I wish I had a better reason to post this (story in a moment), but, after almost 18 years with my 2006 Trek 5200, it’s my first ever New Bike Day! (okay technically second, but I had no idea what I was doing or how much I’d love it when I got my 5200).
Domane SL5 Gen 4 with carbon wheels – and holy hell, I did not know what I was missing. This is an incredible bike. Insanely comfortable, and the 105 groupset shifts like butter (to be fair, I’m comparing to an 18 year old ultegra 6600, but still!) The change from 700×23 to 700×32 is awesome, feels much more connected to the ground without adding resistance, and IsoSpeed … oh my god, my ass has never been happier (… uhm, well not on a bike anyway). I’m on vacation in Ocean City MD where it’s all flat, so I’ll comment on the carbon wheels when I get home to my climbs in NH.
As for my Trek 5200 … well, it’s a sad, tragic story. I wish I could tell you I got hit by a car, or took a turn too fast and went off a cliff. But no. After a 12 hour trip from NH to MD, arriving at 10 tired hungry and bleary eyed, blissfully unaware of the “7 foot” warning marker, I gleefully turned into my hotel’s garage and wedged my bike between my roof bars and the garage ceiling. Bent the handlebars in half, snapped the headset, and totally f@$&ed my front shift level, and my roof racks – forget about them.
Miraculously no damage to the car. My 5200 is probably salvageable but I’m not going to spend the money on a new headset, new bars, and what would be an entire new groupset, on an 18 your old now probably-compromised frame.
Also you’ll notice now in my picture, it’s also new bike-rack-day! I went for the trunk mount this time 😂😂😂
by ziggybeans
3 Comments
That’s a beauty
Also – shout out to Brian and Megan at Lewes Cycle Sports, Lewes DE. Awesome local independently owned shop – definitely check them out if you’re ever on the DE/MD coast!
Congratulations on the new bike! I really want to try carbon wheels, but I’ve only had my SL6 a week, so I’ll ride with what I got for a bit.