anyone have a Jamis tri/TT bike, or know anything about them? Looked at one today, the Zenith T2 – http://www.jamisbikes.com/usa/thebikes/road/xenith/09_xenitht2.html – and i have to say it’s beautiful and light (although i know weight doesn’t matter…but c’mon, we all like light bikes, assuming they’re also aero!).
I have an '08. Love it. The only minor complaints are mediocre braking performance (though Jamis says they fixed that for 09), and to clean the front brake you have go through a few extra but not too difficult steps to pull the brake out of their special fork.
Handles great. Fits me great. It’s comfortable to ride long. It is light. I haven’t seen any hard data but I’ve heard rumors that it holds it’s own in a wind tunnel. It’s stiff.
I have an 08 T1 and really like it too. Brake performance is not so great, but it is pretty much the same as on several other high end bikes with theses hidden TRP brakes, but that has not been an issue to me. My bike with deep aero wheels etc weighs about 16.5 pounds.
H
For a mere $8900 it should be good…
08 T-1 and I love it. Upgraded to Zipp 808/1080. I had a small problem with the rear break not “recentering”, but it was an easy fix.
For a mere $8900 it should be good…
The Zenith T2 is ~$8900, but it includes Zipp 808’s. My understanding is that the Zenith T1 is the same frame, but lower-end components and wheels, and can be had for ~$3,800.
It is the lsame frame indeed but in a more affordable package, but mine is a bit upgraded. 
DAMN!!!
Can you tell me a little more about the ‘poor brake performance’ that you and others have mentioned? Dangerously slow to respond or just not instantaneous?
Amy-
I keep tellin’ ya…stay off the brakes!
LOL!!! i know, i know…but c’mon, even Contador wants to know that his brakes would work if he needed them!
DAMN!!!
Can you tell me a little more about the ‘poor brake performance’ that you and others have mentioned? Dangerously slow to respond or just not instantaneous?
This is what I know from personal experience, and talking with a Jamis rep. The poor performance was due to a combination of a flexy mount on the rear break (located under/behind the BB), and the use of cool-looking-but-flimsy-and-painful Vision Tech aluminum aero brake levers (which Vision Tech doesn’t even make any more, I don’t think). That’s what the rep said. I’d add in the added factor of a little extra friction from some tight corners in the internal cable routing, however this is no worse on a Jamis frame than most other internally routed TT frames. The effect isn’t slowness to respond, really, but a sense of inadequate leverage - you’d really have to crank hard on the uncomfortable Profile levers to achieve really good stopping power.
Anyway the levers and the brake mount are updated for 2009, and Jamis says the braking problem is fixed. I haven’t verified this by riding an '09, but I see no reason to think otherwise.
Our whole team is on them and love them so far. On the braking others mentioned…they have had a stiffener that attaches to the BB area. I would say it’s no worse braking than any of the other tri bikes with hidden brakes, it’s just a small compromise to be more aero.
anything I should know about race wheels and their fit with the integrated front brake? Thinking about the HED Jet 6/9 combo…
anything I should know about race wheels and their fit with the integrated front brake? Thinking about the HED Jet 6/9 combo…
I use the HED 6/9 C2. Plenty of clearance.
great – thanks!
I have the 08 T1 with a T2 frame (had a minor warranty issue, and Jamis generously replced my T1 frame with a T2 frame, so the bike just looks expensive. Then again, Dura Ace don’t suck). As mentioned, the rear brake is not the best at stopping, but consider:
- It is still better than when I had a traditional rear brake, with yellow Swiss Stops, on a carbon wheel.
- It still stops the bike.
- Brakes only make you go slower. Other than when entering T2, when do you really want to go slower?