I'm not trying to speak for Gerard, but why not just buy a Soloist. You'd have to check the head tube length on the Dual. They are normally shorter on tri bikes than on road bikes. Thus if you put drop bars on they be to low to ride comfortably. Read Slowman's explanation of this on his articles on tri bike fit.

[reply]The 2004 Dual looks really good, and at 1700 it's at a nice price. What would you think about buying the dual, but switching the handlebars to regular roady ones, then putting on the aerobars (without the shifters).

Any pros/cons to doing that?[/reply]

The Dual is actually $1599, but anyway, why do you want to do this? I think it could be both a good and a bad idea, it just depends on why you want to do this. What kind of riding will you be doing with this bike?

While I agree with the previous poster that there are reasons (as pointed out in Dan's article) not to put STI on a tri bike, the issue of the dropbars being too low only applies if the front end is low. We can agree or disagree about whether or not everybody should be low, reality is not everybody will end up riding that way and if you're not, then STI becomes feasible.

Personally, I think Dan's formula for drop is attainable for most people and in those cases STI is not a good idea, but for the exceptions or those choosing to ignore Dan (and there are good reasons for that as well :-) STI is an option.

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Gerard Vroomen
3T.bike
OPEN cycle

The problem is the Soloist costs well over 2000 dollars, and the 105 version just isn't appealing to me =\

So the question remains, what kind of riding are you intending to do with this bike? And what doesn't appeal aboutthe Soloist 105? The 105 part, the 2003 color, the 2004 color?

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Gerard Vroomen
3T.bike
OPEN cycle

"105 version just isn't appealing to me

It's actually better spec'd than the Dual. It has 105 instead of Ultegra and no carbon seat post compared to the up model, but neither of these will make it any faster. Must admit though, I personally don't like the color as much. In fact, I prefer the old blue ones most of all.

[reply]Must admit though, I personally don't like the color as much. In fact, I prefer the old blue ones most of all.[/reply]

I also liked the 2003 color of most modells (except P3) more than the new 2004 color.

Felix

I swear at some point the Dual was marketed as a "dual purpose" bike - meaning with the post forward, it was a tri bike, with the post back it was a road bike - so you could race and train on the same ride - presumably after swapping out the bars/shifters. I wasn't able to find anything on the Cervelo site about this, but I was able to find a reseller online who was making the same pitch.

Is that concept still valid? Was it ever valid? Is the Soloist the bike you should look if you are interested in one bike that could be used for road riding or triathlons - specifically ITU or draft legal ones?

Just to balance things out, I think the new colors ROCK!

The P2K with the white & blue is a huge improvement. Jumped way up on my list of wants.

I like the new P3 colors and the Soloist (the blue & white) too.

In case anyone was wondering.

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Justin in Austin, get it? :)

Cool races:
- Redman
- Desoto American Triple T

Have you seen the SuperProdigy??? That thing rocks. I love the chrome. Way to offer this color scheme this year!!

Let's not complain too much guys, the P3 is pictured with standard Velomax wheels this year instead of a set of 909s. Boring! I guess Gerard occasionally takes some of the whining to heart. (Last year somebody bitched rather loudly on this forum that showing the P3 with a nice wheelset was false advertising)

The Dual was never showcased as such, since it isn't. It is a dual purpose bike in the sense that you can get moderately forward or fully forward, but it's not like the Soloist which has a range from road to moderately forward. Together they span the entire spectrum from road to forward tri position, with the Soloist covering the shallow half and the Dual the steep half.

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Gerard Vroomen
3T.bike
OPEN cycle

Someone should tell them...

http://www.sigmasport.co.uk/bikes/cervelo04/dual.html

"The Dual is designed to provide a superb aero machine for the serious triathlete or time trialler who also wants to be able to ride the same bike in training.

Using the reversible seatpin you effectively get two bikes for the price of one: a 75° road bike and a 78° triathlon or time trial bike. No compromises with the handling, setup or responsiveness - just the best of both worlds!"

The way you explained it makes sense - though I don't think it is any more or less "dual purpose" than the P2K and P3. Thanks for the clarification, Gerard.

John