Speculation: for 2018 they might bring IsoSpeed to the Speed Concept along with redesigned brakes and possibly a redesigned downtube along the lines of the Velocite/Pinarello Bolide. If they go to the plug-in mono extension only (which they should) they could potentially do integrated front-end hydration as well (Ala Rafael/Scott/Canyon/etc).

They really need to do something with the brake track on their Aeolus wheels and they should also try partnering with someone like Vittoria to update their 22mm aero tire... because, frankly, the Aeolus wheels are really fantastic other than the brake track and the only way you're going to make a bike like the Speed Concept faster is to optimize the whole tire/wheel/frame system (in my opinion).

I was not familiar with the bikes you mentioned...looked them up. What would be the benefit in changing the downtube, as you mentioned? ISOSpeed would be a great add.

Yeah the only real downside to Iso Speed is the additional cost and you can't easily "show" that it makes you faster. Specialized went to great lengths to show the new Roubaix is something like 2 watts faster over horribly rough surfaces. While I agree with the notion that (ceteris paribus) a more comfortable bike will be faster and lead to a faster run, it's probably nearly impossible to actually quantify it.

Changing the downtube would potentially make a round bottle aero neutral. I think it's hard to underestimate the utility of a regular bottle on the downtube. Standard size, easy to swap, easy to clean in training, etc. etc. Plus between a draft box, a ~20oz bottle low on the downtube, and front hydration you'd get a really nice weight distribution. That won't make you faster in a TT setting but it's still nice to have.

My critique would be that to integrate that sort of tech safely you'd have to add substantial mass (and cost) to the bike.

IMO, the smart players will downstream current advancements to lower price points. Premier bikes is on to the right scent. The next step, IMO, is to build a similar bike out of aluminum, run mechanical 1x (route the shift cable outside of the aero extension, use clips to tidy things up, that way the bike is still easy to pack), and have shallow aero aluminum rims along the lines of the AlForce33 with a disc cover for the rear. Lace the rear with a Powertap to make swapping the cover easy. Get it to the consumer in a travel case for under $2,000.

With a braketrack that doesn't suck. :)

Try Flos in the rain. They try newest Zipps. No comparison, unfortunately. I really like Flo and what they are doing otherwise.

Cervelo designed the P5-X to use round bottles and we all know how Slowtwitch reacted to that....

---

Make Inside Out Sports your next online tri shop! http://www.insideoutsports.com/

Their choice to position the bottle horizontally was smart. However that would be problematic on smaller double-diamond frames. IMO, the Velocite/Pinarello is just a better solution so long as it can be done with no (or a minimal) aero penalty.