Buying my second road bike; I need some advice. My first was a Terry Symmetry and it was a sweet ride but was way too small for me; she now belongs to a good owner who fits her well. I narrowed down my choices to the 09 Trek Madone 4.5 Compact and the 09 Specialized Ruby Comp Compact. Here’s my dilemma: one LBS sized me as a 52cm on the Trek. Test drove it and it felt pretty good. Another LBS sized me as a 54cm on the Specialized. I did a test drive and that felt good but stem needed to be shorter. I also test drove a 51 cm in the Specialized and the 51 cm felt too small. I rode an 09 Trek Madone 6.5 Compact during my triathlon last Sunday; that was a sweet ride! It was 54 cm and it felt pretty good but the stem needed to be shorter.

Should I go for the 52 cm Trek Madone 4.5 or the Specialized Ruby Comp in 54 cm? Specialized sizes jump from 51 cm to 54 cm. I’m leaning toward the Specialized Ruby Comp since it’s about $500 less and the two bikes have almost the same components (Shimano 105 components on the Specialized and Shimano 105 components on the Trek with Shimano Ultegra rear derailleaur).

Thanks in advance!