Triathlon - Which tri bike is the best all-around bang-for the buck?

Irrespective of price, what NEW tri bike do you think offers the best bang for the buck? In other words, gives you the MOST performance/quality for the least amount of money? The bike doesn't have to be world-championship calibre, but should be a really great value for build, parts, and aerodynamics.

It can be an ultra-expensive bike $>3000 or an inexpensive entry-level bike <$1000. Please justify your choice in plain English for us newbies shopping for a bike.

(Lets saved all the suggestions for USED tri bikes for a different discussion. I RARELY see 2004+ year Cervelos being sold used locally online, anyway.)

Thanks all!

I just got my 720TT frame from Leader Bikes, and I'll be building up the bike. The frame was $140. I'll let you know how it goes.

Do you mean low price and lot's of features or the highest quality bike for the least amount of money?

For the first category, I'd say the Felt S32 is the one of the lowest priced tri bikes that is still a good frame with great components. If you are willing to spend a little more money, the Quintana Roo Tequilo is a heck of a lot of bike for $2000. IF you are talking highest performance bike for the lowest cost, the Cervelo P3 is hands down one of the best tri bikes out there and at half the price of most competitors flagship bikes.

2008 P2C Ultegra. The best bike for $2500 out there, I think, given the specs (except the wheels) (I don't have the Ultegra so this isn't a post: my bike is the best). Think the Felt B12 is nice too.

I agree Cervelo P2C for 2500 is the best value.

chevy57

Gotta go with the Cervelo P2...nearly as good as the P3, which is among the best tri bikes on the planet. The Cervelo P2 one the Ironman with Chrissie Wellington aboard. I'd call that a well proven bike.

Yup, the Cervelo for 2500 is the best bang for the buck, period. However you can get a Jamis Comet for 1200, which is great for an entry level tri bike if you want to keep the price down as well. Third the leader frame for only 140 bucks is amazing, and it's a lot of fun (and cheaper) ebaying and building up a bike yourself.

If you can find one, there seem to still be a lot of pre-2007 Specialized Transitions still out there in the world.

Cervelo P2 is a great value. Nothing else comes close.

Cervelo P2C aerodynamic frame set and seat post design plus standard component make it the best value tri-bike at $2500 level.

and if you're not thinking pure tri bike, it's hard to go past the Soloist Team as a road/tri option.

and if you're not thinking pure tri bike, it's hard to go past the Soloist Team as a road/tri option.

I think the Soloist is a good road bike, but I'd go with a full on tri bike if you are putting out that kind of money and racing. The Soloist is a compromise as a tri bike.

Tie - Cervelo P2 Carbon / Trek Equinox 7

http://www.bikesportmichigan.com/reviews/cerveloP2C2008.shtml
http://www.bikesportmichigan.com/reviews/Cervelo_P2C_2008/lg/P2Cmain.jpg

I think the Soloist is a good road bike, but I'd go with a full on tri bike if you are putting out that kind of money and racing. The Soloist is a compromise as a tri bike.Hmm, could have sworn that was what I said...

Chrissie won Korea on a Soloist;)

Another vote for the P2C.

Okay, now it's just pilling on, but I chose a P2C ;)

I am going to go out on alimb here, while I agree that a P2C is an amazing value, right now, today, you can get a brand new Felt S22 for 1,500 and that is the best "value" for your money avaiable right now. The S32 at $999 is pretty darn close.

I disagree with the Felt S22 because Felt themselves admit that it isn't nearly as fast of a frame. At just a couple of hundred more, you can get the Trek Equinox 7 which features a frame damn near as fast as the TTX(only difference in the presence of welds, and the seatstays) with nice internal routing, big cutout and deep headtube.

I disagree with the Felt S22 because Felt themselves admit that it isn't nearly as fast of a frame. At just a couple of hundred more, you can get the Trek Equinox 7 which features a frame damn near as fast as the TTX(only difference in the presence of welds, and the seatstays) with nice internal routing, big cutout and deep headtube.

In my search, didn't see any Trek E7s below $1,900 and that was an 07 clearance, thats still $400 over the Felt.

If you like the position I will give you the slight speed difference, because even the difference betweena slow tri bike and the fastest tri bike is nothing compared to the differences a good position will make. The Felt has a dual position seat post which will allow a steeper fit than you can get on the Trek.

Ok, I will change my position, for $1,500 or less, you can't get a better bike.

And the $400 you save over the Trek could be used for a nice helmet, a tri suit or some nice wheels, did someone mention wheels, oh yeah, the Felt comes with Deep Dish wheels standard, which I will posit more than makes up the difference in speed.

And, you don't have to ride trek which has got to have some serious value unto itself:)

If my LBS prices were the same as yours I would agree. Currently at my LBS, the Trek is $1700 and the Felt is on sale for $1750(just went down this week from $2100). I think this is a sign of two things. First, Felt doesn't do as much dealer pricing protection, almost all trek dealers have the E7 still listed at $1869(though there in store prices probably differ). Second, Trek unfortunately has missed the markets key segment right now, and even more so next year, the $2500 market.

I would imagine that stock, they are equal speedwise. The trek wins out frame/fork and has 30mm wheels, the Felt has 40mm wheels. Down the road though, very few of us race stock wheels.

I'm actually waiting for one of the two to go on megasale and I'll probably buy it. However, in the case of the Felt, the wheels would be going to waste.

HOWEVER, this discussion is pointless. Next year Cervelo is raising prices, as is Felt, and Trek and just about every other bike maker out there. This will leave a new king of the market. The Felt B16 for $2300, with the same frame design as the B12 of this year but with a heavier fork and lower components.

Beyond this, the Kestrel Talon is another bike that can be had for about $2000 new thats speculated to be fairly aerodynamic.

What do you guys think about the specialized transition e5 comp? (Lets say you are able to get it for around 30%+ off the msrp of 1900)

Three years old, but still useful if you're in the used bike market: Best Tri Bikes under $2,500 (http://www.trigearreview.com/forms/Article.aspx?REVID=227).

its not a tri-bike but i'd race all day long on it. the motobecane le champion SL with WCS everything.... extremely light, probably stiffer than most of the bikes listed here and $1200. the components are all great, even for racing. put a thompson in there and some clip-ons and you've got a bike a lot more aero than the ones used in the 80s by pros in hawaii :)

The Cervelo P2C is going to be hard to beat as the best value. If you're willing to get a 2008 model, you can find a really great price on them right now if you manage to find one in your size - it's not easy to do. The 2009s are going up in price by $200 across the board (frameset, Ultegra, and DA builds) for what ultimately is a paint color change. The Ultegra build kit puts you on a carbon frameset with excellent components. The Ultegra drivetrain is pretty standard on bikes in this price range. I'm also rather partial to the VisionTech cockpit instead of an off-brand round tube base bar plus whatever clip ons they throw on there. But cockpit preference tends to be a pretty personal decision. The P2C frame itself is very aerodynamic - by far the best in the field at its price point. It's something that I'd heavily consider when buying a bike. There are other bikes in this price range with similar components, but none of which (from the data that I've seen) that match up to the P2C.

QR makes great bikes at affordable prices. I'd be tempted to go with one of them, but with the Cervelo at a comparable price to their carbon frames I'm going with the more aerodynamic frame. If you don't care about riding carbon, then their aluminum bikes are very good deals with true tri geometry.

If I were looking to 2009 models, I'd give the Felt B12 a serious look. It's slightly more (~$300) than the Ultegra P2C, but has upgrades in the brake calipers and crankset. The cockpit of the Felts in 2009 has also been complete redesigned. The new cockpits look very sharp. I have no idea how comfortable they'd be, but from the pictures I've seen they look very impressive. The Felt's cable routing is, I believe, superior to the Cervelo's and its internally guided cable routing would make maintenance a breeze. But if you're not a wrench, it might not be a big deal to you.

If I were buying new in 2009, it'd come down to the Cervelo P2C or the Felt B12. Cervelo is probably the better value being cheaper and likely more aero (depending on who's data you believe). But I do like Felt's new cockpit, their superior cable routing, and the fact that you wouldn't be riding the same bike as everyone else out there racing that day. :)