Quote Originally Posted by mauisher View Post
I'm currently riding an older Trek 5500 (this was an early Lance bike). I am thinking of purchasing a new Cervelo R3 or RS. My current setup on the 52 cm Trek has the bars about 5-6 cm below the seat level. The stem has no rise (i.e., flat) and has about 3 cm of spacers between the top of the headset and base of the stem. The Trek head tube is 10 cm on the Trek. I'm curious if there are any of you out there who have had a Trek 5500 or 5200 and now have a Cervelo R3 or RS : HOW DOES THE FIT AND PERFORMANCE DIFFER??. This would help me a lot on my decision between the Cervelo R3 and RS , since I cannot be fit or test ride a new Cervelo where I live. Thanks in advance for your opinions.
mauisher-- First off I would like to tell you that it's nice to see that the Cervelo R3 and RS are on your short list. Whichever bike you choose you will a great bike.

Ok there are a couple of things that I'd like to address.

Number 1- You say that that Trek has a 100mm Head Tube and the R3 has a 120mm. Those are true statements however your Trek should have a non-integrated headset (if you can see the manufacturer of the headset it is non integrated) and that will add 20mm so the headtubes would be the same.

Number 2-- If you are riding your Trek with 30mm of spacers than you really should be looking at the RS which has a 140mm. Then your set up would only have the headset cap and maybe 10mm spacer and then your stem.

The frame on the RS is more comfortable (ride quality) than the R3. Both the R3 and the RS will be significantly stiffer than your Trek which has very old technology. You may not ever flex your Trek but you'll definitely notice the stiffness in the Cervelos the first and every time you ride them. And even with all the bottom bracket stiffness they ride like buttah.

I own four Cervelos (Soloist Carbon, Soloist Carbon SL, R3SL, and a P3). I find them to be the best riding bikes I have ever owned. Our store sells Colnagos, Pinarellos, and six other brands of road bikes and I don't lust for any of them.