Just make darn sure your LBS fitter knows how to fit you for a triathlon bike. That comment about the geometry of a Cervelo leaving a lot to be desired may be true...but, you'd have to be built a little freakishly for one of their bikes not to do a good job for you...it may not be the 53cm in 700 wheels. Spending any amount of money on an ill-fitting bike is a bad idea. Spending 5 large would be a crime, if you aren't fit correctly. Do your homework until you are positive, then, enjoy the heck out of your new bike...for that amount of money, it ought to be a killer bike!

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

For $5000 US, you could fly here, buy my P3, drive over to www.all3sports.com to get fitted, and still have money left over to upgrade.

Cheers for the reply. I had planned to a little more reasearch and try out a few bikes over this weekend for fit, the P3 SL isn't available in the UK, but the P3 is. How much difference is there in the geometry of a P3 versus the SL?

Where's your local bike shop in the UK?

I live in London and work right in the centre so I have a few to choose from

The best guys are at CycleFit http://www.cyclefit.co.uk/, and they fitted me to my road bike. I had planned to go to Sigma Sports (http://www.sigmasports.co.uk) to check out different frames

Should be the exact same geometry between the P3 and the P3SL. I could see why you'd want to swap for a Chris King headset, but unless Nytro will cut you a good deal on them, I don't think your other upgrades would necessarily be worth it.

There's something about UK roads and Mavic wheels, i.e they were made for eachother. I have gone through so many wheels on UK roads before I decided to go for some Kysrium SLs and I've never looked back. Especially when I ride to work, the roads in london are terrible. I'd planned to use the Kysrium SL for training and Cosmics for racing, as I already have these wheels at home, I wouldn't be purchasing these. But this means I need a 700c bike. The aerobars, I don't really know much about, but the HEDs have some good reviews

Lucas

How did you find CycleFit? I was planning to go for a full fitting (bike, shoes, LeWedges, etc.) with them in the next month or two.

Sigma Sport now offer a similar service and sell a wide range of bikes rather than specialising in custom made ones, so I'd be interested if you have experience of both shops.

Why precisely did CF think that the Cervelo's geometry wouldn't suit you?

As for the P3 SL not being available in the UK, there was one on display in SS's window before Christmas. Has the UK allocation run dry?

Snap

I found cyclefit to be very good, I was a bit sceptical at first, but the results are plain to see.

My speed and consistency over a 100k ride are much better, and I feel a lot more comfortable whilst riding. Cadence has improved a bit too. So definitely a good investment. Julian who fitted me seemed quite knowledgeable. He fitted some LeWedges to my shoes, and it took about 2 to 2.5 hours all in. I would also say that any parts they suggest fitting to your bike, be the parts you want and not the substitute they may offer you. I am quite fussy about my components, my bike is my main form of transport, I have a car, but cover more miles on my bike than I do my car, so I had to courier some parts over to them because they didn't stock what I wanted. Maybe it's a psychological thing, but it makes me worry less abotu my bike and more about what i'm doing on it.

I also did the trainsmart test they do to calc max HR, and VO2max etc. Was quite interesting, although I think you are better off doing the trainsmart with a trainer that knows your capabilities well. I think people are quite worried about doing max tests in fear you might keel over, I think they cut my max test a bit short, but I got what I wanted out of it. If you're going to CycleFit, just near there is a physio centre called Metis (metis-uk.com). These guys are really good, they do a lot of patients from the Royal Ballet, and the guy that runs it used to put super bike riders back on their bikes each week. You will learn a lot about what your body can and can't do, and where you can improve technique/flexibility/strength etc just by seeing these guys a couple of times. I took one of the physios with me for the bike fit as he knew where my limitations were.

I am not sure why they felt the Cervelo had poor geometry, Julian didn't elaborate more than that. Maybe they just want me to spend my cash with them, I did explain to them, that I wouldn't buy any bike parts in the UK given the exchange rate, plus there being more choice. I'd rather find the frame I like, and then order from the US.

I spoke to Lee at SS and he said they didn't have any more SLs right now.

I finally bought my new bike, pretty psyched watching it on the UPS website making its way to me. In the end I went for

Cervelo P3-SL 53cm
Dura-Ace 10speed Groupset (11-23)
HED Aerobar
Reynolds Ouzo Pro Aero Fork
HED Alps Wheels

Will post a picture once it arrives

Well it finally made it and I have booked myself in for a full bike fitting with CycleFit on 1st March, so here is the bike in its raw state next to my road bike.

The road bike is a SCOTT USA AFD Team Frame, Mavic Kysrium SSC Sl Wheels, ITM Millennium Carbon bars and Stem, Scott CR1 Carbon Fork, Ritchey WCS Carbon Seat Post, Dura-Ace 7800 Group Set, Selle San Marco Apside Tr Saddle.

Lose the Alps yellow stickers...you can order more white Hed stickers directly from Hed to balance the look.

And I hope that angle on the aero bars is not indicative of how you'll ride it. At that angle those bars are presenting more frontal area to the wind than a standard aluminum bull horn...that negates the $$ you spent on those bars...

Hoping when you wrote "raw" state that that means the parts are simply attached and not adjusted in any meaningful way yet...

Raw meaning straight out of the box, just attached the components, as already stated, it will be professionally fitted and put together, 1st March

Oh, and I did forget to say "Nice bike!" I'm a big fan of Hed, as well. I use Alps for my training wheels and have the bars (upgrading to s bend extensions as soon as they arrive).

Cyclefit are a Serrota fit experts which I think is more road based (I know they sponsor 1 triathlete but she generally races in Drafting Tri's). There is a bike shop in Manchester (http://www.sabarproject.com/tribikefit.asp) which offer the more Triathlon specific FIST fitting (I think they are the only one in the UK). I have actual been thinking of looking into becoming FIST certified as I live in South East England and have been getting a bit fedup with my current ocupation. I am not sure if there would be a big enough market for an Independent fitter, but I am becoming increasingly bike obsessed so have been looking at getting involved in the industry.

I have brought 2 bikes from Sigma - a Cervelo P2k and more receintly a road frame. They offer Bioracer fitting. I went to the shop with a few ideas on bikes and after the fitting they said I had fairly ordinary sizing so could get a good fit on a stock frame, if I hadn't they would have suggested getting one of their custom built frames (as ridden by Spencer Smith). Cervelo's are highly adjustable so as long as you get the right frame size I am sure you would get a good fit. Sigma might not always offer the cheapest prices but they offer a very high level of service which actual makes them good value for bike purchases. Unfortunatly due to work commitments I didn't get the bike dialed in for fit once it was built (it was posted to me), so I am sure my position could be greatly improved - So I am thinking of a trip to Manchester.