I am looking to get a new bike in the $1700 range and both of these fit the bill. The Trek is carbon entry level and the CAAD 10 is aluminum. I am not hung up on build material. I am going to be road racing and am presently a Cat 5. I am looking for something that may be more forgiving to me if I make a bone head mistake like taking corner too fast etc.
Any thoughts on these? Thanks in advance.
CAAD 10. Proven race bike. It will not hold you back in any way shape or form.
You already know my advice. 
CAAD 10. Proven race bike. It will not hold you back in any way shape or form.
I agree the CAAD10 is probably enough bike but the Emonda is race proven as well. It was the bike of choice for the 2014 Giro KoM winner who also took a stage aboard it 
I don’t think either is a bad choice.
check out the emonda slr, listed as a 1050 gram aluminum frame and similar price point to the CAAD 10 I think. I believe the 56 cm emonda slr with 105 is 18lbs. I’m guessing it is H2 geometry which may be better for some than the CAAD 10 - especially the long leg/short torso crowd.
CAAD 10. Proven race bike. It will not hold you back in any way shape or form.
X2. I love mine. Haven’t met an owner yet that doesn’t. Another selling point is aluminum is more “crash friendly” if you are planning to race it. A small crash that may do cosmetic damage to an Al frame can be game over for carbon. Don’t race it if you can’t replace it! Also Caad10 frames are readily available on eBay at good prices if you do happen to total the frame and simply want to swap over your components. Just my $.02.
I am looking to get a new bike in the $1700 range and both of these fit the bill. The Trek is carbon entry level and the CAAD 10 is aluminum. I am not hung up on build material. I am going to be road racing and am presently a Cat 5. I am looking for something that may be more forgiving to me if I make a bone head mistake like taking corner too fast etc.
Any thoughts on these? Thanks in advance.
CAAD10 really is the way to go, great bike and you can get into a pretty low position as well. The trek H2 geometry is not racing friendly in my book. CAAD10 can be a light bike as well, my CAAD10 with sram red is right on the nose of 16 pounds. The 100-150g of weight between the frames is meaningless.
One thing to keep in mind, some photos have been spotted of a new CAAD10 being raced with integrated cable housing and DI2 compatible as well, that is a big bonus and something to consider.
Join the Cult of the CAAD. Do it. I use mine in racing and love it.
Join the Cult of the CAAD. Do it. I use mine in racing and love it.
Just do it - been racing my CAAD 8 for nigh on eight years and it’s still beating up crabon wannabes.
Buy the one that fits.
Thanks everyone! I appreciate the thoughts.
I owned a CAAD10. Now I own an Emonda SLR with the H1 geometry (somebody above mentioned the SLR was aluminum, but I think the ALR is the aluminum version).
The CAAD10 is a great bike. I would recommend it to anyone who races, as long as it fits them. If my Emonda SLR every gets trashed, I would probably get another CAAD10.
The Emonda SLR is a better bike. The H1 stack and reach is close to a caad10, but with a slightly lower stack height. The H1 SLR is shorter, so there there is more toe overlap (slightly annoying) but it handles really good.
The other Emondas are probably great bikes too (I’ve never ridden one other than an SLR) but the problem is, last time i checked they only came in the H2 geometry. That isn’t nearly as long and low as the H1 or the CAAD10.
So really, as somebody else mentioned, get the one that fits. You can’t really go wrong with either.
The OP is looking in the $1700 range and the lowest Emonda SLR frame is about 2.5X that price and the lowest price full bike (SLR8) is over 3x his budget. The S models are completely different than the SLR in both material and geometry. I own an SL6 and it is a great bike, but honestly at that price and with your plan to race the bike, I would go with the CAAD bike. The Trek entry level carbon on the S models feels pretty squishy to some folks, and the aluminum bike would be a lot more forgiving for racing in the event of a crash.