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Folks,
I have an older 2002 Alu Soloist and am looking at a new road bike for next year. I liked the Soloist except how it handled on fast downhills and in windy conditions. We have a lot of gusty winds here and I never ever felt comfortable in the bike in those conditions. Previously I'd ridden fat-tube Cannondales w/o any issue.
I've used 32-spoke Open Pro's and Velomax Circuits so it's not a matter of having deep dish wheels.
Cervelo's tech support seem to be on sabbatical (or team-building with Bjarne) so I thought I'd pose the question on here. Does anyone know if the frame angles, trail, wheelbase etc. have changed over the past couple of years such that the new Soloists would handle differently?
On Cervelo's website, it appears the R3 will have the same angles as the Soloist ...
tia,
rmur
Nice bike rmur - has the new wife learned of this new potential purchase???
Here are the frame specs I found for the R3.... 73 Degree Seattube Angle
Size
Effective Seat Tube Angle Head Tube Angle BB Drop TopTube Head Tube Front-Center Rear-Center Stand-over Height Stack Reach
48 73° 72.5° 68 515 100 547 400 709 502 361
51 73° 73° 68 530 120 558 400 729 522 370
54 73° 73° 68 545 140 573 400 746 541 380
56 73° 73° 68 565 160 593 400 764 560 394
58 73° 73° 68 580 180 608 400 781 580 403
61 73° 73° 68 592 200 620 400 800 599 409
I can't speak to whether the frame has changed at all for certain; to the best of my knowledge, it has not, except for being anodized rather than painted.
I've got the 2006 soloist, which is identical to the 2005 Soloist except in its parts spec. It still feels like it catches sidewinds more than other frames, although we all know that it's the rider catching the wind more than the frame. I ride it across a long, windy bridge quite often, and it can get interesting.
It's still a fantastic bike. I think the windy handling is the rider more than the frame. The R2.5 had the same fit as the Soloist, and I believe the R3 will as well. If you've already got a Soloist, I'd go for the R3 myself. Or a Soloist Carbon, if the budget will stretch so far.
ha ha. all purchases are hypothetical ;0)
My r2.5 (54cm) has the same geometry as a Soloist in the same size and I have no problem with handling on descents in fact I was surprise how very composed a descender it is. As for crosswinds I have experienced no problems aside from Wednesday's ride but I think that the wind was 34kph gusting 45 straight off the sea may have been a greater factor there.
Have you changed out the fork without checking for the same rake as the original? This would have an effect on the handling on descents.
"How bad can it be?" - SimpleS
no I haven't changed the fork, bars, stem. I need a 130mm stem to get proper cockpit length ....
Maybe it's just the x-winds catching the airfoil down tube and that's that little bit extra compared to a 'regular' road bike.
The wheelbase is a little shorter than say a 58cm Cannondale, shorter chain-stays being a significant part of that.
thanks for the feedback. I certainly like the Cervelo line and would rather stick with those if the handling issue is resolved.
rmur
The answer is in the question - get a Cannondale.
Like Alpern said it's mostly the rider catching the wind though. If you have a 130mm stem that is probably the answer. You will have very little weight over the front wheel to steady the front when you are hit by a crosswind. Also, it would mean that the steer would be twitchy when descending as the wheel will be moving quite cosiderably to small incorrections at the bars.
I would say that is most likely your problem.
"How bad can it be?" - SimpleS
Stop gving him BS. You guys are just fashion victims.
He was okay on the Cannondale, so keep all your 135mm crap to yourself.
Sorry you feel that way. That is my opinion based on the information he gave if you don't agree that is your perogative. Would you like to share how you come to that decision or are you just out to offend?
"How bad can it be?" - SimpleS
He said:
"Previously I'd ridden fat-tube Cannondales w/o any issue. "
He also said
"all purchases are hypothetical ;0)".
"How bad can it be?" - SimpleS
Hello,
Isn't a 130mm stem pretty normal, at least for a road bike? At least in my mid I've always considered 130 about average, with 100 being short and 150 on the long side.
Styrrell
Standard sizes are generally between 90-130mm, anything shorter or longer is unusual but not unworkable. It all depends on the fit of the bike to the individual. Tom D for instance has a 130 on his r2.5 but (I belive shorter on most of his other bikes. I may be wrong on that. I have a 100 on mine, that is what is optimum for me no handling problems what so ever. In fact it handles so sweetly, that it flatters my riding ability!
"How bad can it be?" - SimpleS
ChitownJack,
Ah there's a link I can really use :) I"ll give that a good compare to the 2006 specs ...
rmur
I ride a 2003? P2K with deepish 650 wheels and it's plenty windy around these parts. I ride downhill over a particularly windy bridge often at speeds around 70-80kph (45-50mph) and routinely get passed by trucks even though it's quite narrow. Doesn't really bother me too much. Mind you, I am a downhill demon and a long time (ex) ski pro so speed and wind don't really bother me.
My suggestion for most handling problems attributed to bikes is simply to chill out and not to hang on so tight! For example, a wind gust is simply the leading edge of a cell of moving air. It passes quite quickly. Generally the bike/rider combination getting buffetted by the wind will self correct as long as you don't do anything overtly stupid during the initial movement away from the preferred or intended riding line. The panic or trepidation that people experience in the wind etc often only magnifies the problem. Panic is virtually NEVER a good thing.
Regarding the Cannondale vs Soloist wind issues, think of it this way. The monster round tubes of the C'Dale are so slow compared to the Soloist that the effect of the wind at 20kph on the C'Dale will obvioulsy feel much less than the 30kph on the Cervelo. The perceived increased buffetting is not a bad thing, it is just a sign that you have chosen a great and fast bike. Just hang on for the wild ride, and be thankful that it will be over so much sooner than riding on a Cannondale :-)
No I'm not a Cervelo employee (bummer) and I don't get anything from them except the joy of seeing more people on great bikes.
TriDork
"Happiness is a myth. All you can hope for is to get laid once in a while, drunk once in a while and to eat chocolate every day"
I found it the 1st time. Thanks ...
It appears there's a drop in STA from 73.5 to 73 and head-tube height changes since 2002 (for a given named size). Fork data isn't obvious: rake/trail ...
But I don't see a major difference in angles or overall wheelbase so I guess the handling will be comparable..
rmur
How heavy is an alu 2006 Soloist frame/fork?
Dave in VA
no idea on that. Cervelo don't seem to list frame weights across the board. But I would suspect it's significantly higher than the SoloistC. Guessing 300-500g??
rmur
rmur's guess seems about right. The fork and headset weights you can get, along with a guess on the post. I don't have a scale accurate enough for the frame.
The fork is an Alpha Q Elios, the headset is another 50 grams, and the seatpost is about 100grams heavier than the carbon version. I'd guess the frame is about 300 grams heavier than the carbon version, and about 500 grams heavier once you figure in post and fork differences.
It's not that heavy, especially when you're on it, but you'd have to work to get it to the weight limit. I'm confident that you could, if you tried hard enough (Julich's bike on cyclingnews.com looks like close to an ideal build)