How good are the stock components that come on the bike? What would you upgrade? or Do you buy the frame and build it up?
The components that come stock are good, but there are some things that you may consider upgrading (although it would just be for looks and/or personal preference and personal comfort)
I would change:
The cassette- I like to use an 11-23 on my TT bike and it comes with a 12-25
Handlebars/Aerobars- I prefer others over Vision’s (personal preference)
Crankset- FSA are good and I use them on my road bike but I like the Dura-Ace Cranks better
Wheels- The bike comes with “training wheels”
Fork- Just for weight savings but not necessary ans really only if you have $$ to burn.
IMHO I would say you are better off getting the complete package. It will cost more in the long run trying to build the bike up from scratch.
i would change saddle, bars, wheels
.
All the parts on the P2c are ready to win any major race right out of the box. Hmmm, okay well maybe you’d want to throw on a pair of race wheels for an actual race but for training the stock wheels are pretty nice (usually Easton Vistas or similar)
Things to consider if you have money to burn…
-Tires, maybe some like the Rubino Race tires (or whatever they were, Rubino SL??) but they flat waaaaaaaaay to easy for me. I’d switch to a pair of Conti GP4000s before I even took it out for a ride. Rubino’s go on Ebay or maybe you can trade them when you purchase the bike.
-if you don’t like the stock saddle, maybe a different more comfy one, but the stock saddle is very nice so it just depends if it feels right to you.
-The biggest aesthetic complaint I see on Cervelos is the stock brake calipers. They work great and I have them or a similar incarnation of them on each of my bikes without any complaints. They do tend to rust a bit in some places and I know quite a few people who replace them with Shimano brakes or maybe some pricier and lighter Zero Gravities. NOT a necessity at all as functionally and even weight wise they are great, but it’s one of the first places I’d upgrade if I upgraded anything at all.
-Possibly a lighter stem if you’re a gram counter and maybe different aerobars if you don’t like the visions. Visions are sweet but everyone has different tastes.
-Last, if you’ve got some extra cash maybe switch the crankset to something sexier and lighter but honestly the stock cranks are really nice and you’ll notice no real performance gain from the switch. Well maybe if you replaced the stock rings with Q-rings, I love my Q-rings…
Okay Tai, what are Q rings and what are their benefits?
Young Grasshopper (Roch),
Click on the link below to learn abt Q-Rings…
www.rotorcranks.com/i1-q-rings.shtml
Q-Rings reduce dead-spot negative effects due to its effective variable gear oval concept. The effective gear is lower at the dead-spot zone, so it is easier, faster and more comfortable (smoother) to pass through it. Once the pedal is over the dead-spot and enters the down stroke, the Q-Rings progressively increase the effective tooth size as more muscle strength is available.
A 53T Q-Ring at the dead-spots is equivalent to a 51T, so it is easier to move through the dead-spot. But as the pedal goes down and more strength is available you can see how the gear (effective tooth size) gets bigger: reaching the equivalent chainring tooth size of 56T during the power phase.
Gee. Something new to worry about. Dead spots on my pedal stoke. Rats!
technically speaking, they are what gary (gtingley) said they are. In simpler terms they are funny looking (okay okay, cool, strangely techy looking and shiny) oval chainrings that replace the standard round chainrings on your bike and vary the gearing as your pedals go round so that in the positions your legs can push harder, the gearing gets harder, and in the positions your legs aren’t so good at pushing/pulling the gearing gets easier. All I know is they feel great and my bike feels a bit more like a rocket ship with them on it. Check out their website. At first I thought they were a strange gimmick but I love mine now and a LOT of pros (Tim Deboom, Luke Bell, that super female Voss cyclist girl) and even some old time legends (Ned Overend) are using them now. Worth the $$$.
I just bought a Dual (obviously not in the same plane of existence as the P3c), but if the saddle is similar I would change it, I did. The one that came with my bike was like sitting on a brick. I got a Profile Tri Stryke and love the thing.