I am looking at these two bikes and wonder if anyone has ridden both? I think I know the answer I'll get posting in this forum but was wondering about the difference in the ride quality (vertical compliance especially) and weight. I know they are both stiff enough for someone who weighs 150 lbs. Any ride impressions?

I'm 138 lbs and have ridden both. You're comparing two very different bikes and don't say what types of riding you do, but I can't think of a situation that I'd recommend the R3 over the Madone.

Both bikes handle very well, but at 150 lbs, the R3 is going to give you a very stiff ride - very little compliance. The Madone is a much more refined ride that also is fast, climbs well and (to my way of thinking) is a much better all rounder kind of bike.

Both offer limited lifetime warranties to original owners on the frames, Trek covers forks for 5 years and both cover finish and decals for one year. Wolf and Easton forks would not be covered under Cervelo's warranty.

PJ352 thanks for the feedback. I live in Colorado so I plan to do a lot of climbing on the bike. Most of our rides are straight up and then straight down. So something light for climbing but also stable on the descents would be great. At 45 years of age, I'm also looking for a fair amount of comfort and vertical compliance. I will use the bike primarily for training for mountain bike racing, and I may do a few hillclimbs and road races as well. The 2008 Madone seems to be getting a lot of really good press especially regarding the comfort and stiffness factors. It seems it may be the best of both worlds. However, the R3 has been described as very stiff but also with a fairly high degree of comfort due to the minimalist seat stays. The best evaluation would be to take them both over the same rough roads and see how they do. I am willing to sacrifice a small degree of comfort for very light weight but not much. Thanks for the comparison.

If you're looking for a degree of comfort, you may want to include the Cervelo RS (same as R3, but with a longer HT) and the Madone performance models (same geometry - longer HT). The ride characteristics will be the same as the R3 and Modone pro, you'll just be a tad more upright.

AB Rider - Don't waste your money. The bike to get is a Look 595. I owned a R3 for about 7 months. I loved it. It was the best bike I had ever ridden in my 20 years of racing, until I rode a Look 595 Ultra. Man, what a sweet bike. The R3 doesn't even compare. The 595 is so much stiffer at the bottom bracket, stiffer laterally, but smother and more refined in the ride quality. The Cervelo and Treks are both good frames, but give the Look a thought. It's a little pricey but way worth it.

Laterally stiffer but vertically more compliant? who'd have thought it

i found the 595 to be harsh compared to a R3. It felt like every bit of vibration ran up the mast into my backside. YMMV

The Look is a 5 yr warranty vs. limited lifetime warranties. I have not heard of a single Cervelo customer being refused a warranty replacement for a legitimate fork issue.

I would get a proper bike fit...test ride all bikes you can.....then make an informed decision.

One word - MADONE. Enough said!

I rode both a Madone 5.2 and R3 w/ ultegra for about 100 miles each in varied terrain and decided for the Madone. Not only was the Madone cheaper for a comparable component spec, I just preferred it outright.

Both bikes are very good for climbing, but they are very different in nature. The Madone is more of a swiss army knife, it does many things well without truly exceling at one. Its comfort is excellent for me. Note that comfort is primarily a function of fit though.

The R3 is certainly a harsher ride (at the same tire pressure) and, in my biased opinion, only excels when ridden very hard in hilly terrain. Note that the harshness can be addressed easily by lowering your tire pressure a tad.

I felt that the Madone handled high speed corners better than the R3, especially when I fitted both bikes with the same wheels for comparison (I am not a fan of the Bonrager Race lite wheels that come with the Madone). Note that cornering is strongly dependent on your weight distribution over the bike so your experience may vary.

If you like a lot of road feedback choose the R3, for more isolation (the Trek 'wooden feel') take the Madone (the new Madone is a lot livelier than the old model though)

I rode both a Madone 5.2 and R3 w/ ultegra for about 100 miles each in varied terrain and decided for the Madone. Not only was the Madone cheaper for a comparable component spec, I just preferred it outright.

How did they compare descending, taking high-speed corners.. which inspired more confidence? How about lateral stiffness.. which bike felt like it delivered the power more efficiently?

I definitely prefer the Madone for both descending and high speed corners. It feels just very solid and neutral to me in those circumstances; the R3 seems to be both more nervous and somewhat vague in its steering. Off course this is very much a function of how you are positioned on the bike so your experience may vary.

Both bikes are laterally stiff, the R3 more so than the Madone. However. I am a clydesdale and my strength is sprinting; The Madone is plenty stiff for me (feels comparable to a Cannondale CAAD 5 that I used to ride) and more importantly: it feels a lot more nimble in the sprint. Note that both the R3 and the Madone use different tube wall thicknesses for different size frames, so again your experience may vary.

Somehow the R3 just felt very inefficient to me at lower speeds, I am really not sure why. It seems like it only comes alive when you are pushing it really hard. This is off course entirely subjective, but I found it an off-putting quality.

Note that I put a different set of wheels on the Madone. The standard Bontrager set is rim heavy. Changing this really made the bike come alive.