I currently ride a 2023 Trek Checkpoint ALR5 which I love. I’ve recently been riding with a group where everyone else is riding road bikes. I’ve noticed that anything beyond 28-30 miles results in me getting dropped and my effort seems to be more in order to keep pace. It could be my conditioning but I’m also wondering if a road bike would help me keep my effort a little more easy. I’ve found a 2011 Trek Madone 4.7 where the seller is asking $1200. He claims it has a total mileage of around 2500 miles and appears in pristine condition. I’m trying to decide whether that’s an overpay or if i bought another wheel set if it would be a better use of my funds. I’m debating offering around $700 but I don’t want to offend him either. Thanks!
by mufasa85
13 Comments
What tires/wheels are on your checkpoint?
Because your checkpoint might very well be just as fast as this older road bike with road wheels on it. Personally I’d spend the 1200 on a new set of wheels and tires rather than this.
I don’t think you would notice a massive difference in longer rides between the two bikes.
Have you tried different tyre combinations on your current bike? A decent set of gp5000s can make a massive difference.
Another thing that can help with group riding is technique. Are you comfortable drafting behind the other riders?
Tires ! I second this
Then again, I can’t do more than 35 miles
Besides changing the tires/tubes/wheels which is a good recommendation.
What are you eating on the bike? What are you eating before riding? Do you do anything unusual in your diet (keto/vegan/etc)?
After about an hour your body will have used up much of the easy to access energy. You need to eat to fuel longer rides.
Have you only been riding since 2023?
Get new tires, it’ll make a world of difference. And probably be faster than that old Madone.
A second wheel set with some nice road tires (I love Schwalbe pro ones) in a 28mm size could be had for <$700 and would likely do more for you — without saddling you with a whole second (13 yr old) bike to maintain, store, etc.
It’s the tires! Tire rolling resistance is a big deal in road riding, I’d bet that a set of road tires would totally transform the checkpoint.
No one gets better by making it easier on themselves.
Is the group you ride with on tarmac or gravel? If they are on tarmac, you should switch to road (slick) tyres. The difference between road tyres and your stock GR1s will be like night and day. I have a set of Gravelking SKs on my Checkpoint, but for commuting, I replace with cheap road tyres (a set of stock Bontrager R1s from my road bike). I instantly get 3 to 4 kph faster for the same effort. I put Bontrager AW3s on my road bike and they are even faster than the R1s. if you want to go super-premium, you could look at Continental GP 5000s.
Honestly I’d just get a solid set of tubeless wheels with gp5000s on. The wheels make a marginal difference, tyres make a huge difference.
Then you can find out how much is fitness 😉
If the group are all riding aero bikes, they basically have free speed. Even minor aero tweaks add up to significant free wattage.