2013 Cervelo P2 Ultegra @ $2100
2014 Cervelo P2 105 @ $2800
2014 model has the upgraded aero body but downgraded components. Is the new body worth paying an additional $700 and downgraded components? This will be my first tri specific bike. I will use this bike for Olympic and 70.3 races. Would like to get a bike that can get me through the next 5+ years.
The new P2 is def worth the extra 700$
.
Ask yourself these questions:
-What’s your body type?
-Have you gotten a bike fitting yet? - or at least used a bike fit calculator to roughly determine your body type? (long arms short legs, short torso, vice versa your level of flexibility)
-Which geometry fits you best according to your body type and fit coordinates?
-Have you looked at alternatives other than Cervelo? (QR, Fuji Norcom and Felt have some other choices with different geos in your price range if i recall correctly)
Yes the new 2014 P2 is based on the latest and greatest molds but if it fits you at a huge aero penalty why buy those extra watts? (ie. your position is very poor)
The old P2 can be tweaked with some work to make it quite aero as well.
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VfqOoKoJIKE/UmqMo3CxwuI/AAAAAAAABTE/tCzMLHetSfk/s640/sigma-front.JPG
I had a professional bike fitting performed last week and they gave me a few bikes to start looking around for:
2013 Cervelo P2/P3 51cm
2014 Cervelo P2/P3 51cm (would have to get zipp vuka alumina clips)
2013-2014 Trek 7 Series Small
2013-2014 BMC TM02 Small
I’m trying to stay around $2,500 but don’t want to get a bike that I will regret purchasing in a few years because of a few extra hundred dollars today, so I would say my budget is under $3,000 max
With that in mind, go for the 2013 P2 with minimal changes to componenets or get the 2014 P2 and have to change to zipp vuka alumina clips to make it work?
With the newer P2 you get one of the most aero frames on the planet. The downside is you have less money left over to put a really great aerobar on it. But you can always upgrade that later.
The new P2 frame is probably saving you around 50g of drag over the old frame, or 5 watts @ 30mph or 20 seconds per flat 40k.
So Jack, if the fit was dialled in with 10mm of spacers and 110mm stem on a 56 frame and the stock profile aero arms, which set of bars would you swap out for? I’m looking around the price of the Aura at top end… Have 4 weeks to decide if I want to spend the extra before the bike is delivered…
Thanks
Adam
The Aura isn’t exactly a fast aerobar. I’d stronly consider the 26.0 alloy Vision bar, Felt Devox alloy bar, USE tula, or TriRig Alpha.
Now that the Aura has decent cable routing, I wouldn’t bother upgrading unless you go all out:
TriRig Alpha/Sigma
USE Tula with TrigRig Sigma
Zipp Stealth
Ventus
The old vision UCI illegal setup and some of the Felt devox setups might be a little better as well.
The felt alloy bar, the last time I checked is close in dimensions to the aura, but with the inline extensions, it’s probably a little better in terms of frontal area.
I have a semi integrated vision bar that has a small frontal area, great shapes, admittedly little to no adjustability but if you get the right size and extension shape, its a comfortable bar.
Thanks Gents
Managed to shave a few quid off the new p2 but think its worth trading in the profile base bar at least… The brake cable routing looks terrible, at least 0.05 sec/40km 
I’ll do a bit of reading and pricing on your suggestions
Adam
Remember you can route that brake cable through the top tube, just gotta run housing the whole way. Won’t stop as well probably.
Thanks Gents
Managed to shave a few quid off the new p2 but think its worth trading in the profile base bar at least… The brake cable routing looks terrible, at least 0.05 sec/40km I’ll do a bit of reading and pricing on your suggestions
Adam
Already on it Jack, forgot to let the mechanic know that the outer will be needed… I’m more front brake biased than rear anyhow. Who doesn’t like an emergency endo in a tuck?
I will admit I did skip down the street a bit after leaving the shop…
Remember you can route that brake cable through the top tube, just gotta run housing the whole way. Won’t stop as well probably.
Are you talking about the new P2/P3 here? That sounds like something good to do, but not sure how smart it would be. But I’m looking for input. Because, looking at the frame (got one here, not yet assembled), that if you run the rear brake (even with full normal brake housing) through the top tube entry cable port, the bend from the bottom of the carbon cable port “well” then to horizontal through the top tube would cause a very tight turn in the housing and in the brake cable. Has anyone done this and still had pretty good rear brake operation? Did they use normal housing, or nokon-type housing?
Thanks.
So which way are you leaning?
Hi Greg,
Yeah, that’s the cable bend you have to look out for. For what it’s worth, that bucket is plastic, not structural, so a Dremel or small file can make the bend less if you like.
Cheers,
Would your opinion be the same if there was a $1100 savings between the 2013 and 2014?
Hi Damon,
Thanks for the info. Would slightly modifying that top tube cable entry ‘bucket’ (the one that is part of and inside the top tube, not the small removable cosmetic plastic cover) to make a less acute bend in the rear brake cable routing (on a n.P3) have any impact on the potential frame warranty? If yes, no worries, I don’t see this as a critical mod to make, this frame is seriously slick as it is … :^)
thanks,
Greg @ dsw
Out of curiosity, would Maguras present similar routing difficulties?
–Gene
Hi Greg,
Technically, yes, as any frame modification voids the warranty. In practice however, our customer service staff are quite good at determining whether or not filing the plastic cable bucket affected any other areas of the frame.
Cheers,
Hi Gene,
Yes and no. Yes, the hydraulic hose is quite stiff so you’d have to work it into that route. No, there is no degradation in braking performance when hydraulics bend, even sharply. (Banjo fitting, anyone?)
Tolerance of tight routing is one of the benefits of hydraulics - the hose can go anywhere and the brakes still work great.
Cheers,