While you CAN put drop bars on a P2, it's never going to be 'right'. It's a TT/Tri bike, and a good one.

I also bought a P2 before having a road bike and wanted to do the same thing ... I'm glad I didn't.

For me the issue is that of geometry and handling characteristics. The P2 is fantastic when laid out on the aerobars at 80deg, but just doesn't handle so well when in a more relaxed position (i.e. seat back) and on the bullhorns. I don't imagine drop bars would help this because it's due to the rake of the front fork, the short chain stay, and wheelbase. You notice this especially when cornering quickly, but can also prove it by riding with no hands on a flat.

The other functional obstacle is the you can't just swap the bars whenever you want because you'll have to recable it each time; this will get old fast. Not to mention you'll have to buy some normal shifters since you can't use the bar-end ones from the P2.

So I ended up buying a used, but decent, road bike (Specialized Allez Elite) for less than a grand and have loved every minute of it. My ride time is split between the 2 maybe 50/50 (I also race crits and road races.)

Choose the right tool for the job ... you'll only regret it when you're handing over the greenbacks.

I would get an S2 with clip ons. Road bikes are way better for beginners anyway, I don't know why so many people buy tt bikes.

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But if Chrissy Wellington can do it, why I can't I?
http://www.slowtwitch.com/...Cervelo_P2C_466.html

x2. the s2 is def the way to go. I have my normal road set up and when i race i flip the seat post and put on the aero bars. voila! 2 bikes in 1

Yes

Hey, why not just buy a CX bike and use it for road, CX and TT, maybe commuting and bikepacking too?

Because you can, doesn't mean you should.

The P2C is low stack and long reach. Put drop bars on that and you will rival the positions of some pro cyclists.
The drops will be so low as to be useless, and your weight so far forward the bike handling is compromised.

Ideally, if you can only afford one bike, you'll have to decide what you want to compromise.

I rode a TT bike exclusively for my first 6 years in triathlon. I rode it in group rides, and even commuted on it sometimes!
Now I have a dedicated roadie, CX and commuter.

If you use the forward seat position, you bet, the P2 can be a fine drop bar road bike. It will handle great.

It's an easy mod, lots of advantages to it too.
We wrote something up about that and have a bunch of photos of similar tri bikes set up like that right here:

http://darkspeedworks.com/blog-whatbike.htm

(For the photo gallery, see the thumbnail link toward the bottom of the blog page ... )

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I like it just fine. It's extremely fun to ride on any paved terrain. For gravel and dirt, I prefer a motorcycle. That is the one negative about p2-p3 frames: nowhere suitable to mount a gasoline engine, and the chainstays explode apart when I try to inflate fat tires.

She's just a freak of nature! She won the World Champs as an amateur on an old $200 road bike!

I did this to my P3, and it worked all right, but in hindsight, it was a pretty crappy road bike. The palms of my hands always hurt because of the big drop, and it handled like a dog compared to a road bike geometry. Getting around tight corners was semi nightmarish and took a lot of practice. If I had to do it again, I'd get a used road bike frame and move over the components. It looked super cool, but I was glad to put it back in TT mode.

Actually the trail of the old and new P2's (combination of fork rake and head tube angle) is very road bike like.

The front end is just a little more relaxed than a standard road bike and the wheel base is not abnormal, in fact its nearly the same as your Allez. It's only drawback is it has shorter chainstays which really isn't a big deal if you have short femurs.

It takes a staggering amount of work, trial and error, tolerance of failure and wasted cash to get something like this to work perfectly- to have the agility, versatility, and fits-like-a-glove comfort of an excellent road bike, and with a few added advantages that a road bike lacks.
But once you've experienced them, you never want to go back.


On the other hand, if you have a family or a job you want to keep, I would strongly discourage anyone from turning their old tri into a roadie. It's stupid to even consider it.

I'm not sure of your point in your first paragraph. There are many poor road bike frames on the market, especially in the smaller sizes and it's a matter of opinion as to which ones work really well.

I have converted a Cervelo P2 to a road bike and it works very well. I have also used a Planet-X Stealth frame to make a road bike and it worked equally as well. If you look at the head tube angles and fork rakes you can determine which frames may/will work.

There are many tri frames that I would not convert to a road bike, the P2 is one of the few that does work.

A Cervelo P2 is going to have a reasonable resale value because it's a Cervelo P2 and people will be on the look out for one. So if you might want a road bike in the future then I'd resell and get something else if you get to that point. If you knew you wanted to have both bike uses at once or knew you would change to road in a few years then there might be a better answer. But if it's theoretical I'd get the P2.

When you first get a bike then you are pretty easily pleased. After a while you want something that is competitive or at least isn't a disadvantage or is a step up. A Cervelo P2, IMHO, is something you can get and be happy on as long as you race and not need to upgrade. In your position I'd worry that you compromise now for something you might do in the future and then end up not being entirely happy with it for it's primary purpose.

Wow a thread from a long time ago! Truly slow twitch

Bought the S1. Loved it. Now it collects dust in Australia

S5 still looks to me like a P2 mated to a high chair.