Specialized Roubaix (Comp or Elite) or Tarmac Comp or Pro (road bikes) - owners opinions?

Callistus Valerius wrote:
I would like to hear opinions of owners (or test riders) of Specialized
Roubaix (Comp or Elite) or Specialized Tarmac (Comp or Pro) road bicycles.

I

am looking to buy one of those bikes (2005 model) in a few months time and
also wondering if I should be spending money elsewhere......

Good? Bad? Ugly?
Value for money? Warranty? Reliability? Comfort?


Have a couple thousand miles on Roubaix 105 alu, and at first the
geometry was a little hard to get use to. Took a while to figure out how
high my seat should be, because of the compact design. Now that I'm getting
use to it, I really like it. But I'm planning to use it for long distance
riding (125 201 miles) about that range. It has a longer wheel base, and
is slower steering, but it is extremely stable, and you can really sit in
for miles on end. Comparing it to a Trek 5200, the Trek takes alot more
attention while riding. One thing that might give you a problem is the tall
head tube. Expect to have your handlebars an inch higher, even with all the
spacers out. Might add a little wind resistance in that area, but it
doesn't seem to bother me too much. The bike will also feel "bigger", don't
ask me why. Someone told me it has the geometry that old tour de france
bikes had years ago, before they turned them all into crit bikes.



I put about 7000kils on a Roubaix 105 alu this summer. The bike is fast
and very comfortable and I only had problem with the original
specialized stock tires. I don't know if the Zertz stuff do something,
however the carbon seatstays damps the road quite effectively. I used to
do 150 kils ride quite often and there is no more fatigue than the 5
hours of bike. The setup is more effective and faster than my old steel
bike with a damped saddle. If the specialized all carbon bikes are
better, they certainly are something!!! For the price, I would also look
at the new Giants full carbon. There is an OCR and plenty of TCR that
are cheaper this year than the specialized.

If you want to race criterium the roubaix is probably not the bike of
choice since the geometry make it a bit slow steering. For sprints I
don't if it is stiff enough. The bike is very good and I love it. Now
that I have finished my season I just can't wait until april (end) to
return to cycling. If you want to make long distance get one of these
before it is too late. Last year Specialized has had difficulty to
provide enough bike.

For the Tarmac I cant say much it looks as a competition oriented bike
especially for crits which the roubaiix isn't.

I put about 7000kils on a Roubaix 105 alu this summer. The bike is fast
and very comfortable and I only had problem with the original
specialized stock tires.

What trouble did you have with the tires? I never used them, just hung
them up in the closet. Just curious about the tires, also your opinion on
the wheels. I didn't give the wheels must of a chance, so it's hard for me
to evaluate them. I just put my Rolf wheels on it.

I picked up my 2005 Roubaix Elite last week. Sucha sweet ride. Before
ordering it I tried:
Trek 5000 (noisy and felt dead)
Litespeed Ti Verona( nice ride but not as nice as Carbon)
Kuota Khan (full carbon - nice ride and incredidle snap in a sprint, but
wellover $3K)
Roubaix Pro (sweet, sweet ride - I fell in love)
Cannondale 6-13 (Very nice ride, but I wanted a triple and like the Roubaix
geometry better, not to mention the price)
Roubaix ( the aluminum/carbon model - not nearly as nice a ride as full
carbon).

I absolutely love my new Roubaix. go for it.

The Trek guy didn't seem to have any reason to lie to me because he
represented all three bikes (Reve, new 2300, and Pilot). Still, I would
love to hear what the new group people think.

I think the "Trek guy" simply didn't have experience with the Reve, that's
all. It's a new thing, and even though Klein is part of the Trek family,
trust me, the design teams are very different, and there's a lot of
competition between the brands internally.

You just gotta ride one and see what *you* think!

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReactionBicycles.com


"Alan Acock" wrote in message
6...
"Mike Jacoubowsky" wrote in
m:

The Trek 2300 coming out next February? looks like a copy of the
Klein Reve. I wonder how they will compare to each other and to the
all carbon fiber bikes like the Pilot and the Roubaux. I HATE chip
seal and need a solution to road buzz.

Just between you and me, why wait until February to buy a Trek with
the suspension feature (SPA technology, they call it) when you can get
a Klein right now? They're putting a *lot* of effort into the Klein
product, with some of the best paint & welding you'll find anywhere.
Nice spec too. And, if you read the piece on our website, you'll see
that I was very impressed with how well it rode. If there was room in
the garage for another bike, no question it would be a Reve.
Especially since it will take wider tires & fenders if you want, so I
could retire the Iron Pig (my 1974 Cinelli, which is my current rain
bike).

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReactionBicycles.com

A Trek repreentative who was loaning bikes on Cycle Oregon this September
(Reve and Madone) told me about the Trek 2300 comming in February. He
said he thought the Pilot (all carbon with the rubber compound) would be
better than the Reve or the Trek 2300 at absorbing the buzz you get with
chip seal. 90% of my world is now chip seal. My hands buzz, my seat
buzzes, and feet--oh my feet--buzz. When I hit a strech that has no chip
seal the lack of buzz is stunning. The Reve and the Trek 2300 have the
elastomer, but with RIGID alumninum frames (I have an Klein Quantum--pre
Trek now). The elastomer would take up road shock, but my problem is the
vibration. My feet ache from the constant vibration after a 50-100 mile
ride on mostly chip seal.

The Trek guy didn't seem to have any reason to lie to me because he
represented all three bikes (Reve, new 2300, and Pilot). Still, I would
love to hear what the new group people think.

Alan Acock

MikeJ-Just between you and me, why wait until February to buy a Trek with
the suspension feature (SPA technology,

Revolutionary except Moots has been doing the same thing for about 25
years.

No question that Moots has had a similar thing going for some time. There
are differences in how it's done, but the idea is obviously similar.

MikeJ-The elastomer bumper on the Reve does a wonderful job of taking the
edge off the nasty stuff, without the squishy feeling you get from a large

tire.

tee hee, good for you, the ultimate salesman.

You just gotta ride one and see. With Moots, the concept may never have
gained legitimacy, and the sad thing is that a lot of great ideas don't
catch on simply due to how they were presented.

On a Moots, Vamoots YBB, it does offer some rear suspension, very similar
to
the Reve, with an elastomer and spring on the YBB, but around here, I
wouldn't
say it's the way to go over a 'hardtail' road frame.

I have no idea why you'd need a spring on a road bike. The elastomer alone
does a great job (speaking entirely from first-hand experience here, having
ridden one on my regular ride that I've done maybe 2,000 times over the past
25+ years).

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReactionBicycles.com

Mike J- You just gotta ride one and see. With Moots, the concept may never
have
gained legitimacy, and the sad thing is that a lot of great ideas don't
catch on simply due to how they were presented. BRBR

I answer- I have ridden many Moots, including the Vamoots YBB and altho
'interesting' I sure don't see any reason to have it. Samo for the YBB tour
frameset, Interesting but not really amazing.

Great ideas are great ideas regardless. Well marketed ideas are not necessarily
great(Ksyriums come to mind).

Mike J- I have no idea why you'd need a spring on a road bike. The elastomer
alone
does a great job (speaking entirely from first-hand experience here, having
ridden one on my regular ride that I've done maybe 2,000 times over the past
25+ years). BRBR

I answer-It doesn't matter whether you have a spring or not. The idea of a
suspended rear end with a 'pivotless' rear triangle on a road frame has been
around for a long time and is another instance of a 'gizmo, in my view, that is
another attempt to sell bicycles. To imply that is it a revolutionary idea,
poorly marketed is...well I don't agree.

Peter Chisholm
Vecchio's Bicicletteria
1833 Pearl St.
Boulder, CO, 80302
(303)440-3535
http://www.vecchios.com
"Ruote convenzionali costruite eccezionalmente bene"

Mike J- I have no idea why you'd need a spring on a road bike. The
elastomer
alone
does a great job (speaking entirely from first-hand experience here,
having
ridden one on my regular ride that I've done maybe 2,000 times over the
past
25+ years). BRBR

I answer-It doesn't matter whether you have a spring or not. The idea of a
suspended rear end with a 'pivotless' rear triangle on a road frame has
been
around for a long time and is another instance of a 'gizmo, in my view,
that is
another attempt to sell bicycles. To imply that is it a revolutionary
idea,
poorly marketed is...well I don't agree.

OK, perhaps not just poorly marketed, but poorly executed as well. I think
Moots overshot the mark trying to go for 1" of travel. It's almost more of a
gimmick; something to show that they're working with such a wonderful
material that they can do something like that. The Klein approach limits the
travel to 1/2", and the effect is that it doesn't feel like a suspension
system of any kind... you just feel the bumps a whole lot less. Kind of like
going to a much-larger tire.

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReactionBicycles.com


"Qui si parla Campagnolo " wrote in message
...
Mike J- You just gotta ride one and see. With Moots, the concept may
never
have
gained legitimacy, and the sad thing is that a lot of great ideas don't
catch on simply due to how they were presented. BRBR

I answer- I have ridden many Moots, including the Vamoots YBB and altho
'interesting' I sure don't see any reason to have it. Samo for the YBB
tour
frameset, Interesting but not really amazing.

Great ideas are great ideas regardless. Well marketed ideas are not
necessarily
great(Ksyriums come to mind).

Mike J- I have no idea why you'd need a spring on a road bike. The
elastomer
alone
does a great job (speaking entirely from first-hand experience here,
having
ridden one on my regular ride that I've done maybe 2,000 times over the
past
25+ years). BRBR

I answer-It doesn't matter whether you have a spring or not. The idea of a
suspended rear end with a 'pivotless' rear triangle on a road frame has
been
around for a long time and is another instance of a 'gizmo, in my view,
that is
another attempt to sell bicycles. To imply that is it a revolutionary
idea,
poorly marketed is...well I don't agree.

Peter Chisholm
Vecchio's Bicicletteria
1833 Pearl St.
Boulder, CO, 80302
(303)440-3535
http://www.vecchios.com
"Ruote convenzionali costruite eccezionalmente bene"