Madone 6.5 WSD

[Andrea]

That's a sweet ride! I love the white spokes, too. If you've got the extra time to keep it clean, you should switch out to some white bar tape... or red if you don't want to worry about dirt (I'm worse about matching bartape/bike color than some women are about matching shoes/purses).

It looks like a really fun bike- hope you get a chance to put it through the wringer soon!

[equus123]

Thanks Andea. I've been trying to decide on the "bar to saddle" color scheme, myself. lol I have a really tough time finding a saddle that fits. Since I've never been on this one I'm not too sure if it will be okay for me. If for some reason it is then I'd like to change the bar tape to white. If not then I'll go with my old faithful black saddle and keep the tape black.

I'm totally the same way. I don't care HOW I dress or if I even match. But don't get in the way with my bike's colors...... lol

[Trekn Teresa]

equus123,

Congratulations on your new bike!
It is sweet! Oh, and I sure enjoyed your
very descriptive review of this bike. Thanks for sharing

I am interested and have been looking
at the Madone 4.5. You mentioned that you are 5'5 inches-
so, may I ask what size frame you got?

Anyway, Enjoy your ride, I know you will share
many, many, many miles and adventures with your new bike.
Again Congratulations.
~ Trekn Teresa ~

[equus123]

equus123,

Congratulations on your new bike!
It is sweet! Oh, and I sure enjoyed your
very descriptive review of this bike. Thanks for sharing

I am interested and have been looking
at the Madone 4.5. You mentioned that you are 5'5 inches-
so, may I ask what size frame you got?

Anyway, Enjoy your ride, I know you will share
many, many, many miles and adventures with your new bike.
Again Congratulations.
~ Trekn Teresa ~

Weird. I could have sworn I replied to this though it didn't show up?

Anyway, thank you Teresa. I ordered a 52 cm frame. I chose that size because I did a one-to-one comparison with my Cannondale R5000's dimensions. The 52 cm Trek matched very closely. I also did that because I was unsure if I should go with the Trek 50 or 52 cm frame.

[Triskeliongirl]

Another option to get the bars lower is to use a stem that angles downwards. Or, if the stem is higher you may just need to go with a longer flat to duplicate the reach on your old bike if you like that look more.

Congrats. She looks like quite the beauty!

[HillSlugger]

Another option to get the bars lower is to use a stem that angles downwards.

Can you flip the stem that's on there so that it angles downward?

Congrats on a beautiful new bike!

[Triskeliongirl]

Can you flip the stem that's on there so that it angles downward?

Congrats on a beautiful new bike!

That's what I meant, although whether it will help depends on how much rise it has. But, that is my suggestion, pick a stem w appropriate 'rise' but turn that rise into a decline by flipping it upside down. But then she may not like how it looks, which is why the option of using a stem that is longer but without rise may do the trick. The idea is to keep the distance from the tip of the saddle to the start of the brake levers the same on both bikes (assuming same saddle and STA), and then the reach will match.

[smilingcat]

Beautiful bike. And a aero shaped seat post/mast. Bit envious.

Many happy miles (collect them preems, collect them ALL )
smilingcat

[Mr. SR500]

You can flip the Bontrager stem either way (it's a beauty). But I would hold off on cutting your steerer until you have your fitting, until then you can simply stack spacers on top of the stem. I think you need to at least use one spacer (2.5 mm), but that with a 17 degree stem (may need a different stem) flipped down sill give you the most seat to bar drop. The top of the headtube on the new Madones is 30 mm higher then previous models, unless you go with the "Pro", but I'm not sure if you can get a Pro in a WSD. A smaller frame can also give you some more drop, but you made need the taller seat post cap and a longer stem.

P.S. Why not get the fit on the Madone rather then your current bike?

[equus123]

You can flip the Bontrager stem either way (it's a beauty). But I would hold off on cutting your steerer until you have your fitting, until then you can simply stack spacers on top of the stem. I think you need to at least use one spacer (2.5 mm), but that with a 17 degree stem (may need a different stem) flipped down sill give you the most seat to bar drop. The top of the headtube on the new Madones is 30 mm higher then previous models, unless you go with the "Pro", but I'm not sure if you can get a Pro in a WSD. A smaller frame can also give you some more drop, but you made need the taller seat post cap and a longer stem.

P.S. Why not get the fit on the Madone rather then your current bike?

Thank you for all of that advice. I was definitely going to wait in cutting the steerer tube.

I'm going to wait to fit the Madone because I just figured it would be easier to dial in on my current fit that I've had for the past year on my other bike. But now that I think about it more, I guess it really doesn't make too much of a difference? I just went back and re-read the email I got back from our team's coach (who's going to be doing the fitting) and he suggested waiting to fit the new bike so we know bar, stem, etc. to build on the new one. But the more I think about it, it wouldn't really matter because the geometries are so different, it wouldn't be possible to use the exact same stem or whatever between both bikes. Right?

Hmmmmm.......

[Andrea]

Thanks Andea. I've been trying to decide on the "bar to saddle" color scheme, myself. lol I have a really tough time finding a saddle that fits. Since I've never been on this one I'm not too sure if it will be okay for me. If for some reason it is then I'd like to change the bar tape to white. If not then I'll go with my old faithful black saddle and keep the tape black.

I'm totally the same way. I don't care HOW I dress or if I even match. But don't get in the way with my bike's colors...... lol

Sella Italia offers a decent selection of solid red & solid white saddles. The white one with white bar tape would be freakin' SWEET on that bike! I'm drooling a little just thinking about it...
Whatever you do, be sure to put some update pics up!

Oh yeah, and I don't care much for matching clothes, either! T-shirt, jeans, & retired running shoes are my uniform!

[lph]

Yowza. What a GORGEOUS bike. And a terrific description of the ride, very evocative.

Reminded me of Paul Simons: "He makes it look so easy, look so clean, he moves like God's immaculate machine" (One-trick pony)