i’m looking at getting a time trial bike maybe. dunno if i really wanna shell out too much money. what else is a good value for money TT bike?
#1 bike split in my division last weekend on a Dual with 404’s. A woman won a world trial event in 2004 on a bone stock Dual (the name and event escapes me).
Great bang for the buck, very fast, very confortable. Just my 6 cents, adjusted for exchange rate and inflation.
It’s my first real bike. I like it a lot. If you can, haggle for a carbon seat post and maybe some different aerobars/pads. THe brakes suck on it though so I would try to get those upgraded to at least 105 brakes.
I have had the bike for almost a year now and I like it. I haven’t had any problems with the Ultegra drivetrain. It is very fast and responsive. All of my non-triathlon friends pick it up and are amazed at how light it is.
I was very happy with it. You should be happy, too.
Does it go for about $3000 now in NZ? That would be the 2005 one…you may be able to pick up a 2004 vintage with Ultegra 9 for less than that.
I’ve had mine a year and only now am I really starting to appreciate how good it is. A whole lot of bike for the money, IMO. I plan on having mine for 5/6 yrs, so $3000 for that kind of duration makes it reasonable value.
The dual definitely allows versatility. Ditto the aerobars as Eric said unless you like the carbon strykes. For the dollar it’s still one of the better bargains around. Mine is setup as a a tribike with the same cranks and TT ring but look at what STI’s can do (found this on ebay):
Weeeellllll fulla,
TT bike or Tri Bike?
Kierin Doe did pretty well in your neck of the woods on his Dual earlier this year, so I think it would be a perfectly acceptable bike to get. (Duals are good and all, but why isn’t he riding something better from Cervelo? he was first off the bike at IMNZ, you’d think that ibike and/or Cervelo would have given him a deal or a free bike or something)
However, I’m guessing you already have a road bike, so why not go with a real tri bike, like the P2K? Not quite as sexy as the P3 (in any of its guises) but still a pretty fantastic bike all the same and waaaay cheaper than a P3. It’s got a horizontal top tube that makes more sense than a sloping top tube bike in the purely aero stakes. The seat tube has the cutout which is not only mondo sexy, it’s better aerodynamically than the Dual. Furthermore, the P2K is available in 650C if you are small enough and/or need to get that low. (you don’t look tall in photos I’ve seen)
ibike has good prices, what with the high Kiwi dollar, so now could be the ideal time to get one. drop me a line if you want to come to ibike and need a place to stay in Auckland for a night or two. I will be in Taupo, Aug 13 & 14 to check out the backpacker babes at the Pak n’ Slave. You want to do a slow ride around the lake on saturday with a couple of old fat guys? Lunch in Turangi? Let me know.
I might be mistaken,but I think Keiran was on a Soloist at IMNZ.
The guy looked liked an Alien riding a bike…a fast one at that.
You could be right…He went by so fast, who could tell.
He sure does look funny with his dreadlocks sticking out from under an aero helmet.
My wife likes the way he looks when he runs around our neighbourhood with no shirt on most of the summer. She thinks shrits should be banned at IM. Why do all that work for a hot body and not flaunt it is her view.
Girlfriend bought one a few months ago (same size as my R2.5 so I’ve ridden her(s)). There is no better deal on the market - nothing needs upgrading. The drivetrain is great. Bars are excellent (if you like the style). Bike is very stable on the horns and on the bars. As someone else said, only upgrade would be a carbon seatpost, but it certainly isn’t required. I’ve been looking at a P2K and P3 but I really can’t justify the price increase for the very, very marginal increase in performance. take the $1000 price difference and buy a set of decent race wheels. However, I’ve been told by my girlfriend that we can’t have matching bikes…I think she’s afraid we’ll soon be wearing satin jackets with our respective names stitched on the back.
The bike rocks! It was my first tri bike and it definetly was a great deal.
Same here, I love mine and it was my first tri-bike. I got a great deal on it as I did not take the stem, base bar and aerobars and at that time I got the last year model (paid $1700 Canadian but full retail was $2399) for it. I had a full Syntace set-up that I had on my Road bike. Road bike went back to drops and I put the Syntace on. I also had the shop put the carbon post on and switch out the brakes on their suggestion.
I bought mine two and a half years ago so this year I added some FSA Compact EXO cranks on and will be adding the Easton EC90 Aero forks. Also adding some Easton Delta and Aero Carbon set-up with my F99 stem (amazingly light and adjustable set-up)
This bike just rocks!! Training on it is great and when I add the race wheels for race day, I could not be happier.