How is the Fuji CF-2? Dealers are going under MSRP as much as $700, putting it in competition with the $2500 Ultegra P2C and similar priced bikes. Far as I can tell, it’s spec’ed nicely but the slack seat tube angle makes me think the geometry is more road than tri.
no idea but seems to work well for Matt Reed 
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I wouldnt say its a tri bike. An excellent road bike though! The seat tube angle is not tri. Dealers who bought this as a tri bike are finding its a tough sell as a tri bike hence the nice mark downs. You do get great components for the proce though. I bet you could find one for new for $2600 if you looked around.
seat angle is certainly more road-ish, though it has a post that looks like you can move way forward on so i would imagine 78deg is easily obtainable
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Hi,
The Aloha CF-1 and CF-2 were designed to address both the road and tri market. We have riders like Matt Reed racing it in triathlons and then the other extreme of riders from Toyota United racing it as a road bike. Both bikes come with our dual position carbon seat post so it really works well for many applications. Many of our shops set the bikes up on their floors with our standard triathlon set up and others set it up with road bars. Sales to date have been 80% tri and 20% road. Both the CF models are selling well for both the road and tri market and we have new plans for 2009 to come out with our next some new designs.
Make sure to visit your local Fuji dealer to check out the 2008 lineup including our new entry level Aloha.
Thanks,
seat angle is certainly more road-ish, though it has a post that looks like you can move way forward on so i would imagine 78deg is easily obtainable
Just noticed that carbon post. sharad, do you know what the forward angle is?
Depending on the seat rails, you can get as forward as 79 degrees. I’ve done many fits with the seat post and it works very well. The CF’s have really surprised us as far as the versatility goes. Of course now that I’ve moved over to the Kestrel side, ASI owns Fuji and Kestrel, I want everyone riding the Talon and the Airfoil but I still do work with Fuji.
Will the Talon work as a true tri gemoety bike, even with such a shallow seat tube angle?? I am really interested in this bike, but I’m a little worried it will be uncomforable and not ride as well in the aero position.
“Will the Talon work as a true tri gemoety bike,”
The Talon seemed to work very good for Macca. He won an awful lot of races on one.
I’ve converted from steep tri bikes to a Talon for crotch and neck discomfort reasons. I’ve also found myself to be faster on the Talon than my previous tri geometry bikes, not to mention my neck and crotch being much more comfortable.
The Talon isn’t the bike to have if you want to ride at a 78+ angle. Like the Cervelo Soloist it has a road geometry but lends itself quite well to be rode at about maximum 76 degrees with the dual position seat post. I found at this angle it still maintains much of the excellent handling characteristics as in the road position.
I’m very pleased with my Talon. It’s about the same price as the aluminium Soloist. The downtube may be a bit more aero on the Soloist but the Talon has aero chain stays and a shorter head tube. And did I mention it’s carbon - rides quite nice.
i owned this bike.
they need to make a tri bike with tri geometry, not tri bike with road geometry.
good carbon. good components, bad idea.
“they need to make a tri bike with tri geometry”
They do. It’s called the Airfoil Pro.
Talon/Soloist is an excellent concept for people who want to ride a bit slacker or want only one bike for road/tri.
i owned this bike.
they need to make a tri bike with tri geometry, not tri bike with road geometry.
good carbon. good components, bad idea.
Are you talking about the CF-2? What about it didn’t work?
Sure will. There are many things to consider when looking at a “tri” bike. Versatility is key with the Talon from Kestrel and the CF series from Fuji. If you look at the avg. triathlete, not everyone is racing IM distances and not everyone needs the proverbial 78 degree + - seat tube angle. Both bikes allow riders of varying backgrounds to comfortably ride in multiple postions. If you look at bike setups at your local triathlon, you will see that there is a mix of riders, those who are “serious” and read about fit and those who I consider “weekend warriors” who really want to be comfortable and simply go out and race for fun. Both of these bikes mentioned fit the bill.
As always, I suggest you go to a store that will take detailed body measurements, set up the bike for you, and then test ride it. It really is the only way to determine if any bike will work for you.
Your local Kestrel dealer will be receiving information on the new 2008 Kestrel bikes and specs so please stop by and ask them for the information. The 2008 Kestrel Website will be updated shortly.
You mentioned Fuji will be coming out with a new triathlon line of bikes in 09, can you tell us more about the new design? The airfoil was my first tri bike and I really liked it, but i heard on previous posts here that if you don’t ride a disc, the talon is much more aero, true??
So does a CF-2 or Talon (properly fitted) with a forward seat give the advantages full tri geometry bikes have?
Will a Talon work as a good tri bike?..definte “good”. Sure Macca road it that way, but then again, put Macca on a mountain bike and he’d probably out split the average triathlete.
If you do a search both here on ST and other online forums, you’ll see thread after thread that generally contain users of Talons who like them as road bikes, but not necessarily in the tri configuration. I am one of those as well. It’s a nice bike as a road bike, but if you ride steep, even with the forward slot on the dual seatpost and cramming your saddle forward, the bike doesn’t handle as well that way.
dude.
I suppose you’re going to try and steal Seven too?
George is getting mad!
well, you are one of the VERY few people I have ever heard, read (online), etc. who feels comfortable on a Talon while attempting to ride it steep. Again, doing a search under the discussions of a Talon as a tri bike will show quite a few experienced triathletes who mention the same thing. If you want to go steep, there are better options out there for the money.
FWIW, I’m probably at a min. 79* degree type of rider (probably 80-81 is more my style), have ridden a number of tri bikes through the years, and even though I still have a Talon, it is only because I haven’t raced in 5 years. Once I make up my mind (and get back into shape), I’ll be selling it for something I don’t have to sit WAY out on the front of the saddle (I have the same setup you do) for an entire race. I’m simply suggesting to the OP that if they are looking at a slack angled bike like the Fuji, they should try and ride one in a race configuration vs. something else if they care to ride steep.
I have known a few people who, for one reason or another, didn’t fit the longish top tube on the P3. Thus, if you ride a bit shallow, the Talon may definitely handle better (I actually like my Talon as a road bike).
…and yes…if you aren’t going to be riding TT’s longer than 56 miles, you can probably suffer a bit more in a tradeoff for position and stifness (although even if you are doing a tri at shorter distance, the comfort factor may help reduce wasted energy in dealing with a bit harsher ride).
On a different note, I have liked the graphics schemes on the Fuji’s the past couple of years - hopefully they will bring that to the notoriously horrendous Kestrel brand
“you are one of the VERY few people … who feels comfortable on a Talon while attempting to ride it steep.”
As I posted, IMO, the key to riding a Talon for tri is to ride it at no more than about 75/76 just like Macca did. The bike geometry is not designed to be rode at 78+. The reason I went to a Talon from a QR Kilo/Cervelo P2K is because I didn’t want to ride steep any more due my unwillingness to continue putting up with a sore crotch and neck. I had reservations about this at first but since it turned out to be faster and more comfortable on the Talon, I’m not sold on the steep geometry any more.
Arguably I could have kept the Cervelo and rode slacker at 75/76 instead of the 78+ that I rode it at, but I found that the top tube was too long for me ridin anything except the steep position.