mtnwalker

Ok, I've been looking and looking and have narrowed it down to these two bikes. Either a 07 Cervelo Soloist Team or a 06 Litespeed Teramo. I haven't had a chance to ride either one but my limiting factor is the price. I can get either one for $2600 after tax and I will be taking test rides next week.

I would like to hear peoples experiences, if any, on either bike. I read that the Cervelo can be very rattly but it reaceived high praices from Bicycling mag. The Litespeed OTOH is Ti. Also I can't find any info on weight for the Teramo. Does anyone know.

waterrockets 

I can't imagine the Cervelo being the heavy bike.

MONGO!

There ae a lot of nice bikes in that price range, ride as many as you can find and the decision will make itself.

FranckCisco

I think Scotts are relatively light. For racing, Pedal force wins hands down for both price and weight.

mtnwalker

Sorry, I didn't make it clear. I don't really want a carbon bike. Just personal preference. I know the cf bikes will be lighter but I really want to stay with Ti, aluminum, or even steel. Does anyone know the Teramo's weight?

LowCel 

I took out a buddy of mine's soloist the other day for the first time. I have always heard how great of bikes they are so I was looking forward to it. Wow, was I ever dissapointed. I have ridden $600 bikes that felt betetr than that thing. It was shaky and didn't give me any confidence at all. I couldn't wait to get off of it. I'm really hoping there was something wrong with his bike and not a problem with all of them.

snoboard2

what'd he have it built up with? my soloist had wcs bar and stem and dura ace. it was so solid, i hit 55 on a decent and easily felt confident to go past 60. man i miss that bike. wasn't especially light. the alloy seat post weighed a good 2 lbs maybe more, i almost bought a carbon one because the alloy was such an anchor. with my setup and open pros the bike weighed 17 lbs? so with some 303s, you might be able to get into the low to mid 15 lb range depending on the size of the frame

mtnwalker

Thats what Bicycling basically said. The all aluminum Cervelo was "rumbly" but then turn around and said that it was the best $2300 bike they rode on. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to ride them and find out for myself. I was also looking at some steel bikes from Guru and Lemond. I might also just ride a Madone 5.0 but I'm really set on the Ti frame.

ryanhulce

Love my Soloist!!

MONGO!

I thought the same thing when I rode one.

mtnwalker

Update:

I test rode the Soloist, Teramo, and also threw in a Cannondale Six13 for good measure. I will have to say that the Soloist was very responsive but the all aluminum frame and fork made it very jittery. It seemed like I felt every bump on the road when I rode it. The Six13 was a joy to ride and loved to climb inclines at UC Berkley but so did the Teramo. Both rides felt plush and both were able to dampen the vibrations quite well with the Six13 feeling more rigid than the Teramo.

In the end the Soloist and the Teramo were priced the same after the discounts and the Six13 was $100 bucks more. So conventional wisdom pushed me towards the Teramo for bang for the buck. I am now a proud owner of a Ti bike.

stea1thviper

pics?

mtnwalker

My new Teramo. I tried to go for the OCP shots. What do you guys think?

FrankBattle 

F*** it!!

Nice rig though. But f*** it, please. 27 demerits for not having done that ..

JBD

ewww...

Vinokurtov

So when are you changing the fork out? And why even test a Six13?

mtnwalker

Because it dawned on me that to make an intelligent decision I have to try out the different types of frames. And I hate the feeling of "What about the carbon bike? How different? Is it better?". I will admit that the carbon bike gave the most responsive ride. But the Ti was $800 below msrp compared to only $100 for the cf bike.

EDIT: Why do I need to change out the fork?

scarpi41

I dont like the Teramo, the Cervelo on the other hand, is a bike I have had my eye on for quite a while.

Surferbruce

i have a cervelo team and as long as the seatpost is greased it's the quietest bike i've yet had. on the other hand my buddies cr1 rattles like a brand new box of legos.
*edit* i see you went with the litespeed. not my cup of joe, but i'm sure it'll do the job. enjoy.

kmart

What are the 3 little tree looking things on the Litespeed's headtube badge? They look a little phallic....and possible mutated due to prolonged radiation...and honestly even Bikes Direct makes better decals than that...

Sorry it may be a killer bike but it doesn't look like one...

MONGO!

The bike looks great, hope you have many happy miles on it.

mtnwalker

I agree with you on this. The Cervelo, Cannondale, and Specialized bikes at the stores I went to definitely looked more aero and aggressive looking than the Teramo. But there's something about the titanium that kept calling me like a siren song. I know it doesn't look like it will go out and eat you for lunch. But thats exactly what I was looking for.

LowCel 

Congratulations, beautiful bike you have. Why do you have the saddle pushed so far forward though? In my opinion it would look much nicer if you would get a zero setback seatpost. Just something to think about.

LowCel 

Sorry, looks like I missed this post. It is built up with Ultegra, just factory build. Nothing aftermarket besides the tires and saddle. It is the 2006 Soloist team. I'm pretty sure he is going to be getting rid of it and picking up a Fuji. He bought a Fuji Aloha 1.0 for his triathlons.

mtnwalker

Yeah, I contacted Litespeed regarding that seatpost since every pic they have was a zero setback. Unfortunately they said it was shipped with the new one because its a "better" seatpost(for them on cost most likely). So the new seatpost will have to wait until my credit card stops reeling from this latest blow.

OTOH, the bike still rides like a dream regardless of looks. And it climbs like a doped up <insert name of doper here>.