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I went on some test rides last week to get a feel for modern carbon fiber, new components and all while staying on bikes with almost identical geometry to what I'm (mostly) decided on (a 52cm Litespeed T3 Disc).
First I took a Giant TCR Pro Advanced Disc out and really enjoyed the ride. Its amazing to feel the responsiveness to acceleration the stiffness of new carbon affords you; between that and the sheer effortlessness of climbing, due to the low weight I was extremely comfortable on it. The Giant comes with carbon wheels and generally had much better components. Di2 seems very worth it to me now as well, when it comes to my overall ethos on whatever I end up on: get it as right as I can the first time.
Then I went out on a SuperSix Evo (Hi Mod I believe) and felt a little less excited with it, but still enjoyed the experience immensely.... I feel like I had hyped it up in my head a little from all the chatter I'd read on the interwebz. While neither is aesthetically my cup of tea, the Giant was hideous enough to completely detach any kind of desire to even consider purchase despite clearly being my favorite of the two on the road.
Another factor in still favoring a bike I have NO seat time in is the the harshness of CF as an everyday commuter. I ride to work early in the morning and would hate to sustain an injury from the jarring impact I might imagine sustaining from the unforgiving stiffness of carbon, a pothole and the idea I'm not fully awake until my third cup of coffee.
I was planning on trying an Emonda SL6 from another shop, but they didn't have the one listed on their site built up and their rental was in use.... I'll be giving that one a ride tomorrow.
I just wanted to update you all and resurrect this thread and get some more last minute advice before I pull the trigger on the T3.
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