I know this is may be anathema to this tri forum, but I prefer riding road geometry for tris (1/2 and full IM are my distances of choice). I am thinking of purchasing a 2004 Specialized E5 S-works road. Has anyone ridden it? Know someone who does? Thoughts/critiques?
Very high marks here:
Jessi Stensland rides one. She looks pretty good on hers;)
I have one (56cm). got it on ebay (full dura ace, kysruim ssl’s, carbon seat post). great ride. comfortable. and it climbs amazingly well…of course i only have my p2k to compare it to.
one thing to think about is that it has a very short headtube compared to other road bikes i looked into. that may work well if you decide to put shorty bars on it. but for me it’s a little too much drop. i’m looking to replace the frame only for that reason. otherwise i love it. anyone wanna frame, fork and seatpost?
i have a specialized e5 s-works road 60 cm 2003. if you like the road geometry and thin aluminum tubing, then it’s a sweet bike. if i grab the center of the top tube and squeeze, it feeels like i could crush it like a beer can. mine has a nice dent in the top tube from a crash (no beer involved). as for stiffness, i can’t feel flex but i’m no sprinter. as for weight, it’s VERY light. they say it has aero tubing but i doubt a downtube that fat and round can have very aerodynamic properties. the seat tube looks aero however and there is that semi-cutout for the rear wheel.
as for “ride quality” i really have too little experience with other frames/materials to say but, it is pretty forgiving compared to my last bike which was an old school aluminum trek 1400. so in that regard i suppose it’d be a good bike for long tri’s.
i f you’re looking for road geometry then all in all, it is a fine piece of equipment. not common enough that everyone has them but well known enough that you know what you’re getting into.
anathema, that’s a good word. i’ll look it up.