Do you mean tri bike?

I'd buy a $6,000 bike on eBay for $3,000

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I was, now I will tri again!
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Any time is a good time.
God Bless you my friend.

I saw an add for Softride with Zipp 404's for around $2200 on one of the TRi sites. Sell the Zipps for some cheaper aero wheels and outfit it with some good components. My butt and back love my beam bike.

Maybe tri a Titanflex.

Read Slowman's comments on both.

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_________________
Dick

Take everything I say with a grain of salt. I know nothing.

Am I the only one who has been completely screwed by sellers on e-bay?

QR Caliente and save the rest of the money to go towards a set of 404s.

This question is a no brainer! Only one obvious choice. And put what's left towards race wheels. Here's your answer:

http://www.cervelo.com/bikes/P2K.html

It's never a no brainer, or everybody would ride a cervelo or they all have no brain, which is kind of bold to assume.

If you have some technical flair and can build you own bike, you can get a lot of bike with 3k$. I'm building a argon18 Mercury with a mix of campagnolo, Oval ConceptsA700 and Velomax TempestII and it will be right around 3000$. That's out of reach for the P2K, at least if you look at the stock components.

"argon18 Mercury "

Another good choice - after all they're both Canuk bikes!!!

Maybe this is just another P3 copy, ey.

With $3000 to throw around I'd be looking at a pretty trick BP-2 Stealth. A one-piece carbon TT frame with mono-stays and a cheap price. With the extra $2000 bucks you had after getting the frame and a nice fork you could set that ride up real purty.


If you want double-triangle though, the Argon 18 is hands down the sexiest bike on the planet.



-I luv u, I luv u, and I luv u

Actually we seem to hear quite a bit less even up here about Argon or Guru, both Canadian bikes, than we do Cervelo. Don't know why, but CSC going with Cervelo is a major coup. Whitfield won Olympic gold on a Guru and I don't think the company marketed his win as well as they could have. It's also nice when you can talk direct to Cervelo's owner on this forum. But it sure sounds like you're gonna have one heck of a nice bike when it's finished eh.

QR Santos for $2400. It is a poor man's Tiphoon (lacks the Dura-Ace and the aero tubes, using 105 and round tubes). I'd spend the additional $600 on a part of a flight to Europe to go race at Roth, Austria, Zofingen, Nice, or the new Half Ironman Monte Carlo !

Titan-Flex

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<If you're gonna be dumb, you gotta be tough>
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Proud member of the Smartasscrew, MONSTER CLUB
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<biased> Custom Yaqui </biased>

IF it fits, the Felt S22 is the best deal on the market. 9sp dura ace, carbon-x bars, aero frame, aero post, SWEEEET DEAL, we have sold some B2 and the only difference is the 10 speed DA and the Zipp 404's. but you can get it for $2200....great deal

Let fit be the single determining factor in your buying decision. Subordinate everything- including price- to fit.

I wager you will be able to get an optimal fit for under $3000 that will result in better performance than a marginal fit at $3000.

Bike fit and positioning is the single most significant factor in performance, and good fit can be had at many price points from $1000 up to the most expensive bikes provided you spare no expense in getting a good bike fitter.

Which bike should you buy? You guys already know the answer-
"Buy the one that fits the best"

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Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com

Gilberto:

If you don't have a Computrainer, I'd buy one before I'd buy an expensive bike. Or, a PowerTap wheel. Frankly, unless you are a very strong biker already, working the engine pays much bigger dividends than pretty stuff.

Assuming you already have a Computrainer or a PowerTap, I'd buy the new Aegis T2 frame and work from there. (this also assumes you have some decent wheels)

Just my .0002 pfennigs.

-Robert

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"How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world." ~Anne Frank

Good point on the Computrainer. I agree.

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Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com

Computrainers are nice they are also expensive. Which you might as well cut your budget in half if you buy one. I suggest you find a GOOD TRI FITTER, that sells Serotta and buy the CXII. Then you will get a custom that fits like it was made for you, oh wait it will be made for you!

Tom,

who am I to disagree with you, right? Still...

Although your point of fitting is without doubt true, it will most likely not effect the choice of your bike, unless you buy a really weird frame. Assuming you have done a good fitting session at a place where they know their stuff. Then your fit is just numbers written on a paper. How you build the bike to accomplish that fit depends on the frame true but not the fit itself, that's written down before. There is exceptions to that, yes. If you want to be close to a 90Degree angle it might be difficult to build that around a 74 Degree frame. Head-tube length is another one to look after but in general, you can build your position around the frame you want.

Or am I missing something?

Gilberto,

I just finished up the first 1 1/2 hours on my new Yaqui frame that came in the mail yesterday. I built it up with my old stuff and took it out for spin.

Having said that, you must take Tom's advice and make sure the bike fits you. If you know exactly what you need, then you can buy something on eBay, but this is my third frame in two years and the other two came off eBay. Both were great frames, but neither one fit my body type and so they just were never comfortable, stable at speed or very inspiring of confidence in the aero position.

The Yaqui is all those things. I can even ride it no hands. Imagine riding a 83 degree seat position with no hands. The thought of doing so on my last two bikes give me the shivers.

I'm not saying you have to buy a Yaqui (though I can't imagine any bicycling dollars better spent), but buy something that fits you so well you can't imagine owning another bike again.

Chad

A comment on the ebay thing:

I bought a slightly used softride R1 (which is the same frame as the TT, just a different color), a set of syntace bars and clip ons, a chris king headset, and last year's dura-ace aero groupo on ebay. I threw on an extra saddle and my kysiriums from my other bike. With the addition of a new set of speedplay pedals, I was able to do the whole thing for just under $2K. So yeah, if you deal with honest people on ebay and can put a bike together yourself, you really buy a nice ride for about half the cost of a new one. with some of the money I saved I bought myself a set of park tools to do the job of putting it together. A very good experience overall.

In five years of trading on Ebay I've only had two bad transactions. One over a $15 hat the guy didn't deliver and the other over a pro racer who sent me a 32 hole rim instead of a 28 and acted like it was my fault he couldn't count. I've had over 300 trades, including purchasing a Computrainer, PowerTap, and some $800 wheels.

On the other hand, I agree with Tom that fit is extremely important, particularly for beginners.

-Robert

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"How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world." ~Anne Frank

Good point. So spend some of the money you save on having a really good fit done. Buy a softride that is anywhere near the right size and then just dial it in. Adjustability is yet another advantage to the Softride design.