackd elbow and cracked thumb.

I'm looking at a cervolo R25 or Trek 5200

Any thoughts or opinions?

Thanks

Cip

Hey Cipo,

For what' it's worth. I just built up an r 2.5 with full DA-10. I used to ride a soloist, but finally decided to move to a carbon frame. I haven't regretted a single moment on that bike. I just wish i had switched sooner. I've never ridden a trek, but from what i hear, the Madonne is a deader ride (more shock absorbing ride than the r2.5). I don't know what the laternal stiffness is like on treks, but the the R2.5 feels even more lively and responsive than my soloist. It's just as stiff laterly as my solist, but the lighter weight make it feel that much more lively.

If you do decide on the R2.5, a couple of tips. Make sure you get a '04/'05 frame. They say there is almost a 200 gram difference between the newer ones and the older ones. ('03's) The best way to tell if the frames are the newer ones is to check in the rear derailer drop outs for a SN#. Apparently the older models do not have a serial number stamped in.

The R2.5's have gained some reputation for durability as they seem to been holding up well in crashes with the CSC riders usually finishing the race on the same frames they started with.

Bottom line for me was the solist fit me like a glove. So I didn't want to fool around with different geometries. Hence the R2.5 and i Love it. Only thing is they can be tough to find.

And.... there are thousand of people out there on Treks and a few on Cervelo's. Dare to be different.

dericious13 said:

Hey Cipo,

For what' it's worth. I just built up an r 2.5 with full DA-10. I used to ride a soloist, but finally decided to move to a carbon frame. I haven't regretted a single moment on that bike. I just wish i had switched sooner. I've never ridden a trek, but from what i hear, the Madonne is a deader ride (more shock absorbing ride than the r2.5). I don't know what the laternal stiffness is like on treks, but the the R2.5 feels even more lively and responsive than my soloist. It's just as stiff laterly as my solist, but the lighter weight make it feel that much more lively.

If you do decide on the R2.5, a couple of tips. Make sure you get a '04/'05 frame. They say there is almost a 200 gram difference between the newer ones and the older ones. ('03's) The best way to tell if the frames are the newer ones is to check in the rear derailer drop outs for a SN#. Apparently the older models do not have a serial number stamped in.

The R2.5's have gained some reputation for durability as they seem to been holding up well in crashes with the CSC riders usually finishing the race on the same frames they started with.

Bottom line for me was the solist fit me like a glove. So I didn't want to fool around with different geometries. Hence the R2.5 and i Love it. Only thing is they can be tough to find.

renoster said:

And.... there are thousand of people out there on Treks and a few on Cervelo's. Dare to be different.

Although, there's a reason there are thousands of people on Treks. They're great bike at a reasonable price point...

Dean