tigat

Earlier this week, I had a chance to test ride a DA equipped, Emonda SL. I borrowed it from a dealer who was doing some tweaking on my Domane, and fit wise, at least with regard to the touch points, it was set up identically to the Domane, even though the frame was a 56 (the Domane is a 58). As configured, the bikes were about a half pound different, 15.5 for the Emonda, 16 for the Domane, but the Domane is currently sporting a 32mm tire on the front and a 28mm tire on the back, bottle cage, computer, light mount, etc.

I did an 8 mile loop on the Emonda across some rough patches of road and curvy bike trail, with a few shorter climbs, all places the Domane passes 100s of times every year. I loved the riding experience on both bikes.

Bottom line though, I was hard pressed to tell the difference. Climbing, you pedal and they go. Both bikes handle great. On rough stuff, the front ends on both bikes feel smooth. The back end of the Domane is noticeably smother, but the Emonda was by no means harsh. Aside from that any small perceived differences seemed to be as likely due to the wheel and tire set-up (carbon on the Domane vs. aluminum on the Emonda), as they do to geometry or frame material differences.

Am I just too far down the food chain to know better, or is it possible that the upper end bikes from many manufacturers these days are just so good that an average rider will have trouble telling the difference?

hueyhoolihan

that would be a yes.

happyscientist

I am all about n+1, but if the bike doesn't scream "ride me!" don't buy it. I think once you get past a certain dollar value, you have to really know what you are doing to tell the difference. Some things, like Di2 or weight are easy to justify the added expense, but I think a lot of it is just status. I don't know anyone who can tell the difference between a DA cassette and Ultegra.

OldsCOOL

Buy both.

pdedes

answer in my sig

Jarrett2

They make an aluminum Emonda? I thought those were carbon only?

VwFix

I believe he was talking about the wheels.

txags92

I felt that way when I rode the Emonda, a Tarmac, a Madone, a Supersix and a Cervelo S5 all in the same day. All of them were great bikes and would be a big improvement over what I am currently riding. But it was little differences that made me pick the Emonda. The Emonda and Tarmac both had the stiffness that just made them seem to jump under you when you went for it, but the Emonda just felt slightly smoother. I felt fast, but comfortable, whereas the Tarmac made me feel like I would go fast, but would be really feeling every bump in the road. It was hard to pick out the slight differences in the various bikes, so I mainly went with overall feel.

kbarch

How do you figure? I'm not very experienced, but I wouldn't have believed that the Bianchi Countervail frame made a significant difference on rough roads if I hadn't test ridden it. Are you saying that, being inexperienced, I shouldn't have expected to have noticed, or are you saying such smoothness isn't germane to my un-accomplished level of riding?

FLvector

You mentioned that the Domane had 32mm front/28mm rear tires, but didn't note what tires were on the Emonda. You also had very different wheelsets on each bike, making it difficult to compare.

pdedes

Most test rides aren't controlling for significant variables. Tires and pressures are the most critical things to control when test riding.

catgita

The things that determine a good bike from a bad one are fit, tires, and touch points. These are easy to fix, but being cost effective may decide between two bikes.
What often determines a good one from a great one is the fork. I have purchased bikes that left me flat, then experienced a complete transformation by fitting a new or custom fork.
But to get pure magic takes lots of experience with positive and negative examples before you can recognize the feel when you find it. Don't we all sooner or later look back fondly on the one we let slip away.

bt

you have to ride something bad to be able to discern something better.