Cervelo's R3 vs. Specialized's Ruby Expert or Pro

[RoadRaven]

Being a Ruby rider, I have to very much disagree with ya on this one Raven.... To this day Cervelo's fit theory is all wrong for my body. I would not fit on even their smallest frame. It may be right for some people, but certainly not all of us and fit is really important.

And Eden, this is such an important thing... and although we have 5 cervelos in our stable now, none are mine because even though I am taller than you, I have 2 other makes (Giant and EMC2) which fit me better

As far as Specialized's quality. My bike is top notch and was an incredible value for the money.

I don't disagree with you on this one either. They are great value for money, and can (like any bike) be upspec-ed easily to be even better.
However, if I had to choose between the two (and money was no object) I would always choose cervelo.

As far as the pro's go.... only some of the fastest guys in the world have been on a Specialized... (like Boonen and Bettini) It does happen occasionally (with any of the bike brands) that one or even a few of the guys has a different bike branded to be like the team's. I think it happens more often with TT bikes, as it is harder to dial the fit of a tt bike and arguably much more important as 100's of a second are making a difference, so many go with bike/components other than the sponsor bike - often even custom. Road bikes though, I believe most of them really do ride the sponsors bike.

OK... I may stand (or sit) corrected on this one. I may be thinking TT rather than RR, so will go back to the places I have gleaned this from and check and hopefully get back to you with the "real" version of what I remember

[Eden]

With TT bikes I think it happens all of the time..... I almost bought a used TT bike off of Ebay that had belonged at one time to an American pro woman. It was rebranded as a Lemond, but the stickers were peeling off and you could see that underneath it was something else entirely....
Sometimes though they force the guys to use their bikes... I heard a story once, I think it was Magnus Backstead? One of the big guys tall guys - he wasn't allowed to get a TT bike from another company and their sponsor didn't make a bike big enough for him.... and they wondered why his TT results were not better...