Derek Darves

I've been riding one for about a year. I guess I don't have much to say

except that it's a solid bike, is very stiff, tracks well, and is

somewhat inexpensive.



The nice thing about the E5 is that it is certainly good enough to race

on but costs less than a lot of other comparable frames (and it comes

with a fork, headset, and seatpost as well). For myself, I prefer to

have the peace of mind that comes with knowing that if I trashed the

frame in a crash, I would not be out $1,000-2,000. I used to ride a

Litespeed and the specter of its destruction worried the hell out of me

since it cost about $1,600. Moreover, I actually prefer the

Specialized's ride quality over the litespeed, and it was much less

expensive.



On the bad side, I think the seatpost clamp design is poor, and tends to

allow large amounts of water into the tubing. This can be solved by

covering the seatpost clamp with some kind of stretchy, rubber-like

grommet, but this makes it more difficult to adjust the seatpost. Also,

my friend bought an E5 that, when new, was badly out of alignment and

had to be sent back (they did give him a new one). I don't know how

common this is.



Hope this helps,

Derek





martin cohen wrote:

 

Starting to look at upgrading my frame, and the S-Works E5 (56) is on my



list of possible bikes. Anyone ridden these? Currently ride an Allez,

all aluminum, alu fork, so I'm no stranger to road vibration: it doesn't



really booottthhhheeeerrrr mmmmeeeeee!



There sure are lots of them for sale..



Thanks,

Marty