Cervelo P3 Review...where is that Church of Cervelo? I am on my way

Triathlon Forum
1

It is not often that I change my mind about anything, as you all are certainly painfully aware of. Well, this is one of those times. I admit that it took me a while to get things set up the way that they are supposed to be set up. My initial ride was on a misfit bike with thrown together parts with out the right bars and on and on and on…

Well, today was my first ride on the real deal. I got the right bars on the bike – Profile Carbon X with special donated Titanium S-Bend extensions as opposed to the standard poorly designed extensions. The bike had a full Campagnolo Record 10 speed components that operated as well as one would expect from the premium group set from Italy. I today for some reason decided to take out the 909’s as well…call me a poser doing a training ride on race wheels if you will…but I wanted to know what the ride was really like. Total specs were the P3 frame, Profile BDC fork, Record group set, Carbon X w/Ti extensions, Time RSX Ti pedals, Vittoria Corsa CX Tubulars…53/42 and 11-23; 10 speed Record Ti cogset. Total bike weight of just a hair over 17lbs…certainly light for a tri bike.

I had not ridden the new extensions, nor any other S-Bend style extensions for that matter…I can say…boy do I like them. I often put no weight on my hands at all, and do not really pull back ever on the bars, they just seemed to be there for steering and to rest my hand on. Climbing hill’s I really don’t pull on them at all as I am a spinner and don’t force the climb. I had my bars today set 4.5 inched below the seat height (pad height). This put my back about parallel to the ground while on the pads…a bit less than 90 degrees elbow angle (that is just how I ride).

So…the ride. As you all know I look for bikes with “soul”. I can’t say at all that I found soul in the ride of the bike…however soul to me does not matter at 28mph. In the aero position I have to think hard of any other frame that would travel so fast, so easily. The acceleration was perfectly linear. I asked for more speed, I got it. The bike was in a hurry to move forward, and would take all that my legs had to offer. For years I have been on Softride frames…and if given an option it is a very hard call…the Softride frames had a bit of give to them, not bad per se, just that I felt that some of my energy was given up to comfort. Cervelo gives up nothing…and is not all that uncomfortable. Sure the Cervelo tells me that there is infact rough pavement, and yes there was a crack in that road…it is not harsh like Cannondales of the past, or the newer Scott CR1.

On the flats the bike just goes…again, no soul…just raw speed. Climbing the BB is as stiff as any out there, I was not able to call out any chain rub in the front Der (though these were not big hills, and I was not in a road race). Climbing the bike behaves as well as any, sure I can feel the added weight that any Tri bike carries…but not so bad at all. Descending…that is another story all together – the bike just goes. I took the bike up to 54mph on a down hill – no shimmy, no shake, no nothing, just speed. One of my litmus tests for a tri bike is to go no handed on it, I have ridden some that were not stable enough to ride hands free, and the P3 is not one of them. I was quite comfortable eating and sitting up at 20mph – I may be wrong, but the bikes that could not ride hands free on…were also spooky on descents. P3, I would not be afraid at all to take down the Keene hill at 60+ mph.

I was a bit concerned about the chain stays. I in the past I have ridden frames where the clearance from the chain stays to the tire was petty close and would rub the tire in a serious sprint or climbing tough hills. Again, nothing – though I had the tire about 3mm from the seat tube, and awful close to the chain stays (that are REALLY big when you look at them from above)…after the ride I even inspected the white paint on the stays…narry a mark from the tire.

I the end, I would have to say that my initial impression of the Cervelo P3 was an uninformed one. As has been said in the past, you cant judge a bike on a trip around the block…well, the same is true for a bike that is not setup properly. From the store, there is no Cervelo that will fit me right, and ride to my liking – then again, no bike will. Once I got the bike set up with gear that would fit my lanky long body…the P3 rode very well…no soul…just FAST.

2

Gerard had a booth set up at the Disney Half Ironman (nice, hot race!). He let me take out the P3 Carbon for a few minutes. I was in a hurry and was only gone about 5 minutes, but the carbon frame seemed very responsive and smoooooth. That bike is certainly one of the prettiest looking ones I’ve ever seen. The P3 SL is also very sweet looking and a few dollars less. Gerard is very nice in person, if bald. :slight_smile: Oh, and neither bike is grey. :slight_smile:

Congrats on your new ride.

-Robert

3

Oh…seems to me that the paint chips easily on the P3 though…not sure why.

4

So…does this mean you’ll be gettign rid of the softride…???

5

Certainly not. Thought it remains to be seen, I think that my legs (and I know for a fact) my back feels better after 112 miles on a Softride than it did after a 130+ mile ride on the Cervelo. This year I am planning to do 2 IM’s…one on each bike…we will see what we see.

6

tell us more about this ‘soul’ you speak of. I certainly agree with you, and think my two wilier’s have infinitely more soul than any bike I have every ridden or owned in the past. how do you know when a bike has soul?

7

Funny you mention the paint chipping easy. Last year, treating it with almost obsessive kindness, I still scratched mine in two places. Glad to here you like it. I train on a Cannondale R2000 then race on the P3 with 404’s and what a difference it makes…especially like you said on a flat road.

8

Lots of chips on the chainstays on my P2K. LBS warned me.

9

i 've got chips on miy dual right behind the chain ring, but I think that’s because my chain came off one day
.

10

Lots of chips on the chainstays on my P2K. LBS warned me.
yep. it’s the only complaint i have. love everything else about it except for the durability of the paint. my other aluminum bike ('00 specialized s-works) has nary a scratch on it, so i know you can make paint stick to aluminum. i’ve been thinking about treating myself this winter and getting a custom paint job, primarily to address the chipping problem.

11

I ma guessing P3 for Placid. What course does the softride get to play on?

12

Oh…seems to me that the paint chips easily on the P3 though…not sure why.

No kidding I had my 2000 sent out for paint becasue it was missing half here is the result

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y49/signu459/IMG_2780.jpg

13

That bike would probably be faster with pedals…

Oh, and would you consider putting red or blue/purple handlebar tapes on it?

14

No need for pedals, can’t ride it with a broken ankle. Now my three year old whips my ass on the trike you see to the left in the pic. My girl is all dressed up for prom and her date is MIA

No to the tape

15

Here’s why:

In 2003, the P3 was silver and the P2 was blue and that was the last year that I know of where cervelo powder-coated both those frames. In that process, the paint is applied electrostatically and baked on at quite high temperatures.

In 2004, with the advent of the two-tone paint schemes on the P3 and P2, just regular paint was applied to the frames instead of by a powder coat process. The difference is remarkable. The powder-coated frames resist paint chipping very well, while the painted ones do not. I know, as I have a blue powder coated P2 with a lot of miles and without a single paint chip.

I have spoken with pro auto parts finishers that paint somewhat complex items like auto alloy wheels (frequently subject to flying debris and tire changes) and they say that simply painting alumimum (alloy) wheels is ineffective–the paint does not stay on with use. They say powder coating is essential for durability. Aluminum definitely has more paint adhesion issues than steel and some other materials and perhaps that is why powder coating is frequently a solution. But it is also more complex and more expensive.

16

My 2000 was one of the originals which painted (not powder coating) flat charcoal grill black. They time I had it re-painted it was missing half it’s paint was a combo of black and Aluminum. The piant job you see in the pic above is powder coating and not liquid paint.