Mike, I've got a Mariola Carbo on the way...due mid-March, with a 55 cm top tube. Wanna come over and ride it? I don't think you could go wrong with the others listed (as long as the fit is good...blah, blah, blah). Let me add one other bike to your list...the Guru Trilite, it has a carbon rear triangle. I've never ridden the Trilite, but the Guru Cron-alu (their entry level tribike) was the best riding dedicated tri-bike I'd ever been on..VERY comfortable for all-aluminum...and I was fast on it as long as the course wasn't real steep. My Kestrel Talon has me sold on the carbon bike ride, though, and that's one of the reasons I ordered the Carbo. Speaking of Kestrel...they have the Kestrel EMS coming out this spring! SO many good bikes...so little money to be able to ride them all!

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

Can't comment on the Felt & P2K. Just wanted to comment on your concern stepping off a carbon bike to AL. I've got a Mariola & A Trek OCLV series roadbike. I can't tell any difference between the stiffness/comfort of the frames. Switching my wheels back & forth has a greater impact (HED3s to Rolfs). I don't know whether the non-scandium Cervelo/Felts would be any harsher, but I suspect tire/wheel/fork/seatpost/seat impact perceived "harshness" much more than frame material. Of course I stand ready to be corrected by others with more saddle time in a greater variety of frames!

Good luck with your selection

if ride quality is a concern for you ( way to go ) i would look first at the yaqui. scandium bikes tend to ride really well for new school alu probably mostly due to their wall thickness, and mandaric builds with an eye toward this character as a rule. the p2K is a fast bike, cool looking and aero and all that - but it is not an overly compliant one - tight wheelbase, short aero section stays, and main tubes with large cross section have their advantages but sweet ride is not one of them. dunno on the felt - never rode one. i am guessing the ride would fall between the other two. frames do "ride" differently.

heh heh, actually i do have a funny story involving a fat uscf official, beer, a volkswagon cabriolet and chris horner's felt circa early 90's - but that will have to wait for another day. THAT felt was very stiff, light and the way c horner rode it "ride" meant nothing. . . . . . . .:)

TriMike (gotta like that name),

ABout 3 months ago, I posed the same question - P2K vs. DA (Felt). On this board, it was near universal for the P2K. I posted the question on a few others, and the "voting" was a bit narrower, with a slight edge to the P2K. The Felt was full Ultegra and more. This was not an easy decision.

My deciding factor - cost and local access. I decided on the P2K. It just came in, so I haven't ridden it yet.

I think you'll find Cervelo is the favorite here (and for good reason), but on other sites (TriNewbies, etc.), it may be a bit more even.

I also took into account certain people's opinions more than others. If three tri coaches recommend one bike over another, that is more meaningful to me. if a couple of dealers, who you trust, lean towards one bike over another, that also is more meaningful to me. Actually their "votes" counted more like 2 to me!!

Good luck, and the best thing - you won't make a really BAD decision. You can make a decision better for you.

The four examples (two of each) a local bike shop had of the Felt and Cervelo P2K made me lean to the Cervelo...simply because of the welds being so much smoother on the Cervelo. Well, the Cervelo paint job was better, too. Didn't ride either, though.

On the other hand, the one P3 in this shop had very large and clunky looking welds where the seat stays connected to the rear wheel dropoouts...seemed sort of weird to see that on such an otherwise aero bike, and a top-of-the line bike...I put the P3 and P2K side by side, and the P2K was much smoother on it's welds. I don't know if this was just a sample variation, and I don't even know if it makes a difference, but it was what I observed. The LBS owner agreed with my observation, but said he'd never really noticed it before.

I also think it is true that you may not be able to tell ride quality differences between frames of different materials, it depends upon how they are built...BUT, my Kestrel is really a LOT smoother over alligator pavement than any bike I've ever had before. I still long for the ride of a steel Columbus SLX Razesa I had back in the 80's...not a stiff bike, but VERY comfortable. It was cool looking, too...chromed with a tranlucent aquamarine-electric-blue on the main triangle.

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

Having just posted a similar question (for your $3000...), I can appreciate your desire to make the right decision. I agree with Ktalon that the Cron-alu has a superior Scandium ride quality, I suspect the Mariola to have the same advantage (the bikes look identical). I have been jonesing for a Yaqui too, but with my first race approaching I had to act. Why did I choose the P2K over the more exotic and smooth Guru? I already own a fancy Ti-Carbon road bike so I opted for the more utilitarian and sleek Cervelo. I'm currently racing short coarse, relatively high-speed races so comfort is less important. I now have $ left in my budget to get some wheels. Plus if my bike comes in a box, does my LBS want to spend an hour + doing their first tri-bike fit on me?

all three bikes you mention have one thing in common that hasn't been yet discussed and it's the most important thing to me. they all have low front-ends. you can actually get a decent tri position out of any of these three bikes.

they are also all made with tubes that are within the range of what might call aero, with minor diameters in the 27mm range.

the one possibly significant aero difference in these bikes is that the cervelo has a rear wheel and seat tube scheme that makes sense. but the lack of it doesn't seem to slow walton down on his DA.

you can't make a bad choice. one thing, tho, about the felt and the cervelo. in my own mind, only the yaqui comes in a read-to-rock configuration as regards saddle position, as long as ves builds you a 78 degree bike. with the cervelo you have a choice, and the only wise choice is to flip the saddle forward. the felt has a slacker angle and longer top tube than i'd want. no big deal, just put the saddle forward on the rails of a zero setback seat post.

in each case, the cervelo and the felt WILL fit you properly, that is, all three bikes will now fit more or less similarly. but only if you make the proper configuration choices with the cervelo and the felt.

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Dan Empfield
aka Slowman