I was all set to tell you the Talon is a road geometry bike, whereas the P2K was better set up as a time trial bike. You already know about the Talon, and the P2K would do well in the slacker position with a switcheroo of the seat post.
How slack do you want to go? I’d imagine the Kestrel would go slacker a little better. Look at the chainstay lengths. If the P2K is significantly shorter than the Talon, I’d have to say go the Talon route if you’re sure you don’t want to get more forward than about 76 degrees…it might shift just a bit better with a longer chainstay, as well as be a little better balanced on the fast downhills.
That’s just opinion, not fact. I’ve never been on a P2K.
I have the Talon SL set up as my road bike. I also ride it for hillier tri’s with some clip on bars. It is a great all-around bike & for me has great handling- cornering, descending, etc. (I am 6’1", 185#). That said, I also have a P2K which is set up with cow horns & aerobars & is in a steeper position (78 degrees, I think). It is a very stable bike, a little heavier than the Talon SL, but I rode it in the hills the other day in my IMAZ prep & it felt fine. Both are great bikes. If you want a slacker set angle I would buy the Talon. If you want to get in a more aero position go with the P2K.
I’d go for the talon, although the P2K was can ride slack it was designed to be primarily ridden steep with your weight farther foward on the bike. I’m not positive but I’m guessing the head tube angle as well as the rear triangle dimensions should handle on the P2K are optimized more for riding steep and aero than for riding upright on the hoods. Plus I’m guessing you’d want STI shifting and I believe that the P2K only ships with a bar end setup. Keep steep bikes steep and slack bikes slack. You can convert either but in my limited experiences converted bikes never handle quite as well as a bike ridden how it was designed to be ridden. Good luck.
Take a close look at the height of the head tubes, the length of the chainstays, the height of the bottom brackets from the ground and the wheelbase for the two bikes.
Ha…you can’t get any better than that for a layman’s opinion…somebody is considering two bikes and you have both at your house right now! Very nice TimW!
I’ve had a P2k briefly, and currently have a Talon SL set up as my TT/Tri bike set up at about 75.5 deg. I like the Talon set up as is, or as a road bike at 72-74deg seat angle and w/drop bars. But I didn’t like the Talon set up at 78 deg when compared to the P2k set up at the same. So…I’m with Tim…76 or few degrees and I’d take the Talon…steeper than that and its P2k all the way.
Heh, heh…nice reference, Tom…of course you are the one here who can do the teaching… While I know exactly what you are talking about in your earlier post…I don’t talk and walk this stuff every day of my life…so I’ll leave the technical proofs of my experiential advice to you… ;->
I have a Talon as my sole bike. I ride in the slacker position, thats how I was fitted. Its been a great bike so far, seems fast, sturdy (im 210-220lbs and I beat on it) and comfy. I really like the bike! I ride with someone who has a P2K and he really likes his bike. The good thing about the talon is that you could use it for a road bike or tri bike. If my wife let me get a 2nd bike it would be something like a P2K, P3 or Trek TT.