Dude, the P3 has at least $2000 worth of cool. So it's a bargain, if you think about it....

;-)

Jodi

LOL.....this is good!!!!!!!!!

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Jonathan Caron / Professional Coach / ironman champions / age group world champions
Jonnyo Coaching
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At races, I see about five P3Cs to every 1 P2C. So there are plenty of people who decided that the difference was worth the money. Speak up! I'm trying to figure all of this stuff out. Is it possible to buy a fairly steep angled stem to lower the aerobars on the P2C if I want more drop and the aerobars seem to be bottomed out?

With the price difference, there is no question where the value is. The difference in the bikes is purely the geometry. Even if the TOP tube is too tall for you, you can always go around it. Remember that for some people, even the P3C has too high top-tube.

ok...sorry.....

the difference between the p3c and p2c are..... p3c is lighter....a few grams... and faster...a few secondes.. i think the main reason to choose a p3c over a p2c is because you really like how cool it look and just feel a connection with the bike....

as for the head tube lenght...they are very close with a 1-2cm difference.... you can also use a negative raise stem to get the same position on a p2c as on a p3c.... but with no spacer....the posiiton on a p2c is already pretty agressive....

mainly...people that buy 4000$ bike dont buy them because a 3000$ bike limit them in performance.... but because it s nice...they like it and look cool....

i prefer a lot the p3c to the p2c.....i would not spend 3000 on a p2c because i dont like what it look like but i love the look of the p3c.... but dont have the kind of money to buy that either...... but if you have the money.... why not?????

that s my opinion.... they are both great bike and have everything needed to become a world champion...no excuses...

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Jonathan Caron / Professional Coach / ironman champions / age group world champions
Jonnyo Coaching
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And there really isn't even a geometry difference in the two smaller sizes...

I'll admit I like the look of the p3c over the p2c. Would I buy a p3c over a p2c because of this? I probably would but I would also know that I have the absolute fastest bike available. Is it worth it? No, and that is why I have a cervelo dual. I think that with performance results as close as they are I make most of my final decisions based on price or look because as far as I'm concerned my happiness is more important than the 4 seconds that I may save.

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"Oh you hate your job? There's a support group for that, it's called EVERYBODY and they meet at the bar."

Did you ride the P2C or the P3C? If so, how do you think the Dual and the carbon bikes compared in terms of ride comfort? I'll be making this decision very soon.

Unfortunately I don't ride the P3C or the P2C so I can't comment on the comfort of those bikes. Having ridden other carbon bikes I think as many others will say that fit/wheels/tire pressure make a bigger difference in comfort than build material. But I think it certainly makes a difference even if it's not that big.

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"Oh you hate your job? There's a support group for that, it's called EVERYBODY and they meet at the bar."

In all fairness the P3C has been out for longer, so let's wait a couple of years and count then. It would be interesting to see the distribution between Felt B2s and DAs as both models came out at about the same time (?) Also Felt ARE willing to share numbers for the aero difference between the two frames, and there's a coolness differential involved as well. Speaking about cool, it seems everyone agrees that the P3C is cooler than the P2C. Riding a bike has a lot to do with looking cool of course. But just an observation, there are much easier ways to look cool as opposed to participating in long course triathlon, so there must be other reasons for people to pick the P3C...

Nick.

So what are the aero differences between the B2 and the DA and how significant are those differences.

Bite your tounge. Stop spreading those lies :)

Well Cervelo says the front triangle is basically the same (notwithstanding the small HT length difference). I bet the aero difference betwen the two is very slight but I guess the performance/$ spent ratio is exponential and certainly not linear.

this is only my opinion but from riding a cervelo soloist alu to a p3c....i see a very big difference and there is nothing i can do related to fit, tire pressure and anything else to compensate that carbon is a HUGE difference in comfort with Alu..... i m light 140lbs and dont really like riding alu bike anymore....they are too harsh on me......

but not everyone will agree with me.... i guess it s hard to definie what is comfort? for me, it s the vibration of the road that get absorbe by carbon compare to alu....

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Jonathan Caron / Professional Coach / ironman champions / age group world champions
Jonnyo Coaching
Instargram

That's not what I wanted to hear jonnyo! I wanted to hear that aluminum can be just as comfortable as carbon. I am not a big fan of the P2C look but I'm going to give it serious consideration if it rides considerably better than the Dual or P2-SL. Thanks for the info. Guess I'll just have to see for myself.

make sure to test ride it...... i know a lot of other athlete.....often heavier that prefer alu over carbon and i dont know why....so i cna only speak for myself......big difference

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Jonathan Caron / Professional Coach / ironman champions / age group world champions
Jonnyo Coaching
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I'm definitely heavier. I have only ridden steel bikes so aluminum and carbon are a whole new world. Thanks.

Brian and others,

I could have gone either way P3C or P2C and I went with the P2C. I'm 6'1' and while I ride a 58cm in the road bike (R2.5 and Soloist) I fit far better on a 56 in the TT position. So the the top tube length for the P2C and the P3C in this size are the same (54.5cm). The head tube length on the P2C is 14cm while the P3C head tube in the same sized bike is 12.5cm. There are lots of guys who are willing to ride with an enormous drop (the drop speaks to the difference between the top of the saddle and the top of the bars, or arm pads depending upon where you measure). My drop is nearly 15cm and that's pretty aggresive, I'm fairly aero in my body position and I could go a hair lower and likely will after IMAZ when I switch focus to 40k for Olympic Nationals. I could have acheived the same level of comfort and the same position in a P3C.

So why did I chose the P2C over the P3C when the outcome of fit and comfort could be so similar, even, dare I say - the same? There were lots of factors and all of them were fairly small. I dug the blue/black/white that was the P2C color that year (it's nice to like the look of your bike), the price made more sense (I could have forked our more but why), I knew I could get a better fit with zero stack between the bottom of the stem and the top of the head tube (not that that matters all that much), and, lastly (this ones gonna sting some of the aero weenies who lurk and post here) I don't belive that the aero dynamic quality of the P3C is really different enough from the P2C to justify. I prioritize a few factors over aerodynamic-ness. Perhaps my favortie string on ST this year is the one with much speculation on how Norman would have ridden under 4 hours at Kona if he could have used a disk or lossed the bottle that was between his bars. It continued 'til on person posted that if he had really pared down to the utmost of aero he could have ridden the 112miles before he even finished the swim - Brilliant!! Comfort over aero, Power over aero, Joy over aero.

Ian

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Ian Murray
http://www.TriathlonTrainingSeries.com
I like the pursuit of mastery
Twitter - @TriCoachIan

Difference in aerobar height = sin(HTA) x difference in HT height

Cervelos come with a -10degree vision stem, if you use a 90mm then finding a -17deg stem will drop you 11mm
They also come with a 20mm headset top cover that can be changed for an 8.7mm one
Cutting the spacers under the pads on the vision bars can take out another 8mm if you really want to go lower
Using the thin vision padding takes out a bit more

There are lots of ways to get your pads lower, if you do all these things on a P2C and still need to be lower then you need a P3C or custom (such as Tiemeyer, Elite etc). If you don't need to do all those things then the P2C is plenty of bike for anyone and there are a lot of other things you could do with $1500 (mmm, doughnuts).

From my understanding, Cervelo uses a higher grade carbon in the P3C than in the P2C, and that accounts a lot to do with the price difference.

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Kona Kev
Go Reston Area Triathletes (RATS)!
Sponsored by Hammer Nutrition, Bonzai Sports, and DeSoto

I set a price point to how much I wanted to spend on a tri-bike (coming out of retirement after couple years off, currently been riding a TREK OCLV road bike.)

After examining the bikes in this price range from the bikes available at my LBS (I ruled out the P3 based on price) - I selected a clearanced 2006 P2C. I thought the P2C had the best combination of frame and components for my budget.

The aesthetics of the bike did not hinder my decision.

I got a P3C last August just before the UKIM. I'm afraid that being farily new to triathlon I didn't have enough experienceto weigh up all the factors myself. So my overriding criteria was the endorsement of Dan Emburg on the Cervelo site, The results of the 2005 Kona survey then pretty much sealed the decision for me. The results of the 2006 survey vindicated my decision entirely

I've put about 3-4 thousand Kilometers on it since then and all I can say is that it is awesome. However I can not provide any meaningful comparison with any other bike as I've never ridden anything else.

I agree that the aesthetics of the P3C is probably a factor in why it is so popular and since I followed the herd it is therefore indirectly the reason that I now have one. Since I live and train in Paris and Cervelo is not big in France I have a great feeling of uniqueness riding around the Vallee de Chevreuse on the Sunday morning rides. The bike certainly gets some interested looks from the other riders out there and as a result pushes me not to get caught going to slow as I do feel that the rider has to be up to the same standard as the bike.

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TriRaceBook.com
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Hawaii Qualification Analysis

The P3C is the high end sportster model that CSC rides. People will pay extra for the coolness factor.

But I'm sure that Dave Z. and the rest of the CSC guys would probably be just as fast on a P2C.

"Absolute fastest bike available'........that's fairly subjective there Chuck !

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"You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream" - Les Brown
"Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment" - Jim Rohn