... And therein lies part of the benefit about Yaqui. I am doing a review on both my Yaquis (Carbo and Mariola DL) but it won't be up for over a month. In the interim, let me say that I am immensly impressed by Ves and his products. His bikes are substantially different from, and (IMHO) better than a lot of what is out there. I bought two for myself. He's using different tubings than a lot of the bigger guys and in different ways too. He can do total custom (a nice advantage for certain things, but also a double edge sword). Also, Ves know bikes and bike fit. I trusted him with designing the geometry on my own bikes based on the measured he delivered. I recommend Yaqui very, very highly. There are a lot of truly fine bikes out there, but in my opinion Yaqui offers several things no one else can do right now. That's valuable....

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Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com

I've got a Mariola. Had it for 1.5 seasons. This was my 1st tri geometry bike (Trek OCLV roadbike for comparison).

Company: Support was first rate. Drawback (until recently when Tom started carrying them) is that you can't find them at your LBS). Delivery time was slowed by a furnace problem but still acceptable & I was kept advised. Price is great for what you get (check out his component prices as well - very competitive!).

Fit & Finish: Finish is excellent. Doesn't scratch easily. Intangible plus is the exclusivity - I haven't seen another one here in the Northeast. Welds OK.

Geometry: The geometry fits Dan's recommendations & is great if you intend to ride steep & have the body type & flexibility to take advantage of it. I can't take advantage of the short head tube & had to bring the bars up.

Ride Quality: The ride quality is equivalent to the OCLV - the high freq. vibes seem muted in other words. Not sure if it is due to scandium frame material, frame build or both. I'm not well qualified to judge here since my butt seems less sensitive to these sort of things than my riding companions :-)

Handling: With the Ouzo Pro Aero fork (I don't remember the rake), handling is "sharp." I wouldn't characterize it as "twitchy" & most will like it - I would prefer a bit more stability, but not enough to try another fork. I did have a high speed wobble problem, but I believe I traced it to my front wheel (HED3 with loose hub) I need to do more testing this Spring.

Weight. I haven't put them on the scale, but the Mariola is noticeably lighter than the OCLV. The Mariola climbs well with no noticeable flex (by me).

If you are near Rhode Island, you're welcome to check mine out!

Good recap. Further evidence of why I feel strongly about Yaqui.

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Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com

I have owned a Manzanita and my wife an Aerolite. Both were great values and great bikes. You can tell when you are on a well designed tri bike. The handling is right, it climbs well and just feels right. That's definitely the case with Yaqui. You get very well thought out geometry and good quality for a reasonable price. Also, Ves is a great guy to deal with.

R

Mike

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Simplify, Train, Live

Tom,

In reading Dan's review on the Carbo, it didn't sound like there was a discernible difference in ride quality as a result of the carbon seatstays, compared to the Mariola. Maybe there was some stiffness advantage, though. Since you have both, what's your opinion on the value of carbon seatstays on this bike. The Yaqui is definitely on my short list of bikes being condidered. I currently ride a Trek OCLV and like the dampening of carbon, but it doesn't sound like the Yaqui really benefits from this that much. If the difference is really as negligible as Dan makes it sound, I'd rather spend the extra $400 on better wheels. Your thoughts?

Thanks,
John

Excellent question, and the reason I bought both- to talk about it in my review. Stay tuned...(As I always say).

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Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com

Any thoughts on the Ocotilo? At 6'6" 185-190 I'm intrigued by Ves' comments regarding this bike being ideal for tall and heavy riders. I believe Dan has referenced this somewhere as well.

I've added it to a very short list that includes the Mariola.

Any feedback on the Ocotilo is appreciated.

scott

ves mandaric is an old-style frame builder building for a new generation of riders. i've got a della santa road race bike which roland built for me custom (many of greg lemond's personal steel road bikes were badged or rebadged della santas, especially most of his bikes in his early years were DSs).

both roland and ves are old school and build their bikes with a lot of care and attention to detail. that's what you'll find, and buying a bike from either would be a strikingly similar experience. except roland just builds steel road race bikes.

ves has branched out, and understands, and builds, tri bikes, mainly out of easton scandium. but he applies the same standards.

i guess, since someone else brought up the fork and handling, i'll use this as a case in point. ves will measure each fork he gets, as he (like me) has discovered that fork companies do a fairly bad job of making forks with offsets that are as advertised. so, he'll check every fork's offset and make sure that if it says 43mm it is 43mm. not very many bikes will be made that way.

there are plenty of other examples like that i could make. suffice it to say it's just the difference between production bikes and those made one at a time by those who know what they're doing. and you'll pay extra for that, as you should.

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Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

I ride a Mariola, my former roomate 6'1" clydesdale rides an Ocotillo. Ves went to great lengths to talk him out of the higher priced Mariola and into the Ocotillo. Basic argument is that the for a taller and heavier dude you're going to get some lateral flex on the bladed tubes. Not so much for round tubes. My old roomate is extremely happy with the Ocotillo. Rode it a IM Wisc last fall.

As for my Mariola, I am very happy with it and agree with what's already been said. I switched to the Mariola from a Litespeed Tachyon (old Saber) and the difference in ride quality and especially fit was huge. I don't think you can go wrong with Ves. He builds good stuff and signs his name on every bike. If you met him, you'd know that means something.

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Kyle Handley

you're tall, but you're not THAT heavy. i wonder whether you need round tubes. this is what the ocotillo has.

i personally have several of ves' bikes, and they're all that i ride, both road and tri. but if i was getting a bike that was going to be subject to a lot of strange loads and stresses, i'd take a look at a cervelo. they're really VERY adept at dealing with twisting and bending, because of the sort of tube profile cervelo uses. a 61cm P2K or P3 might be just the ticket.

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Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

Thanks for the info. In fact the only other bike on the "short list" is a P2K. Decisions, decisions.

scott

My Carbo arrived today, and I've assembled it. It certainly looks nice, but it is raining today...just can't seem to drag it out in the mud. I did ride on the rollers a bit...very good handling on rollers...it has a little shorter wheelbase than my other bikes have (or had). Then, I rode it on the resistance trainer, it's going to have more flex than my Kestrel...that's expected out of such lightweight and thin aluminum...I'm glad I upgraded the cranks to DA at Ves' recommendation. It shifts well, as expected. The finish is very good, I like the graphics a lot. The carbon/aluminum joints are VERY nice. The red is a little deeper than I imagined...a good thing...not quite like a plain old fire-engine red. I was very pleased that the parts just seemed to fall right in line with my previously dialed in position. I'm certainly glad the Reynolds stem instructions were included, I've not seen this exact set-up before...I went ahead and stuck the bars almost down to the limit...one shim left. I'm not sure exactly where I'm going to set it for my race on Saturday, but, it certainly fits, and gives me a few fitting options if I want to go more forward or back a little depending upon the terrain. Can't wait to get it on the asphalt for some real world testing!

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Quid quid latine dictum sit altum videtur
(That which is said in Latin sounds profound)

To follow up on MattinRI's offer, if anyone wants to check out a Mariola in the Cincinnati area, just get in touch with me. It's a great bike and working with Ves was a treat.

Michael Bey

My experience with Yaqui has been absolutely first-rate. It started with Ves costing himself some money by steering me onto the Ocotillo because of my size (6'4", 190).

Delivery was right on time. The finish of the bike was flawless. The custom geometry resulted in a perfect fit. And, when a problem came up with a component, it was addressed and solved immediately.

Can't say enough good things about Yaqui.

I know that you haven't ridden your new DL but what is your impression about how what the DL is designed for...

My understanding is that the soloist is meant to be an equally adept TT and Road bike... is the DL meant to serve the same sort of dual usage or is it meant more for spending lots of time in the aerobars?

Taku, I can only tell you that Ves recommended me not to go with the DL. He said the DL is best suited for racing in draft legal races. I don't know the exact geometry on it, I'm assuming it is more like road bike geometry, not an aerobar sled. If you are considering it, Ves will gladly tell you what he thinks based upon you, your riding style, your body geometry, and "other" requirements. For me, it wasn't even a matter for much discussion by the framebuilder himself, so, we didn't waste much time discussing it!

I am glad I went with the carbon rear end, at Ves' recommendation, for stiffness reasons. I'm a decent sized person, for a biker, and can torque a frame pretty good when called for...and this carbon rear is stiffer. Good call, Ves! I'll be racing it Saturday!

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Quid quid latine dictum sit altum videtur
(That which is said in Latin sounds profound)

This will be my third season on my Mariola and I still think it was a great decision. It's handles great, is very light, and looks fantastic. Take it up a hill and you have tis need to attack. My bike has survived falling off of a moving truck, and getting run over by the same truck (wheel only). I'm thinking of selling the truck.

My only real issue with the Mariola is that you do feel almost every bump in the road. I think I have that handled by having purchased a Ouzo Pro Aero fork. I have only ridden the bike once with the new fork, but my first impressions are that the bumps have been "dampened" just enough so that you still feel the road, but its not a jarring / harsh feeling.

I purchased the fork from Ves, based on his recommendation. He not only explained why he felt it was the best fork, but also walked me through all the measuring, including removing the old fork. He then pre-cut the fork for me, so all I had to do was reinstall it. I was also told to call back if I ran into ANY problems. All in all, I spent nearly as much time with Ves on my fork as my I did with my local LBS in buying the bike.

Scott in PDX: I was also split between the Cervello and the Yaqui. I ended up with the Yaqui because for the same price, Yaqui gave you the Scandium. But either way I think you will end up with a sweet bike.

Ktalon,

Now that you have your new bike, I'd love to take a look at it this weekend at the race. My name is Adam Pomerantz and I ride a Specialized Comp and I'll have some fancy Zipp wheels on it, in case you seem me at a bike rack.

Are you now going to change your name on posts from ktalon to something to show off your new bike?

Adam

Adam, I'll be on the only Yaqui Carbo, I guess! I doubt I'll change my screen name, I'm still planning on using the Talon as a road bike....unless the Carbo just jumps out and does that duty better!

See you at the race...BTW, there is a big hole on N. Caldwell, right where we are supposed to race, that they haven't been able to fix because of all the rain. I'd plan on getting there early to ride the bike course!

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Quid quid latine dictum sit altum videtur
(That which is said in Latin sounds profound)

Man-o-man, does this bike stick in corners. Wait a minute, a Tri-bike sticking in corners? Yep. It does. I've always rode tri-bikes that were a little more sled-like, you know, just sort of plow down the road, and when big corners come up, you shift around and get on the bullhorns, and hope to get through the corner OK so you can start riding again...the Carbo is different. Maybe part of it is the Syntace bars, or the Reynolds Pro Aero fork (aren't aero forks supposed to not handle quite as well as the less aero ones?), or maybe it's the frame material, or the geometry, or the fit. But, I could stay in the aerobars around a corner that I normally sit up through...outside foot weighted and inside knee hung out...I've never felt like riding this way on a tribike before. I think I like it.

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Quid quid latine dictum sit altum videtur
(That which is said in Latin sounds profound)