I’m a road racer looking for a new racing/training bike sometime in the future. Anyhow these, kestrel talon and cervelo soloist, are currently my top choices. I searched for talon on this forum and apparently they aren’t too popular among the triathlon crowd, cervelo’s on the other hand are the cat’s meow so to speak. In road racing I rarely see either. Anyhow just wondering what you think about the two, I think I can get a decent fit on either, components are almost an exact match, so really it’s just about the frame (I’d use my own saddle and bars, and I don’t care enough about weight to compare stem weights and whatnot).
If you want an opinion on the Soloist just follow the CSC team at the TDF over the next three weeks. I’m actually considering swapping out my Giant TCR frame for a Soloist. Sorry, but I don’t know anything about the Talon.
I think they’re faster than I am because they pedal harder than I do, just a theory.
Is the cervelo punishingly stiff? how’s it handle? I don’t know enough about angles and whatnot to tell by looking at that I need to take it through hard corners.
I haven’t actually rode a Soloist except once but know people who own them. One guy told me it handles very well and another guy who road races says it’s twitchy handling. But I’ve also heard people say the exact same thing about the TCR and I don’t find it twitchy at all. Guess it depends who you’re talking to. Hopefully some Soloist and Talon owners will respond to your post.
The Soloist is unique in that it can be used both as a road bike and a TT bike. Good description is here http://www.cervelo.com/bikes/SLTeam.html
Also check out roadbikereview.com for opinions from owners on both bikes.
Here’s another Soloist article
The soloist is not quite unique in that it can be used for both triathlons (time trials whatever) and road racing. The kestrel in similar manner to the cervelo has internal cable routing (which seems like it is really more of an annoyance than a benefit), aero tubing and a slick seatpost that converts from a road angle to a relatively slack tt/tri angle. These are very similar bicycles, I’m hopefully not trying to compare apples and oranges here.
Check your PM’s.
Yaqui Mariola DL… You will not be disappointed.
“I haven’t actually rode a Soloist except once but know people who own them. One guy told me it handles very well and another guy who road races says it’s twitchy handling. But I’ve also heard people say the exact same thing about the TCR and I don’t find it twitchy at all.”
I have a Giant TCR and a Cervelo Soloist, and my impressions of the handling are as follow:
-The Soloist descends better by a good margin. I always enjoyed the somewhat twitchy TCR rear because it’s fun to sling around, but the Soloist is fun because it tracks beautifully, which makes it faster for me. Descending is also where the aero frame seems to kick in.
-Both climb well. The TCR climbed better because I was in better shape when I was propelling it. Right now I’m riding the Cervelo and my climbing sucks, but it’s the 3-month run concentration with zero cycling’s fault, not the bike’s.
-Otherwise they’re not far apart. I can get a good multisport position in the aerobars on the Soloist without flipping the seatpost forward, and I’m a long-leg/short torso type. With the seatpost forward on the Soloist I think I’ll be plenty steep for triathlon, so I’m thinking of racing tris on the Soloist this year.
-The slope of the TCR top tube is steeper, which puts the top of the rear triangle lower. It’s odd to get used to slinging the frame back and forth while out of the saddle; the Soloist is not as big of a difference from a conventional horizontal top tube and it feels very peppy and balanced sprinting out of the saddle.
I looked at the mariola it’s about $1000 more than the other two and I might have to get custom geometry to make it race legal, not exactly practical in my case. Granted it does look cool though.
I ride a Talon SL. In terms of aerodynamics, it is a great frame. In terms of stiffness, I would rank it 6 out of 10. It handles well at high speeds but is a bit dangerous with crosswinds. The carbon frame absorbs a lot of shock, so, if you are really into “feeling the road,” this is probably not the best frame. But, then again, you can’t really feel the road when your taint’s been jack-hammered for 5 hours by an overly-stiff, vibration-conducive frameset. Overall I would give it a 7 out of 10.
i ride a talon. i’ve had it for 3 1/2 years and use it for both training and racing. i have found it to be good bike. like one post said it is a little twitchy in side winds but overall not bad. it is also very comfortable to ride. i think it was a good decision for what i was looking for at the time. i’ll continue to train on it, but for racing…my new guru crono will be arriving in about a week.
I ride a Talon for group rides in road geometry set-up. I am very pleased with the handling, performance, and comfort of this bike. I rode 60 miles on it today and I must say that I didn’t feel all beat up afterwards. I have ridden KHS Flite 2000 and a Specialized road set-up in past and the Talon by far has it over these other bikes I have owned. I am 190 lbs. and have no problem pushing this bike. It is very responsive and I don’t feel any flex when I get up off saddle to hammer. I, personally , don’t mind the softer more shock absorbing ride. My back appreciates it. If I had my choice of any road bike out there, I would still choose my Talon. I have ridden Trek carbon fiber and I like the Talon more. The Talon is cheaper than the Trek 5200 too. As far as the Cervelo Soloist is concerned, you are trying to compare a carbon fiber bike in the Talon to a full aluminum bike. The ride is gonna be totally different. Soloist will be stiffer and harsher. I hear good things about the Soloist but I honestly have no personal experience riding one. Another bike to consider is an Orbea Orca or Lobular Carbon. Several guys I ride with love their Orbeas. I personally have a dedicated tri-bike, QR Tiphoon, and a dedicated road bike, my Talon. If you are looking for a bike you can do both with then you probably can’t go wrong with either the Talon or the Soloist as both can be set up either steep or slack seat angles when you use each bike’s aero seatpost. Good luck in your decision.
The soloist is not quite unique in that it can be used for both triathlons (time trials whatever) and road racing. The kestrel in similar manner to the cervelo has internal cable routing (which seems like it is really more of an annoyance than a benefit),
Well-designed inernal cables are no annoyance whatsoever. you can run three cables internally through a Soloist frame in 15 seconds, you push them in at one end and they come out the other if you have a little bit of skill. Granted, that is not the case with most other internal cable systems (including Cervelo from the early years).
“Well-designed inernal cables are no annoyance whatsoever. you can run three cables internally through a Soloist frame in 15 seconds, you push them in at one end and they come out the other if you have a little bit of skill. Granted, that is not the case with most other internal cable systems (including Cervelo from the early years).”
As an owner of one of each vintage Cervelo, a 1999 P2 (not P2K) and a 2004 Soloist Team, I can confirm what Gerard wrote about Cervelo’s internal cable routing. The Soloist was the first bike I ever built myself, and it couldn’t have been easier. The cables installed easily and it was also easy to get the whatshemecallits (cable sleeves?) cut to the right length. I also find the cable guides on the front of the top tube ingenious the way they are angled to allow the cables to go around the head tube without rubbing the paint. Major props to Gerard. The Soloist is a killer app.