I a 5'9 living in Europe. I am currently driving only a race bike (trek 1400 - a speced down trek 1500 only available in europe)
and am currently evaluating a tri bike. Basically my favorites are:
1. Quintana Roo Caliente (Dura Ace, Bontrager X-Aero Lite (alu semi aeros), syntace) - about 4200 USD
2. Quintana Roo Tequilo (same setup) - about 3700 USD
3. Felt B2 - about 4500 USD
4. Cervelo P2K (same setup) - about 3700 USD
5. Cannondale Ironman 2000 (ultegra) - 3600 USD
6. Simplon Pride (essentially a road bike) - about 4000 USD
Except for 6 (which would equal the decision to stay with road geometry) all bikes would be 650 size 53. Currently I am riding at more than 76 degree (the 1400 has 74.5 at my size and I use a flipped seatpost and C2 aerobars) seat angle but I think I am ready to switch to 78 degrees. All bikes should work, my shop has a qualified fitter, the price for all bikes is much higher than in the US (Tax, import products, steeper margin as we are a small country). Test riding is not possible here unfortunately.
Anoter option would be importing the bike, as I will train in Sarasota/Florida in February. But that means an angry local dealer (and we see each other during races), no service and about 25% tax and customs duty.
Another question is whether my idea to use semi aeros is a good one. I would stay on them until I can go faster than 40kmh OD or 36kmh in an IM and buy real aero wheels than. An alternative would be to buy realy aerowheels immidiately and cheap training wheels.
Which bike is - at the prices given - the best idea? I favour the Caliente at the moment, but mainly because I like the looks of that bike.
and am currently evaluating a tri bike. Basically my favorites are:
1. Quintana Roo Caliente (Dura Ace, Bontrager X-Aero Lite (alu semi aeros), syntace) - about 4200 USD
2. Quintana Roo Tequilo (same setup) - about 3700 USD
3. Felt B2 - about 4500 USD
4. Cervelo P2K (same setup) - about 3700 USD
5. Cannondale Ironman 2000 (ultegra) - 3600 USD
6. Simplon Pride (essentially a road bike) - about 4000 USD
Except for 6 (which would equal the decision to stay with road geometry) all bikes would be 650 size 53. Currently I am riding at more than 76 degree (the 1400 has 74.5 at my size and I use a flipped seatpost and C2 aerobars) seat angle but I think I am ready to switch to 78 degrees. All bikes should work, my shop has a qualified fitter, the price for all bikes is much higher than in the US (Tax, import products, steeper margin as we are a small country). Test riding is not possible here unfortunately.
Anoter option would be importing the bike, as I will train in Sarasota/Florida in February. But that means an angry local dealer (and we see each other during races), no service and about 25% tax and customs duty.
Another question is whether my idea to use semi aeros is a good one. I would stay on them until I can go faster than 40kmh OD or 36kmh in an IM and buy real aero wheels than. An alternative would be to buy realy aerowheels immidiately and cheap training wheels.
Which bike is - at the prices given - the best idea? I favour the Caliente at the moment, but mainly because I like the looks of that bike.