With all the publicity surrounding Norman Stadler's sensatonal Ironman ride and win and the recent threads related to the Kalibur I wanted to throw my .2 cents in.
Full disclosure: We sell Kuota framesets at Bikesport, the bike shop I own.
In working today with jk_allen13 from England and in a brief ride on the bike (admittedly a very bad means of evaluation) and also working with several other customers including local fast guy John Sotir who is joining me in Thailand for Laguna Phuket I have found the following:
This IS one of the best riding and proportioned triathlon frames I have ever tried. shock absorption with a Renn disk rear clincher and a Nimble front clincher on Continental TPS Attack/Force tires at 115psi is excellent.
Drivetrain performance of this frame is also very good with rear shifting beiing repeatable and responsive to shift lever input. No mush. Front shifting is sketchy on this bike due to a custom 54tooth chainring made without pick-up rivets or shift gates. I emphasize this has nothing to do with the frame. Matter of fact, I wager the stiffness of the front derailleur mounting point probably enhances the shift performance up front. It would probably be worse on another frame.
The front is low- this is a small and the head tube is only 90 mm. The geometry chart claims the top tube is 51.5 cm lonf. Ignore it. It is wrong. By even the most conservative or "short" interpretation of center to center the top tube measures no less than 52.5 cm with it being more realistically a full 53 cm long. This also contribute to the stability of the bike but you do have to have the torso length for this frame. Julian is a little short on the torso department and long in the legs so we are down to a 90 mm stem with the elbow pads of his new Hed aerobars at the most rearward orientation.
So far, so good. There are more headset spacers than I prefer by far and we are working on this. If you want a low "Stadleresque" position you will have no problems with the Kalibur.
Overall, I am impressed enough to want one for myself. Another huge benefit of the Kalibur: They exist. I can deliver one to you today as can any Kuota dealer.
Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com
Full disclosure: We sell Kuota framesets at Bikesport, the bike shop I own.
In working today with jk_allen13 from England and in a brief ride on the bike (admittedly a very bad means of evaluation) and also working with several other customers including local fast guy John Sotir who is joining me in Thailand for Laguna Phuket I have found the following:
This IS one of the best riding and proportioned triathlon frames I have ever tried. shock absorption with a Renn disk rear clincher and a Nimble front clincher on Continental TPS Attack/Force tires at 115psi is excellent.
Drivetrain performance of this frame is also very good with rear shifting beiing repeatable and responsive to shift lever input. No mush. Front shifting is sketchy on this bike due to a custom 54tooth chainring made without pick-up rivets or shift gates. I emphasize this has nothing to do with the frame. Matter of fact, I wager the stiffness of the front derailleur mounting point probably enhances the shift performance up front. It would probably be worse on another frame.
The front is low- this is a small and the head tube is only 90 mm. The geometry chart claims the top tube is 51.5 cm lonf. Ignore it. It is wrong. By even the most conservative or "short" interpretation of center to center the top tube measures no less than 52.5 cm with it being more realistically a full 53 cm long. This also contribute to the stability of the bike but you do have to have the torso length for this frame. Julian is a little short on the torso department and long in the legs so we are down to a 90 mm stem with the elbow pads of his new Hed aerobars at the most rearward orientation.
So far, so good. There are more headset spacers than I prefer by far and we are working on this. If you want a low "Stadleresque" position you will have no problems with the Kalibur.
Overall, I am impressed enough to want one for myself. Another huge benefit of the Kalibur: They exist. I can deliver one to you today as can any Kuota dealer.
Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com