Hello! I've been riding a trek checkpoint ALR5 as my first adult bike for the past couple of years and realized I'm on roads 95+% of the time and increasing distances (most recently 80 mi) with the goal of a near-double century this summer. I also commute on the trek and have a rack on it sometimes for convenience as well as hybrid clipless pedals. I bought a second carbon wheel set with slicks and it's been an obvious upgrade in ride quality, but I've never really been uncomfortable on the checkpoint. It has been a versatile bike and I love it for that!
That being said, I've been considering a dedicated road bike to improve efficiency on long rides, but struggling to decide whether the Endurace CF 7 Di2 would be worth it or if I should stick to my Trek with two wheelsets. Obvious differences aside (mechanical vs electronic shifting, carbon vs aluminum frame), here are things I've noted on the new Endurace model:
– Endurace has a 3.5 cm shorter wheelbase compared to my checkpoint (was about 5 cm last model year) – so it appears they've given up some handling/punchiness in favor of increasing stability.
– The geometry (stack/reach) on the Endurace actually appears less aggressive (ratios are 1.51 for checkpoint and 1.42 for Endurace).
– Endurace is 12 speed rather than 11 speed but overall gearing seems quite similar (11-34 vs 11-36).
– Weight difference is 3.5 lbs – I'm not super concerned about carbon from a weight perspective, rather I'm interested for its stiffness and vibration dampening.
– I can put my carbon wheels onto the Endurace with a cassette swap.
Do you think the Endurace will feel like a remarkably different bike – enough to justify the $3800 price tag? Thanks!
by AfterDarkAgain