Thanks for letting us sit in on the build. I haven’t done bicycle work since the 80’s when I worked on my Mongoose BMX bike, so it’s always fun to watch a professional work on the new stuff. I picked up a Checkpoint SL5 on March 5th. It’s the radioactive red version. She is a beauty. I'd been riding mostly road (on our river greenbelt and such) on a Trek Marlin 7 for the last 4 seasons. I did 1550 mi. last year and had a total of 5200 miles for the 4 years. I finally decided that I was using the wrong tool for the job and got the Checkpoint. It is amazing how big a difference 10 lbs can make with a bike. I've already done over 700 miles this year and climbed over 13k ft. I did a ride in April for my 60th birthday. I did 65+ miles, taking care of 2 of my goals: 60 for my 60th and a metric century. Now to work more on the climbing muscles.
Besides the great new color, is it worth the upgrade? SLRs are super expensive. A ton of money to save .7 lbs for a less functional bike (less mounts, ability for a dropper, etc). Curious to the advantage of an SLR vs the SL (I own an SL5)
Beautiful color on that SLR. The SL also! I have a question. I just bought a new Checkpoint SL6 from my LBS and I was wondering if this is normal or not..Underneath the rubbery carbon armor on the downtube there are 2 holes, slightly off center, on the non drivetrain side. They arent the holes with plugs further down for an extra water bottle. They're totally concealed by the carbon armor. Someone told me its for optional di2 battery mount, and someone else said he thought it was for another water bottle holder. Do your Checkpoints have these holes? I'm hoping its normal and not a manufacturer defect.
