Looking at bike options.
The short list seems to be a P-series and Quintana XPR. Inching over budget would be the Orbea Ordu. Want to avoid Canyon.
Also, how bad is mechanical disc? It seems ok on my gravel bike. Shimano Hydro TT brakes are not cheap! The riderever triva cervelo uses is an option as well.
Looking at bike options.
The short list seems to be a P-series and Quintana XPR. Inching over budget would be the Orbea Ordu. Want to avoid Canyon.
Also, how bad is mechanical disc? It seems ok on my gravel bike. Shimano Hydro TT brakes are not cheap! The riderever triva cervelo uses is an option as well.
Thoughts?
why not the felt ia advanced ultegra? seems reasonably priced @ $5500, and comes with trp hydro’s
I have a custom bike w/ rim brake front and cable pull disc on the back (for aerodynamics). I don’t mind the cable disc at all, I think it has several advantages vs the hydraulic. Then again, I’m a luddite that doesn’t understand why tri bikes ever shifted to disc brakes in the first place, so probably not the best source for opinions on the matter.
So the question will be do you want to go all in on the fastest bike you can afford, or the subjectively best bike you can afford. Mech shifting will lose a couple watts with bits of exposed cable, but that money can be put into a better cockpit/frame/wheels. 12 speed is cool but is it actually any faster than 11speed Di2?
Honestly for TT/Tri bikes you’re almost always better off getting a frame and building it up yourself. You can make the cockpit what you want and you almost always have to upgrade the wheels on complete TT bikes if you want to be competitive.
I ride a P-Series and wish I would have just built it up from the frameset, considering all the stock parts I replaced. The TRP hydraulic brakes are great but I replaced the brake levers/shifters with Dura-Ace. The TRP levels were horrible. Building from the frameset up would also allow you to route the front brake cable inside the fork and steerer tube making it look a little cleaner and marginally faster.
Can you do in fork routing with the older frame? I know the new ones come like that similar to the soloist.
Also, bummer on the TRP brakes. They are half the price; I wonder how the Riderever brakes do with the integrated hole for di2 buttons.
Back of the napkin math puts a di2 build would cost 6k with Premier Tactical wheelset
edit: well no, forgot to include the buttons and the crankset.
I bought an Orbea Ordu back in April and I absolutely love it. I got the M30iLTD. Retails for about 9.7K CDN so high end of your price range in USD.
The shifting is great for being 105 and it is very fast. My only caution would be that it “fits†very narrow.
I had a Speed Concept before and I felt slightly more comfortable on it having wider shoulders than most, but I got my fit dialed in and am use to it now. I am going 3-5 km/h faster at same wattage than the Trek.
Hope this helps. I am super happy with my purchase.