What if you couldn’t run anymore, so you weren’t going to be able to pose as a triathlete, and wanted to pose as a roadie for a while. Let’s say you have a P2K. Can you make it roadie worthy, or do you get a road geometry bike. If the latter, and if you wanted to limit it to about 2,000, would you get a frame/fork/seatpost, and buy bars, brakes and move your Ultegra over, or what?
I saw a R2.5 frame in my size for $1900.
I’d buy the frame/fork/seatpost and move your Ultegra over… 'cause you can get a better bike for your $2K if you don’t get all the components.
As a matter of fact, I’m thinking of doing that with a new tri-bike. Buy the frame and move my ultegra components over and put the old 105 back on the road bike.
for conversion, is your P2K 700C?
A good friend of mine has done some road racing on a P2K w/ drop bars, he seemed to be ok w/ it (his even has 650 wheels).
Seeing how you’re in FL (right?) and there are few hills, I’d get a Soloist before the R2.5. $1900 is a hell of a lot of $$ to spend on a frame, isn’t it? They are nice looking though.
Don’t try to make the P2K roadworthy. It’s doable but not ideal since that’s not what it’s designed for.
If it’s 650 wheels then just sell it as a complete bike. If it’s 700 wheels then buy a road frame, some STI shifters and transfer the components over. Then sell the P2K frame, fork and seat post on ebay.
700c correct.
FL correct.
Per Gerard, and website, Soloist and R2.5 have same geometry.
Soloist is available, it says, with Chorus, for $800 less than DA.
R2.5 available with Chorus, for $1,000.00 less than DA. Hard to put a value on DA when it jumps around in front of your eyes!
For 2000.00 you could get a soloist with campy centaur…and probably lots of other nice road bikes…
One problem is that according to some posters here the R2.5 is not available right now. A couple of people are waiting for them to come in.
Lot’s to choose from in that price range for a complete bike. It’s very competitive and the quality is very high. Trickle down technology has been good to bikes in this zone - these are essentially the same bikes that were winning big road races in Europe just a few years ago.
I would shop around for a complete bike in the $2,000 range.
Fleck
Oh, forgot to say: sorry to hear about your running problems. Seems like IMAZ did a number on you. Anyways, I think that road racing, ie, 90-min hammerfests, better fits your personality anyways (if I judge your correctly from your posts).
here’s what i am going to do in a few months:
Buy a Soloist Centaur ($2000 or so), upgrade the wheels to Bontrager Race X-lites (about $400 more or so). Also, I’ll eventually get a disc cover and some shortie aerobars if I ever want to do a TT. I’m going to try the Campy hoods out first though, not sure how I’m going to like the fit of them.
Regarding Chorus: I have been training/racing on a definite beginner road bike for the past three years (road racing since last, did mtb before), a Giant OCR1 w/ full 105. So Chorus sounds like heaven to me.
Also, the main reason why I’d get DA is the cranks, and most of those bikes don’t come w/ the DA crank. I don’t understand why someone would get a DA bike w/out DA cranks, it just makes no sense whatsoever. I’d get a full Ultegra bike before that.
I think you are right that a complete bike is the way to go.
I saw a sweet Huffy on ebay. I think the seller was in florida, it was a tri bike though. Right around 2k
Brother, I just got a R2.5 chorus and it is SO FRIGGIN NICE!!! I am not one to go on about frames, I’ve been on so many bikes from so many places and NONE of them really stood out. Ritchey, Cannondale, Trek, Klein, Gios, Look (the look was nice, but too flexy for my big ass) Merlin, lightspeed, K2. It’s all about the rider once you get to a point in frames… but this R2.5 is one of the best bikes I have EVER been on. The only bike that was this nice that I spent any time on was a Calfee.
And as for campy… wow. I have been a DA guy for a long time and never thought I would switch to campy cause of the cost. Didn’t think it would be that different, bu tit is. I will be a campy guy for life now.
If you ride a 54 or a 58, call Wade at www.excelsports.com they have those sizes in stock. (last I was in there)
That bike is WELL worth the $.
Monk,
Have you considered purchasing a carbonfiber Scattante CFR from Supergo? I got the limited edition D/A version last fall so I would have a roadbike for training. Besides the FSA RD-400 wheels that came with it I love the bike. It looks really smooth and gives a sexy ride (or was it the other way around?!)
I couldn’t find much information on this forum about Scattante bikes. On various forums I found that some people feel like it is a great deal, but I didn’t find any good reviews. Maybe people are scared because it is a Supergo brand bike and doesn’t have a big brand name on it. However, if I had to do it over again I would purchase the same bike but sell the wheels on ebay and put some others on there.
here are two links:
the D/A version is $1999 http://www.supergo.com/Profile_Combo.cfm?LProd_id=26317&CFID=9386598&CFTOKEN=63642067
the Ultegra is $1699 http://www.supergo.com/Profile_Combo.cfm?LProd_id=26318&CFID=9386598&CFTOKEN=63642067
Yes, it doesn’t say Cannondale, Trek, Cervelo, or Felt on it. I gave it a try and must say that I could care less of what decals are on the frame. Great bike.
with the money I saved from the bike I purchased a Powertap SL.
good luck,
Daniel
this is a pretty darn roadworthy P2 to me:
.
i say keep the tri bike and move over to auquabike races. keep the tri feaver burning.
purchase an entry road bike $1500 ebay should get you something very nice or go new in that $2000 range floks have mentioned.
float betweent he two sports and see what the future holds for your running.
I saw a sweet Huffy on ebay. I think the seller was in florida, it was a tri bike though. Right around 2k
Dat bike got bad juju. Dat bike been rid by the debil hissef.
Dis Huffy?
Monk I have also have a P2k and dont race tris very often anymore. I am keeping the P2k as a TT bike and in the winter convert to track, unless someone wants to buy it off me for a half decent price. Buy a road bike and start racing - TT, road, masters, centuries, hill climbs - basically anything that catches your fancy. As to what road bike, well I will let others give their favourites. If it fits, also fits the budget and you are not going to be really pissed if you lay it down in a race then you are set! Race the crap out of it and then buy another one a year or two later. This line of thinking does not work for a C50 or other high end bike! 
Thats the one, Hey is that Lake Monk in the background?
Wow–those are amazing deals. Kind of proof we are having it stuck to us by the marketing departments!! Carbon/carbon/carbon, 9s SP DA, and they throw in the computer w/HRM, helmet, pump, gloves and socks fo under 2K!
I’m not saying this to dis Scattante bikes because I’ve never even ridden one. I’ve And, for sure, the price is appealing. But as has been said on this forum a million times, just because it’s carbon (or Ti, or whatever else), doesn’t mean it’s good. All of the knowledgeable bike folks on this forum seem to agree on only one thing: the only thing that really matters with frames is quality design and construction. It’s also been pointed out that it is easy to make a crappy carbon frame look good by putting a nice cosmetic weave layer on top. You can have two carbon frames that look the same, and one might be a dream and the other a POS.
There are a ton of good deals on great bikes in your price range. There are also people selling used bikes and frames in essentially perfect condition at fantastic prices. A guy I work with got a 3 month old Ti/Carbon LeMond with DA 10 last year for about 30% off of retail from a guy who needed back surgery. I bought a 2 year-old Merckx with Chorus/Record, refurbished to almost new condition by ABG for about 60% off of new retail price. Keep your eyes peeled.