jaxgtr

I currently have a Trek Emonda ALR in a 54 and a Trek Domane in a 52. The Emonda ALR fits me like a glove and absolutely love the bike. When I was looking for a new bike a couple of years ago, I had a hard time deciding if I wanted the Emonda SLR or the Domane SLR, I really liked both, but ultimately decided to go with the Domane. After a couple of years, I've really come to the conclusion, that I want a more aggressive riding position than the Domane can provide. I figure I can find a frame that will get me something close the ALR and I should be in good shape. I run my stem negative, so even my head tube is fairly long on the ALR, I kind of negate some of the relaxed position. I also run my Domane in the negative.

I've been looking at a couple of different frames, and many of them are =\- 5 to 10 mm of my Emonda ALR which I am sort of using as a basis, but I noticed that the Emonda SLR has a much shorter head tube and that sort of concerns me long term that it could be too aggressive based on my current frames and how I have them setup now. A lot of the other points are exactly the same or within a few mm and while I am not racing, I thought I could have them fork cut a few mm longer to allow for some relief of that difference, nothing major, just 2 or 3mm.

Would this large of a difference cause you any concern ?

oldbobcat

15 years ago, when Trek offered the Madone in H1, H2, and H3, I told our district manager what they really needed was H1.5. He kinda scoffed at me, but now we have it.

The extra reach you're seeing is gained by the lower head tube. If you raise the stem with spacers it will bring the reach in. If you raise the bar with a taller stem angle, reach will decrease further by an amount that might be negligible. Over the years the Madone-Emonda geometry hasn't changed, except for head tube heights.

Look at the current setup of your ALR. With stem angle and spacers, can you duplicate your current handlebar height?

9 years ago I relented and bought the H2 Madone. My position is pretty much in the '70s Belgian zone, flatter than French with more reach than current pro fashion. To achieve that I use a -10 degree Pro stem, a 4 mm cone spacer, and one 2 mm spacer. Now that my dream of H1.5 is a reality, if I traded up, I would use the stock 10 mm cone, a -6 degree stem, and make up the rest of the difference with stem spacer. I'd roughly estimate about 1.4 cm. But at my age this Madone will probably be my last drop-bar bike.