Help! I'm in need of a new bike and need to make some quick decisions. I've been training for a half IM that will be in about 6 weeks, and on Monday I wrecked my road bike! I'm embarrased to say, I had it on the roof rack and drove into the garage!! I am an age grouper that has done about 10 sprints over the past few years, usually getting to the top 3 in my age group so I guess I'm starting to get a little bit competitive. ;) My old bike was a Schwinn SuperSport road bike. I am thinking that it might be time to invest in a tri bike now, but dont have lots to spend. Today I looked at the Cervelo One and Dual, the Dual is probably the upper end of my spending limit. Any thoughts on these bikes? Any others that you can suggest? I've never used aerobars and I'm used to road bike geometry and a triple chainring....so I am concerned about having enough time to adjust to a new bike before the half IM on August 22. Any advice is appreciated.

Chris (PA Tri Gal)

If you've never ridden a tri bike w/aero bars and barends be cautious about getting a tri bike, its a big change. I tried it and ended up building back up a pure road bike with clip-on aeros, if you want you can private message me and I can show you a road/tri option where you could switch from road to tri whenevr you felt ready or you wouldn't have to if you didn't want to.

A good road option is a Felt 60 or 70, another good tri-option is a Felt S32, or like I said private message me and I'll show you some lesser known brands that would make a great bike for a lot less.

Another option is to get the Soloist 105 Cervelo, and put Clip ons on that. You can reverse the seat post head, to get your seat further forward for the aerobars that way. That is my current set up and it is great (get proper bike fit help though). I am currently thinking of getting just a single barend shifter for the rear Deraileur, and just rerouting one cable. So you get the aeroframe that looks good, and the reversible seat post thingy, and also some pretty good wheels. not QUITE as good as Ksyriums, but pretty damn good. PM if you want to know more about the bike.

Regards,
Brendon

Hi guys, thanks for the information. I was very skeptical about the tri bikes with shifters on the aerobars and such....today I went and rode two Cervelos, the Dual (tri bike) and the Soloist. Both were pretty awesome but I was surprised that I felt OK on the Dual. It is definitely going to take some practice getting used to the aerobars but I think (hope!) I'll eventually be glad, I bought the bike! I might also be able to rebuild my old wrecked road bike for a few hundred $, then at least I'll have a backup.

Now that I'm on this forum thing, I'll keep you posted on what I think of the bike!

By the way, the guys at the shop were nice enough to let me borrow the Soloist so I can do an Olympic distance race this sunday! (Knew I wouldnt be ready to race on the Dual.) How awesome was that to drive home with two Cervelos in my jeep!?!

Has anyone seem the Leader TT bike on eBay? The bike looks a bit pricey at $2149 for a new entry in the market but they sell the frame alone for a little over $300 and you can build it up to suit your budget. Their regular bikes get pretty good reviews although the earliest examples had a few issues they seemed to have corrected.

The Leader is all aluminum with aero or oval downtube, aero seat tube and rear stays and a short rear triangle. The have an aero bladed carbon fork for $129 too. Probably all entry level but entry priced too.

Very tempting setup, maybe coupled with some Shimano 105 stuff (my favorite).

Tony

Pic of the Leader frame.

ugghh ugly IMHO. Great news with the Cervelo Chris! I am still deciding on my next bike.... wether to buy a non-cervelo road racing bike and convert my soloist to Tri/TT setup, or to get a dedicated TT/Tri bike like a Dual or P2K and leave the soloist for Road racing.

Brendon

where did you see the price of the bare frame for the Leader TT?

Whoa! I raced the Pittsburgh Seagate tri today (olympic distance) on the Soloist....sweeeet! Now I dont know if I want to keep that one and put clip-on areos, or stick with the Dual. Decisions, decisions...too bad I cant keep them both! I was pretty happy with my splits (although since this was my first olympic distance I could only estimate my times). Did the swim in 30 min, bike in 1:16 (two loops of an all-uphill then all downhill route), kinda died on the run but still managed ~53 min. Didn't get my Ttimes, but overall a 2:46. That Soloist was awesome though.....the bike shop guys are giving me a couple more days to make the final decision, so I'm going to take the Dual out for a spin tomorrow.

Great race PATriGal. I'm over in Philly. :)

Help! I'm in need of a new bike and need to make some quick decisions. I've been training for a half IM that will be in about 6 weeks, and on Monday I wrecked my road bike! I'm embarrased to say, I had it on the roof rack and drove into the garage!! I am an age grouper that has done about 10 sprints over the past few years, usually getting to the top 3 in my age group so I guess I'm starting to get a little bit competitive. ;) My old bike was a Schwinn SuperSport road bike. I am thinking that it might be time to invest in a tri bike now, but dont have lots to spend. Today I looked at the Cervelo One and Dual, the Dual is probably the upper end of my spending limit. Any thoughts on these bikes? Any others that you can suggest? I've never used aerobars and I'm used to road bike geometry and a triple chainring....so I am concerned about having enough time to adjust to a new bike before the half IM on August 22. Any advice is appreciated.

Chris (PA Tri Gal)

Look at the Waterford frames. They are semi-custom frames but you might be able to afford one if you recycle your componants and dig around in the bargan bin at the LBS. These things are really nice and have just a great reputation.

Buying a really nice frame that fits you to a "T" will improve your times and make you much more comfortable on the bike. You can always upgrade to nicer componants later. You can buy the frame this year and new parts next year and that it is like having a new bike two years in a row! :)

Waterford have both tigged and bazed models but at least think about a lugged and brazed frame. (I think they call it a TT22) It will last forever unless you bang the garage again and if you do the frame can probably be repaired and repainted for less cost than buying a new tig weild frame.

The weight is gonna be about the same, maybe a little heavier but because it doesn't rotate you will not feel it.

Look them up on the Internet or ask your LBS.

A couple of things to consider: Not all triathlons etc have a flat and straight course, some will have descents and climbing and turns that you may want the drop bars for(Soloist), and it also allows you to easily road race (I leave my aero clamps on, and just slide out the bars and unbolt the rests. You can easily use the soloist for road racing and general road riding (I do, and it's great!).

With the Dual, it does have Ultegra (You are riding the 105 or team soloist?), but you are limited for riding positions and it is pretty much a one horse ride - for TT and Tri/IM. Just think carefully about this. If you have a second bike I suggest the Dual, but if it's your only bike I suggest the Soloist (this is exactly what it is designed for - to be a road racing machine that can convert into a Aero weapon of destruction :p)

The stock soloist wheels are bomb proof. True, and will stay that way. (and you cant buy them in the shops, and they look great ;)) they are fast and aero, but if doing a course with a bit of climbing, find some lighter wheels. (1797gr claimed set weight) you can get some HED Jet 60's that weigh the same, as a second wheelset. but thats another thread later on, isn't it?

hope this helps,
Brendon

Whoa! I raced the Pittsburgh Seagate tri today (olympic distance) on the Soloist....sweeeet! Now I dont know if I want to keep that one and put clip-on areos, or stick with the Dual. Decisions, decisions...too bad I cant keep them both! I was pretty happy with my splits (although since this was my first olympic distance I could only estimate my times). Did the swim in 30 min, bike in 1:16 (two loops of an all-uphill then all downhill route), kinda died on the run but still managed ~53 min. Didn't get my Ttimes, but overall a 2:46. That Soloist was awesome though.....the bike shop guys are giving me a couple more days to make the final decision, so I'm going to take the Dual out for a spin tomorrow.

Cannondale Ironman 800!

I did finally decide to keep the Dual, and I am pretty happy so far. I am getting used to shifting on the aeros faster than I thought, and if I'm climbing, I just go to the bull horns. It is definitely taking a little bit of adjusting to the balance of the Dual though, and being more bent-over. I still think about the soloist though (I was riding the Team!) and hope I dont regret NOT getting that one! But, I think the frame from my wrecked bike is still good, so I'm hoping to invest a few hundred in some new parts and have it as my "spare" for bad weather, hilly rides, or putting on the trainer. I can definitely say Cervelo makes great bikes!

PICTURES!!!!! do you have race wheels for it? are you thinking of geting some?

Brendon