After years of bike companies battling each other over 'stiffest' and 'lightest', the coveted term for 2017 road bikes may be on the other end of the spectrum: 'cushiest'. But what is the best way to get comfortable without sacrificing performance?
Two new road bikes highlight this trend, with wildly different approaches. Abandoning its bolt-on viscoelastic Zertz, Specialized built its new Roubaix with full-on front suspension — using a cartridge design between the stem and head tube. The new Trek Domane, with a flexing fork and frame, doubles down on comfort in its disc iteration, rolling on massive 32mm clinchers.
I gave the Domane SLR 7 Disc five stars, and declared it the best endurance road bike. My colleague Warren Rossiter rode the new Roubaix, gave it five stars, and, you guessed it, declared the bike to be the most impressive endurance road bike yet.
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Aside from providing our readers a laugh — you are both our favorite child — the two bikes do bring up an interesting discussion on design philosophy. Namely, should the bike or the rider be suspended?
Trek is hesitant to even call the Domane design suspension, but the big flexing seat tube is in effect a leaf spring, as is, to a lesser degree, the steerer that pivots fore and aft in the bolted headset. In any event, the frameset has some give, while the handlebar remains fixed in relation to the rider.
How much is the frameset, and how much are the tires — or something else?
Old flex, new flex and lousy hardtails with drop bars
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