Is anyone using the soloist carbon as both their road and tri bike? If so, how well does it do in the tri configuration (i.e., is the 76-degree angle sufficient to get aero, are there any noticable handling issues)? Also, what type of aero bars are you using in the tri set-up?
I do almost all training in road config and only race 4-5 tris per year, mostly olympic dist. The carbon soloist seems like it would be a good compromise between a kick-ass road bike and a reasonable tri bike. Any thoughts or recommendations? Thanks.
A friend of mine is thinking of selling his R3 and P3 and getting a dual purpose carbon Soloist. He used to race tris on an aluminium Soloist but now wants to go back to a carbon version.
It works very well. When I was using mine for dual purpose I just bought an extra seat post as the one on the SLC cannot be flipped, a saddle, a set of clip on aerobars and I was good to go. I agree it was hard to get low on it that way.
I used it this way for a season and since I like bikes and can’t have enough I bought a P2C which got a fair amount lower.
It is an awesome bike, if you go that way you will love it.
Thanks for the feedback. I’m not overly concerned with getting really low. My strategy is to be comfortable on the bike and leave some juice to hammer the run. I just don’t know that I compete often or seriously enough to justify an expensive tri-specific bike, as much as I admittedly salivate over some of them. Intuitively it seems like a great road bike with a tri option would make sense. Solist carbon SLC with SRAM red and a spare set of 808s for race day - seems like a tough combo to beat all things considered.
I have a Soloist Carbon. I purchased the dual position seat post and I put on the Oval Concepts R910 Road Bar with the stem cap clip on system. That takes care of any height issues because the clip ons are attached underneath the road bar. For group rides I still have 2cm of spacers underneath the bars which could be used in competition. For solo training rides I have been fine in the aero position although not as comfortable as the P3C TT set up of course. I would do a draft legal triathlon up to Oly distance no problem. It would be perfect. But I probably wouldn’t want to go over that distance with it. And I would still use the P3C on any distance in any non drafting race since I’d want to use bar end shifters.
Note:
I haven’t got any real perfect shortie bars to go with it yet. I would have to cut the A910s to make them draft legal and also join them at the end. Most guys over here (France) use duct tape to make it look like its a one-piece bar.
I haven’t got he Oval elbow pads, haven’t really needed them so far. I have a 54" frame (same as my P3C) and with the seat in the forward position, and the bars not being able to extend beyond the hoods, My elbows therefore tend to be pushed out laterally into the corners of the road bar. Not perfect auero but in a draft legal race everyone has the same problem
Aerobar choice is key - look at options that put the pads on the bar, and extensions that mount below or close to it. Oval, Deda, Hed, Vision, Zipp… wouldn’t put you too much higher, whereas Profiles or similar are going to put you way up in the air.
That road bike is more aero than many tri bikes. If you’re going to ride it as a road bike all the time I would just race shallow as well. As others have said you need to get a very low profile aero bar. Zipps may work. THere is a way to get the profiles mounted under the bar if you search the site. Hed has a prototype that Tom Demerly used where you put inserts into the bar tape. The hed’s mount straight out from the bar.
Sure, works fine except hard to get low enough up front, even on a 54cm with the low head tube. Was plenty stable though.
An adjustable stem (a la Look Ergostem) goes a long way towards solving that problem.
For my Soloist (Al) I have an entirely separate front end setup…from the stem forward. To do the road to tri/TT swap, I just loosen the 4 cable fixing bolts and the stem bolts and pull the front end off as one piece.
If you plan on keeping drop bars and a putting a clip-on bar on, it’s pretty easy to just do a stem swap as well in this day of stems with removable faceplates. YMMV
This is my Soloist setup with saddle in front facing position. Sorry it is a little fuzzy.
Works great for me except frame is a little big. Could do with a 51 instead of the 54 i think.
With T2 clip ons the bike remains amazingly stable when you are down in the aero position. I was very surprised being used to my somewhat twitchy steel frame from years past.
Cheers
Excellent choice. That’s my ride, w/Record, 404’s and Zipp clip-on’s. Absolutely love it. I’d say it kicks ass as both a road and tri bike. I do a lot of riding/training on our big climbs here with it. And try to pick out races with some hills… But still goes fast on the flats, too. The Zipp clip-ons seem lower than most others, but I could still go a little lower (one 5mm spacer below the stem). For the seat postion, I have the standard SLC carbon seatpost (the one that is not flipable) and have my saddle jammed almost all the way forward. It handles great in both the aero and road positions.
I’ve borrowed a friend’s P3 for a TT and went crazy low in the front. That’s a great bike, but comparing the two handling… The P3 is definitely better in a straight line, but the SLC is still pretty solid when in the aerobars. Not twitchey like many road bikes can be with clipons.
Sure, if I could I would also have a P3C (because you can never have enough bikes, right?)… But as the single racing bike for any race any distance any course, the SLC is hard to beat.
Thanks for the feedback everyone. I might try the Competitive Cyclist loaner program, which offers a Soloist Carbon for a week trial period for a couple hundred bucks. I may do the same for a P3C just for a goof and to compare notes between the two. Or maybe I’ll just demo each briefly up at Nytro…
I switched from Alu to carbon soloist and love the switch. I also have a separate front end set up I am going to use this year. Bring 6’3 the soloist fit better than the P3 or p2. Actually when I rode the p2 I was not any lower in the front than I am with the soloist. My setup hardly has any spacers and I have a visions carbon base and tri bars, bar end shifters and aero brakes for road riding or the off season I put the entire road front end set up back on. I will ride this set up for an IM this year and have do 80+ miles ride with it and have not had any problems with comfort or stability. While this may not be for everybody for me I get the best of both worlds with this bike. I add 80mm wheels and it works great.
