mtalinm

I'm a somewhat-happy Domane 4.5 owner. I love the IsoSpeed mechanism, but I feel that Trek misrepresented the ability of the frame to handle fenders. To be sure, it has "vanishing" fender mounts, but I cannot fit a fender on the back with the stock tires. had to switch to a GP Force (24) on the back, and the clearance is teensy even with the metal PDW fenders. small pebbles rattle around all the time.

Plus I really want disc brakes (you guessed it, I ride a lot in inclement weather). I already have salmon pads on the Domane and it's not quite enough. Anyway...

my LBS said that Trek had no plans to release a Domane with disc brakes, but then they brought out the Boone cyclocross bike with discs recently. Importantly, the Boone has much wider clearance - up to 40 in back and 47 in front. Great news as I would like to take the bike offroad sometimes as well. So the question is, how do I do the upgrade. I see three options:

A. Boone 9 disc is a beauty but to pricey for me and I don't want electronic shifting anyway.

B. Boone 5 disc (no 7 disc) is a downgrade on components (105/Tiagra mix) and also has a paint job I don't like. But it is less than half the price of the 9 yet has the same quality of frameset. even then I don't want 46/36 chainrings up front; perhaps those can be swapped out.

C. Boone disc frameset, which has same pretty paint job as the 9. I think could transplant everything but the wheels from the Domane, keeping the Ultegra drivetrain.

options B & C are probably around the same price (after building wheels for the frameset); the main difference is that in option B I can just sell my existing Domane as-is whereas in option C I would have just the Domane frameset & wheels and so maybe that would be harder to unload.

assuming that option A is off the table, any thoughts on B (Boone 5 disc complete) vs. C (Boone disc frameset + transplant Domane drivetrain + build my own wheels)?

thanks for any guidance you might have. Matt

RJM

It sounds like you would be better served with a non road-race bike that can handle wide tires and fenders; the Domane is still a road-race bike and fenders seem like a real afterthought for it.

I would save up for option A or go with option C. Option B sounds like you would be saving money, but you would be swapping out parts for other parts and spending time and money fiddling with your bike instead of riding it. It just honestly seems like a bigger hassle than the other two.

Seems like the Boone is going to be a great cross bike though. Good luck.

Campag4life

Here is a good vid on the new Boone cross bike:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2K6qtzrRZZ4

Looks to be a hell of a good cross bike. Says nothing of fender mounting however.
Of course on just about any bike you can clip on fenders. So really depends what you want.
If you want full fenders and a lot of tire clearance, you need a bike with eyelets front and back and that type of bike will generally not have the performance of a road bike or top racing cross bike like the Boone.

sced

Anther option is to keep the bike you got and get a second, maybe less expensive, cyclocross bike that will fill in the holes.

a77impala

+1

Bob Dopolina 

C.

Sell the frame and wheels to recoupe part of the cost.

mtalinm

I like this too. Worry a bit about being able to sell a frameset and wheels alone. I have some other parts and could cobble together a full bike wih tiagra drivetrain. Maybe that is a fallback if the frame won't sell alone?

Bob Dopolina 

Frames are an easy sell as long as they are in good condition.

Ghost Ryder

2 very reasonable options!

IMO most race type frame are no fender friendly.
If your allowed to have more than 1 bike...
Keep the Domane for the nice weather, & buy a lower tier CXer to do all the other things you mention above.

rdtompki

If your LBS has experience with the TRP HY/RD calipers I'd put these in the mix. I liked my Avid BB7s, but the TRPs are even better in terms of modulation

MegaTom

n+1 is the clear answer. You need a rainy day bike, it does't have to be super nice or expensive.

Ghost Ryder

+1

This would be my choice too, when I go to discs they will be TRP HY/RD.

MajorMantra

Re the gearing, a 46/36 with something like an 11/28 cassette is actually not a bad range for road riding - don't forget that larger tyres = more gear inches.

You'll be undergeared for road racing (not that you can use discs to race anyway) or real hammerfest type rides but for everything else it's fine. The small drop between the front rings makes for great shifting too.

I was really enthused by the Hy/Rds too but after much agonising and reading of reviews I went with the post-recall Spyres. They are considerably cheaper, they look better, are lighter and there's no issue with excessive lever travel. Too early for a proper review though, as I've only ridden them twice:

https://thesetbackpost.com/cyclocross/new-spyres/

mtalinm

I very much subscribe to n+1. In fact I have seven bikes (if you count the two I have loaned out) and just sold my eighth. Domane was supposed to be my all-arounder but the clearance was not as advertised. Trek gave me the Force tire to compensate, and sold me the PDW fenders at cost, but clearances are still microscopic (it's ok with 23s, but I'm on the heavy side so like bigger tires). They also said putting a Boone disc fork on the Domane frame will void the warranty (no big surprise).

side_FX

Did you consider the Crockett disc bikes? Less money, decent specs, and better colors than the more expensive Boone models. Could be a good move?