Get the one that you think is the coolest. Those are all fantastic bikes, and while they’ll all make you marginally faster, they won’t be the difference between the B group and the A group. TR and hard work will make up the rest of that gap
FWIW I was in a similar position a while back - a fringe A/B rider with an endurance bike and deep section wheels. I bought an aero bike (Wilier Cento10Air) and it was definitely noticeably faster, but it didn’t make the fastest guy in the group by any stretch. It does make me want to get after it in training, though, and that’s been the ticket to hanging with the As (at least once group rides start again).
Madone for me all day, I think it’s the best looking (hate hate hate dropped seatstays on road bikes) and the ISO speed really improves the ride quality.
First of all: which ever bike you choose will be an awesome one! Congrats!
No experience with the Tarmac og the high-end Madone, but I own the F10 with rim-brakes and it just feels different from all the other bikes I´ve ridden. My “spare” bike is a Scott Foil, and going from the Foil to the F10 feels like going from a tractor to a Porsche. I have it set up with the 404 Firecrest wheels and DI2.
Without sounding harsh, you already have a really good bike with top equipment (I assume you have as you’re running Di2). None of those bikes are ‘different’ but that might depend on where you live. The bikes you’re looking at won’t make you any faster.
Each to their own and spend your money where you see fit. If it was me and I had to pick one of the bikes you’ve listed, it would be the F12.
One thing to bear in mind with the Pinarello is, that delivery time/ servicing and getting parts can be a pain in the rear end. I have made very good experiences with the other two brands, especially Spesh here. Pinarello not so much.
If I had that kind of money, I’d start with a very good bike fit and take the fitter’s advice on board about what setup I needed. i’d then look at the bikes which got closest to that. Any differences in speed between comparably equipped and priced top end bikes from the major manufacturers will be less than the difference between a really good and an average fit.
But if you want something different and beautiful…
I haven’t ridden the others, but can tell you hands down, the Madone A). Gets me excited to get out and ride the bike and B) is the most comfortable bike I’ve ever ridden. It is so smooth over imperfect roads and so freaking responsive. I still, 2 years in, find myself commenting too myself out loud during a ride how amazing it is.
I’m sure you’ll love any of those, get the ones that pulls on your boas the most!
doing a proper bike fit that has the riding-style you look at in mind (fit differs a lot for competitive race setups, endurance-riding, gran fondos)
try to set up your current bike so that it gets as close as possible to that fit
see how the fit feels, get used to it (for two months or so, this takes time)
choose a bike where the frame is really, really close to the ideal measures.
And on point 4: should the three bikes you mentioned not fit perfectly - why not go for something really “different” and spend the cash on a great (custom?) frame. RITTE for example, even FESTKA might be an option. If you’re seriously looking for something unique that lets you look and ride fast… I’d for sure consider custom-models and smaller brand before buying.
After all, the Pinarellos, Speshs and TREKs are great bikes … but they are mass-market bikes, not really exclusive or unique.
Not to say you’re not going to be happy with either of them, but I would like to make really sure the frame you buy fits you like a glove - especially considering that you’re relatively new to cycling, so your fit might change a bit when riding a lot.
This ^^. I sort of said it earlier, but this spells it out. I am willing to take a bet that a perfect fit will create more speed for most people, even at the cost of 500-700g. And if you’re not at the very least at cat 1 amateur, would even a small decrease in speed be worth greater comfort? (Nb-the OP may well be a cat 1 or better; that comment was a general observation and not specifically directed at him)
I agree that my post was mostly redundant to yours, however wanted to also make the point on required adaptation for a particular fit and riding style, which will undoubtedly take afair bit of time.
The only downside for the Madone for me personally is it seems a bit heavy. I would probably go for the Emonda (not sure how much slower it is aero wise than Madone). The Madone SLR9 is 17.2lbs while Emonda SLR9 is 14.8. I think the S-Works SL7 is around 14.7lbs and the F12 is 16.8. If it were between Madone and F12 I’d go Madone for the IsoSpeed, and I think it looks better, but the SL7 seems more comparable to the Emonda on paper
I have been reading a lot of information about weight vs aero and which one equates to more speed. I keep getting pulled down the path that says aero improvements will get more speed than weight improvements (all other things equal). The hard part about the aero theory is finding a way to prove which bike increases aerodynamic efficiency the most for my particular body shape and riding style. The weight is a more simple argument because weight is easier to compare from bike to bike.
I am following the advice of several posts and getting a professional bike fit. I am also putting the majority of my focus of increasing speed into my structured training with TrainerRoad
Several posts commented that these 3 bikes don’t qualify as “different” and that’s probably true for a lot of riders but there are different for me and where I ride. While there are a lot of Specialized and Trek bikes here, there aren’t many S-Works or SLR 9s. And I haven’t seen a Dogma on the road yet.
At the end of the day, I will probably end up making the decision based on the most scientific data - the one that I think looks the best. Ha Ha
