Winter’s Haven

I bought a Trek Madone 5.0 to replace my stolen road bike. It’s a 2007 Madone, not one of Trek’s newest-generation 2008 Madones; Trek’s fancy new design is the reason that this bike was marked down to a price I could afford. Regardless of the new 2008 Madone, this bike is still a wonderful machine. The frame is all carbon fiber. It rides out the bumps with aplomb and still transmits power very efficiently. My Madone isn’t the lightest bike on the market, but it feels like a feather compared to the steel-framed Bianchi Eros I had previously. The handling is stable and effortlessly natural — the bike responds exactly as I expect it to. Altogether, the Madone rides like a dream.

Shopping for bicycles was fun, although considering how many times I drove back and forth across Albuquerque in the process I’m not sure my purchase did much for the environment. I rode a lot of bikes. Most of them were perfectly good machines, but all of them are different, and ergonomics and subjective preference play a large role in one’s opinions of bikes. The only truly bad bike I rode was a Kestrel Talon, which had remarkably unstable handling. Then again, some people ride them and like them, so maybe it’s overreaching to claim that the Talon is an objectively bad bike (though it’s hard to imagine how anyone could like that thing).

My favorite bikes, aside from the Madone, were a 2007 Jamis Eclispe and a 2006 Giant TCR1. The former is a mixed steel and carbon fiber frame; it’s an uncommon combination, but the bike rides wonderfully smoothly, and it has character. Though the Eclipse has undeniable appeal, the Trek and the Giant are lighter and stiffer and ride almost as smoothly. The Giant TCR1 is a full-carbon bike which felt quite similar to the Madone; I’d be very happy on either bike. After hearing several anti-China quips from salespeople trying to sell me bikes made in America and Europe, I was rather tempted to buy the Giant to spite them — I think that sort of economic nationalism is perfectly odious. But ultimately I followed the guidance of a less spiteful cosmopolitan spirit and simply bought the bike I liked best for its own qualities. The Trek Madone was somewhat cheaper than the Giant, and I think it cuts a more elegant image.

I’m on the road again. Woohoo!

This entry was posted 2007-Oct-6 and is filed under Bicycling, Personal. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.