I’m looking at upgrading from my Giant TCR Rim Brake/Mech 105 bike to something with discs and an ultegra di2. Quite a lot of options around my price range (£6000), so I’m looking for some thoughts from others. I’m around 173cm, and my bike fitter said I’d be aiming for around a 385mm reach.
I’m an average rider, and ride both flats and hills (~1000m per 100km riding), and I’m after a more race focussed bike vs a super endurance one. The following are what I’ve been looking at.
Trek Madone SL 7 Gen 8
Specialized Tarmac SL8 Expert
Pinarello F7
Cervelo Soloist
Cannondale Supersix Evo 2
Van Rysel RCR-R Pro
Giant TCR Advanced Pro 0
The Canyon Aeroad was also of interest, but I’m not sure it would fit me very well and I know it’s hard to dial in.
Any thoughts would be much appreciated, especially if I’ve not thought of a bike!
I’m in the same boat as you. Coming from a 2010 cervelo R3. Many of those bikes you mentioned are on my short list as well. I’m now looking at a Factor Monza.
If the fit is set up the same I doubt you’ll be able to tell the difference between most of those bikes. Unless you are super in tune to tiny differences. Just buy the one you think looks the coolest in the best colors.
To me the SuperSix is one the best value bikes out there. It’s going to be cheaper than the Madone and Tarmac, and more aero than either. I think the Aeroad is cheaper for the Ultegra build but maybe less customizable and no local support (possibly). The SuperSix can also fit big tires. I have fit 38mm tires on mine. It’s really comfortable as well. The Soloist is probably the cheapest of your list right now; you can find them on sale lots of places. Just kind of boring for my tastes. Maybe wait a bit for the new S5 release and you can find the current one on really big sales. The new Factor Monza looks nice too.
My order from your list would be:
SuperSix
Aeroad
Van Rysel RCR
Madone
Soloist
TCR
Tarmac SL8
Pinarello
IMHO you are approaching this from the wrong end. I’d test ride as many bikes as you can and then figure out which bike strikes your fancy. E. g. when I test rode the Supersix from a few years ago, I thought it was boring and anodyne. The BMC Teammachine, on the other hand, immediately felt special. Now these were my riding impressions and yours may differ.
IMHO ideally, you should have a bike fit before you purchase a bike. A bike fitter might then whittle down the choices based on the geometry and your preferences. It will also determine which of the touch points you need to change. Especially when the bike has an integrated carbon stem-handlebar, this will be a significant expense that you need to factor into the purchasing price (you mentioned as much with the Canyon).
These days width and stack is pretty quick and easy to dial in on the Aeroad. Arguably easier than most of it’s competitors as bar height can be changed without having to cut steerer tube and the bar width can be adjusted with a couple of bolts. It’s just reach that is hard to change as means swapping out an integrated bar so you’re looking at removing and reinstalling brake hoses (though at least availability for different bar/stem length seems to be better than it was). But that’s the same for any bike with an integrated bar where the hoses run through the bar instead of under it. From your list I think the Van Rysel and the Pinarello have integrated one piece bars, the rest have 2 piece bar/stem with cables running underneath so fairly easy to swap stems (though guess if you increase stem length enough the hoses may be too short). Only know because I made a very similar list earlier in the year!
So if Canyon stock reach happens to be right for you I would add it to your list (assuming you’re confident in that reach number). But equally if the Pinarello or Van Rysel doesn’t come stock with the right reach or width then would cross them off the list unless the shop selling them is happy to swap the bar out for you, or the price is good enough to justify the extra cost and hassle of doing it after you take delivery.
I’ve just got a Gen 8 Madone… I came from a Domane (not sure of the generation… 3 I think).
I had a bike fit and that made a difference to the overall comfort. I havent found the Madone to be uncomfortable compared to my Domane, but its definitely nicer to ride. It climbs really well, feels smooth and transfers the power really well.
I like it very much. I didnt test ride anything as thats just not available here in Spain, so went with Trek as thats what I already had and I like my bike shop.
$10000 USD for an Ultegra bike is just bonkers. You can find Ultegra SuperSix builds for half that. Heck, I got my Dura-Ace Addict RC for less than that. Are European brands cheaper for you guys?
Depends what you buy but I think the sale prices of Cannondale and Specialized are pretty competitive, I set up a 3 year buy to work scheme through my business, enormous saving. I’m paying similar for an SL8 new than I would for a second hand one on eBay.
Around me, the SuperSix is anywhere from $1000-2000 USD cheaper than the SL8. I got my 105 Di2 SSE for under $3000. Weirdly, I don’t even think Specialized offer a 105 Di2 SL8, just the SL7, which retails for $4000. My biggest regret was not buying the Hi-Mod Ultegra that I found for $6500 a year ago. Which is basically an S-Works Ultegra build for $6500. Was absolute robbery at that price.
Either way, I still think the Canyon Aeroad is probably a better value for the money.
Just had a look at Canyon, Aeroad ultegra build about £5600 at the moment so £600 cheaper than what you can get an SL8 Pro for if you buy late season. Not so sure thats a great deal, for me anyway. Prefer to have Roval’s than DT Swiss. I have an Ultimate I bought in 2017 which has served me well though.
7 June 2025: I’d highly NOT recommend anything from Canyon. They’ll woo you with immediate answers on sales questions and ghost you after purchase.
Design flaw: I bought a Canyon Ultimate CF SL Aero bike 3 weeks ago and the cockpit continually misaligns with the fork. I’ve preloaded the stem bolt, tightened the steerer tube bolt to correct torque and the problem continues to exist. Im in the process of sending back. I spent $4300 USD on the bike and now truly wishing i would have spent more to get local service. I pride myself on having decent mechanical skills which is why i felt comfortable with a direct to customer purchase.
However, the lack of response from Canyon on my issue (5 days now) is unacceptable after what for me is a huge purchase. This is unfortunate as the bike is beautiful.
I remember wondering why my Ultimate didn’t shift so good, kept trimming the etap, wouldn’t get better in certain gears, after a while worked out they’d fitted the wrong derailleur hanger.
Resale isn’t good either, struggled to shift mine on eBay … After experiencing the ride quality (and crosswind stability) of the SL8 & Rovals I haven’t touched the Ultimate, something for the trainer though.
True! Crisp shifting and alignment is something I haven’t even gotten into yet, definitely some missed shifts out of the box, figured that wasn’t a big deal, but all these little things are adding up now. I had a Cannondale Super Six Evo that experienced some weird frame flexing from day one (front derailleur would intermittently not shift up, even after swapping to a new derraileur, new cables, etc) and I lived with it for 5 years. Never again. This is why I’m sending my Canyon back, it looks great, the price was superb, but I can tell that there will be problems forever with this bike. I guess if Canyon customer service had engaged with me sooner I’d feel more comfortable, but since they can’t be bothered to respond to my inquiries, I think I’m done and back to my LBS where I should have gone to begin with.
