Ive been riding a Fuji Finest for 2 years now and Im finally stepping up my bike. Im on a triathlon team but dont want a tri specific bike. I was considering the Cervelo Soloist or the Kestral Talon road frames. My bike shop suggested to stear clear of cervelo because I live in a hilly area and according to him cervelo dosent handle well. I dont think he took into account that im 6’1" and 148 lbs so the cervelo frame may handle differently with a light weight on top of it. Also, my build is ALL LEGS. I have a small torso (in terms of framepack size). If I am going to spend a bunch of cash on this bike id like to get the optimum performance. Also, the bike, though its a road frame, will prolly only be used for triathlons, including an ironman in 2006. PLEASE HELP SO I CAN FINALLY RIDE!!! Thanks
-Andy McKeegan
email: mckeegaj@jmu.edu
IM; IrishTriHiker
For an Ironman, my gut reaction would be a Kestrel, but for a small torso, the fit options of the Cervelo may be more what you need.
Which one do you like better?
Always go with the one you can spell 
.
Why *kestrEl for Ironman? Just curious
Because it’s a proven carbon frame, comfort is one of it’s selling points. Whether or not you need it for competing in an ironman is up for discusion, but you are sure going to appreciate it while you are training.
My bike shop suggested to stear clear of cervelo because I live in a hilly area and according to him cervelo dosent handle well.
You bike shop is staffed with idiots. That’s insane.
“My bike shop suggested to stear clear of cervelo because I live in a hilly area and according to him cervelo dosent handle well.”
He’d better tell that to the CSC guys as they ascend/descend the Alps. The Soloist is a great handling bike.
Just cause I didnt keep up with the tour…how did they do on the soloists?
All I can tell you is that I have the Talon and I love it.
Well, if you go for proven in an Ironman, there are a lot more Aluminum Cervelos than carbon Kestrels in Ironmans.
I’ve got a Cervelo and my wife has a Talon. Both are great bikes, but I wouldn’t ride the Kestrel, period (and she wouldn’t ride the Cervelo, period) Why - you ask? Of course, (and I can’t believe you haven’t heard this a half-dozen times by now) They FIT us. Get theeself to a REAL bike fitter, and see what he (or she, I guess) has to say. As for Cervelo not handling, that is just plain crazy, plenty o’ rides with 55+ MPH downhills in the aerobars. And the Cervelo is plenty comfortable for IM training if it fits you (like any other bike)
Don
(edit: PS I live in the Green Mountains, so I think that probably qualifies as hilly)
I’ve owned and sold both. I’ve owned four Kestrels personally (KM40 Airfoil, 200SCi, 500SCi, Talon) and I’ve owned five Cervelos and just purchased a sixth (P3, P3SL, bought a P3 Carbon, Soloist, Solist Team and R2.5).
Get a fitting, then buy the Cervelo if it fits you.
That is based on my experience owning and selling both. Neither company has given me free bicycles, but Kestrel has extended employee purchase discounts to me on some bikes while I pay full landed wholesale cost for Cervelo as an authorized Cervelo (and Kestrel) dealer.
The fact that it is more expensive for me to own a Cervelo and I do speaks volumes I think.
Yes, but what about Cervelo Duals vs. Talon victories?
Oh sorry, I didn’t know he was trying to win that Ironman. My bad. Of course, Kestrel puts all their sponsored riders on Talons, we put them on P3s. As you may know, the Dual is a $1500 bike that is good enough to be in the front pack if you ask slowman, but we can’t blame the sponsored athletes to prefer the P3. If you do the math that way, we’ve got about 20 Ironman victories on the P3 (to be honest I’ve lost track a bit), not sure how many there are on the Talon but significantly fewer. But like I said, I don’t think that is very relevant, just the idea that the Cervelos are less Ironman proven sounded strange to me when more people ride them at Ironman races, and out of their free will, not because they are sponsored.
Read my original post, I never said Cervelos were unproven, nor did I say that they they were worse than a Kestrel. I merely suggested that he might find the Kestrel more comfy while he was training for an ironman. I never said it was better.
I’m not trying to compare a P3 to a Talon, he was asking about the difference between a Talon and a Soloist. (I miss wrote in my last post, my bad.) That’s what I was comparing, Soloist to Talon. I have absolutely nothing against the soloist.
I think just think between the two, that the talon “could” be a better fit, but that is just my opinion.
Andy,
First I have no financial connection to any bike company. I am nothing more than an active consumer of cycling products.
I own a P3. I also own a Kestrel Airfoil Pro.
As nothing more than an owner, I would say without a doubt- buy the Kestrel - specifically the Airfoil. One word - comfort. Mine is so comfortable that I can easily commute on it back and forth to work through heavy traffic/pothole rodes in Washington, DC. I can not do that on my P3. Too beat up when I get home.
You will be more comfortable on a Kestrel and thus bike and run faster. Is it as “stiff” as a P3? No - but the loss in power transfer is more than compensated for with the comfort. More time on the aerobars and easier to run via the Kestrel.
I am not a pro. You are probably not a pro. Who cares what PAID athletes ride. Using CSC as an analogy/foil is useless. Those same athletes would ride almost anything for $.
I am now prepared to take my verbal beating from the Cervelo mafia.
Good luck-
Mark
I didn’t mean to imply that that’s what you said, but simply that I don’t think we could get that many people to ride, and continue to ride, uncomfortable frames for Ironman races. The simple fact is that for these people who ride Cervelos in Ironman races (and obviously there is a ton of them), their Cervelos are comfortable, regardless of material. Which makes sense when you drill deeper into the design.
Of course the question remains why we are debating road bikes for an Ironman anyway, but we’ll leave that for some other time 
I have to agree with Mark… Who cares what the pros are riding. Lets get back to the basics. Buy the bike that fits best.
I rode several bikes before buying a Talon SL including the Cervelo P3. The Cervelo seemed like a very fast bike but the Kestrel was much more comfortable for me.
I also think Kestrel is much better with Carbon than Cervelo. If you look at the R2.5’s in the early days they were rough… I may have even bought one at that point but the newer models were impossible to get. Went with a Parlee. Absolutely no regrets.
Buy American!
If you’re looking at either, might I suggest buying my 2 year old Talon off me, saving it from a life of loneliness and despair in the garage? With the least amount of miles on any of my bikes in 20 years (only about 500 miles in 2 years), it’s too nice of a bike to sit alone. Send an email to ironcraigp@yahoo.com and make me an offer I can’t refuse (btw, I’m in So.Cal, figure shipping probably around $35-40).
As far as the debate, I’ve never owned a Cervelo (yet), so I can only comment that at the time I had a Kestrel 500 SCI (decked out for tri), I also rode a P2k when they came out, and were a bit too stiff for my liking (5’10", 190 pounds) as I had just moved off my aluminum Scott Waimea into the Kestrel (and subsequently a Softride). I’ve used the Talon exclusively as a road bike, as I just can’t get positioned where I want to be on it (I have heard of others who ride pretty steep having the same problem on the bike).
Either way, you won’t be making a “bad” decision. Just make sure you find a retailer who will let you give them your license and a credit card, and take either of those bad boys out for a ride (and NOT just around the parking lot).
Good luck!
As a shop mechanic I have built and worked on a few of each brand of bikes. I can order either and will be ordering a Cervelo in the near future. I have seen a few Talons crack from something as simple as squezing the rear break. In my opinion the kestrels were not as well constructed. Others opinions may vary but this was my experience. That said I pretty much only saw problems with the talon for some reason.