I sat on a 52cm Tarmac Comp. Hated it. It felt really uncomfortable--I kept wanting to sit off the back of the saddle--and the ride wasn't so great. It rode, well, like a Comp-level frame, though they put me on it more for sizing. That made me feel a lot better about getting my comp frame back from Calfee. It's just not worth the repair cost when I'd much rather be riding my S-works.

They didn't have any of the new Roubaix in my size. They wanted to put me on a Ruby Comp next. I said no. They said it would be for sizing (it may have been a 52 also--waaaay too small--my Roubaix is comparable to a 56!). I said no, I have tried WSD bikes. They don't fit. I don't like them. It is a waste of time. So then one of my buddies in the shop said, hey, I'll bring in my new Tarmac (the Pro SL) tomorrow if you want to come back and ride it. His is a 54.

So I went in today to sit on his bike. We just swapped out seatposts and pedals. It was awesome. I thought his gears would be too hard for me, because he has a standard crankset with a 12-23 or 12-25. It climbed this one steep hill right by the shop pretty well. On the flats, I felt like I was FLYING, especially on the way home after I'd gotten used to it. He had no spacers on it and a 120mm stem. I felt really comfortable except for his 44cm bars. They were so wide! I ride 38s. I think the bars made it hard for me to find a sprinting position, but with some practice powering up some short inclines (rather than going all out on the flat), I found a good rhythm. I just couldn't get in the drops and have any sort of support, so I stayed on the hoods.

It was the ride I was expecting. It accelerated like a dream. So responsive. It felt snappier and accelerated better than my bike. Some of that I can attribute to his better wheels. Overall, the ride was fairly comparable, just less relaxed. I was not uncomfortable at all. I think that it wouldn't be worth it to buy another Roubaix--it would feel the same despite some design changes. I can't sit on one, but the ride quality of the Tarmac led me to believe that the differences in the new Roubaix wouldn't be noticeable enough *to me.*

Now I am leaning towards the Tarmac IF the shop manager can ever give me a straight answer about quotes on builds. He apparently thinks I ask too many questions and hates that I like to take control of my purchase decisions, but you know what? I cannot accept his deal on this frame if I can't be sure I can put parts on it! How obnoxious. I wish my other friend still worked there so he could run a quote for me real quick instead.

Then there's the other manager who spent forever the past 2 days trying to convince me I want a 52 based on my size. He said I'd just gotten too used to the other bike and that for racing I ought to go down a size and put a ginormous stem on there. I think he doesn't like how I don't have gobs of seatpost showing. However, my measurements from saddle nose to bars was less than 1cm different than my friend's before we swapped saddles, and he has a 1cm longer stem! I obviously need the same reach even if my legs aren't as long as his to have the saddle jacked up high. It's not like I'm sitting right on top of the top tube or anything. I felt really comfortable on the 54. Isn't that what matters? I don't want to put a bunch of stack on the headset and find a huge stem and then still be unsure about my comfort.

It was easier to stand up and accelerate on the 52, but I hated nearly every moment sitting down. I bet just putting narrow bars on the 54 would give me better stability. Maybe my sprinting would improve on a 52, but would it still if I got the front end set up where I was as comfortable the rest of the time? I think I have a lot farther to go in just learning how to sprint better before I get to a point where the bike setup is going to be holding me back.