Morning all

For a budget of £1500 you can get a trek emonda sl5 from 2015, or an emonda s6

The sl is a better frame but the s6 comes with ultegra groupset.

For an occasional commute and a couple of 60 mile rides a month which should I go for?

I know very little about how much the frames differ and the real world benefits of the ultegra over the 105.

Any advice much appreciated.

P.s any alternatives I should consider? Evans need to sell it as I’ve already filled in my ride to work forms etc at work.

Thanks

Paul

Just looked at the Evans website. Do you mean the 2016 S6? That costs £1600, not £1500. It also has the same frame as the 2015 sl6, so no difference there. It actually makes the £1520 sl6 look a bit if a bad deal, an extra £80 for Ultegra instead of 105 seems very worth it to me.

Yes the 2016 s. That’s a massive help thanks, I’d been told the sl was a better frame. It’s a no brainer then.

Are you 100% they are the same frame? The guy in Evans was who told me they were different… He could easily have been wrong.

Different frame as different quality of carbon.

The difference between Ultegra and 105 is insignificant as they work the same way, the 105 groupset is considered the standard for reasonably-priced performance.

The difference bwteeen two frames with older and newer carbon layups is significant in the way they ride and feel; we have identical Roubaix SL3 and SL4 and they are amazingly different. The more modern frame is so much better to ride.

If in doubt; buy Cannondale. Either last years CAAD or Supersix at a discount, or a new CAAD12 disc. Can’t go wrong.

I’d go with the better frame and 105 personally, I have 105, Ultegra and Dura-Ace on my 3 road bikes and there’s very little difference between them (at a push I’d say the Dura-Ace brakes are better but I can still stop just fine with the 105 ones). Gear shifting I can’t really tell the difference, less so than the difference between when the same stuff is clean or dirty.

I think the only difference over the 2015 ultegra and 105 is the weight.
That’s from what i’ve read online reviews etc.
I have just bought a 2015 cannondale supersix evo 105. I am whole heartedly recommend the it.

Can anyone confirm which is correct about the frames then?

I’ve got one person saying they are the same, one saying they are different and the sl is better and the other saying the 2016 frame is better?

For your intended use I’d get whichever one you liked the look off the most ( colour primarely ). I’ve used this method of selecting bikes for decades and it’s always served me well 😀

I know very little about how much the frames differ and the real world benefits of the ultegra over the 105.

For the groupset, it’s about 200g of weight. I’d spend the money on the frame & wheels instead.

I am whole heartedly recommend the it.

Well said!

You probably won’t be able to tell the difference between either bike in a blind trial – so which do you prefer the colour of?

Having said that if you are commuting in all weather then you will wear stuff out. 105 is cheaper to replace than ultegra and frames don’t wear out.

Are the wheels the same – that is often worth checking?

At the risk of doing the typical STW thing of ignoring the question and just giving an opinion based on what I bought have you looked at online people like ribble, rose, planet x, merlin and canyon. Way more for your money if you don’t mind buying without riding.

Isn’t cycle to work limited to £1000?

If in doubt; buy Cannondale. Either last years CAAD or Supersix at a discount, or a new CAAD12 disc. Can’t go wrong.

Picked up my 2015 Super Six Evo for £1080 from Evans. it was a special model made for Evans to hit a price point and comes mainly with 5700 downgraded with FSA crank and tektro brakes

Incredible bike for little money.

I’ve thrown some decent spare wheels/tires (DT Swiss and Vittoria Corsas), Zipp SC SL finishing kit and 6800 bits on there and ended up with a 7kg bike for little outlay.

I weighed the frame when I rebuilt it and my 54cm was 930 gm

Very impressed with the ride quality, handling and crisp response to pedalling

Cannondale Supersix Ultegra reduced from 2000 to 1500 at various outlets (check Westbrook Cycles which might also be on cashback sites).

Did over 300 miles on a hired one in Lanzarote earlier this year and would buy one tomorrow if I was in the market at that price point (actually looking at the Hi Mod with Dura Ace…). Own brand kit very good quality too; OE stem is lighter than my 70 quid Deda…

The s model uses treks 300 series carbon, the sl uses 500 series and the slr uses 700 series. So the frames get lighter and better as they move up the range.

Thanks for all the help folks, I’ll have a look at the cannondales although I’m not a massive fan of the brand. Thanks for clarity on the frames akira… I guess the question now is is there much difference between 3000 and 5000 carbon?

2000 carbons

Whereas I will never own a Trek product regardless of how good they are (and Emondas look lovely), as they threw Greg Lemond under a bus to satisfy LA, and its taken 20 years for him to recover.

Good to have a choice.