Many many thanks to all those who have posted on this thread. Been great reading through from start to finish.
So I think I am close to pulling the trigger on a new Speed Concept. Will be my first Trek of any sort after a life of various Cannondales, Giant and my current Argon E-114. Yes, that’s right I’m still riding an E-114. My main focus is full IM, although as I’m getting older may have to drop to half for injury prevention. I’m FMOP rider with my IM times just a few minutes over 5hrs on the Argon with the mighty SRAM 80s Note that I’m just a stereotypically tight yorkshireman - I hate to see waste and it takes me a very very long time to feel I’ve the value out of a purchase, so I tend to buy after way way too much research and then keep for years. That said, I am in a fortunate position that budget isn’t one of the constraints on purchase.
So after years of E-114, then my heart was heading to the E-119 disc, but my head is saying Speed Concept for the reason that the stability is rated so highly. There’s some specific issues I have, firstly I’m tall, but all in the legs, so I sit really high on the saddle and so have a high CoG, and I’ve a slight neuro issue that means my control for speed wobbles/gusts is not the best (please don’t ask me about the SRAM80 front…).
Fit: Saddle height to rail is 780mm, Pad X-487, Pad Y = 675. Note this gives me a big drop despite the relatively high Y.
Based on all of this then I think that the Large size puts me right in the sweet spot of the adjustments and if I read right then if I go for an ‘off the shelf’ then that will come with the mid stack/reach and long seatpost I need. So no real advantage to a Project one?
My final ‘issue’ is that I’m a lifelong Quarq fanboy, have 3 now and love the support and ‘just work’ nature of them. That said I am also a shimano groupset-a-holic - had SRAM on my Specialised Epic MTB and whilst noting this isn’t fair reflection, would like to go Shimano on the new bike, but clearly won’t be going Shimano for power meter. So that then means swapping to a AXS/Quarq powermeter with the rest of the setup shimano, or going Vector pedals which probably makes more sense.
So confirming questions - is the large the right size and am I correct in reading the fit guide that the supplied parts are right for me? And any thoughts on powermeter. At the moment the decision on the SC6 vs SC9 is based just on availability.
Edit to add one more question. Noting I’m currently limited to 23mm max on the Argon which isn’t fun on rough chipseal, is the clearance really only 25mm on the front, or is that dependent on the rim width? Ie if I were to get a wider rim would a 28 fit? NZ loves rough chipseal, so it’s a consideration.