Well the time has finally come. I’d been thinking about it for a while, and reading reviews of bikes all over the web, trying to figure out what I wanted, but after reading Mr. Demerly’s reviews and hearing the opinions of people here (some would say cult!), I decided that Cervelo was for me. Shortly afterwards I found out that my LBS was having a Cervelo sale! Coincidence? I think not.
I wandered in last week and determined that a Soloist Team would be a nice fit for both me and my wallet, though the eagle-eyed amongst you will notice I downgraded the wheels to get within budget. I had my full Serotta-style fit from Adam at cheekymonkey.com.au late last week, then picked up my bike on the way into work this morning.
I’ve gone from riding a bottom-of-the-line MTB to a Tour de France contender; to say they’re poles apart is an understatement and I’m looking forward to hitting the park for a longer ride tomorrow. So, in the grand tradition of bike announcements, I give you my photos…
(yeah, it would look better if I could post the actual pics, but the advanced editor doesn’t work on a Mac). If some kind soul could use the links above to post the actual pics I’d be most grateful
Not in the near future. I haven’t ridden a road bike in 20 years (and I’m only 32!) so I’m just going to get some miles under my belt for a year or so. Gotta lose some weight too, as the gut interferes with an aero position at the moment
Hey nice bike!!!..I’ve a soloist team 2003 model and love it.
What did you think of the fitting from Cheekymonkey? I purchased a set of Hed 1 peice aerobars and am considering getting a fit by Oliver @ Cheekymonkey, any reason you didn’t go FIST on the fit?
That is a fine choice. I had one and loved it. Recently was able to upgrade to an R2.5. Acutally, and to your credit, I am embarrased to admit how similar they are.
Well done with the bike. I really like that colour scheme - i think it is the best one they do. Could be biassed, though, as that is the same one I have on my Dual!
Small world, too: as you were doing your 10k, I was sitting having breakfast in Hyde park before heading to the airport to fly over the pond after a 3 day shopping stint in Sydney.
The guys at Cheeky Monkey are friendly and knowledgable and were happy to offer advice and explain the pros and cons of choices I had to make. I enjoyed the whole fit experience and I learnt quite a bit from the process too. I’d imagine a more experienced biker would get even more out of it than a raw beginner like myself, as they’d be better able to appreciate the subtleties.
I didn’t go for a FIST fitting as I thought that was only for a tri-style forward position? I’m pretty new to the whole tri thing and just wanted a good road bike which would last a few years. When I get around to getting a set of clip-on bars, I’ll switch the seat to the forward position and get a more tri-oriented fit, but that’s at least a year away at the moment.
Thanks Pat! Yep, agree with you on the colour scheme, which was one of the reasons I went for the Team over the 105. As it turned out, the distributor didn’t have any 105s in my size anyway so it was obviously destined to be
Cool thanks…makes perfect sense, I rode my Soloist in the traditional road position for quite about 12 mths before switching the seat post around after I had become more comfortable and I must say it rides just as well.
I can’t wait to get properly fitted with my Hed bars…which leads me to another question.
I’m doing Forster Half at the end of Oct how long will I need to adjust to the new position? or is it already too late…I will probably going a bit lower in the front, tho I do most of my training at the moment down in the aerobars…suggestions opinions would be great.
Tom, does the R2.5 has the same type of geometry than the Soloist to allow for a change from Road to Tri position without compromising the handling of the bike ?
Sorry Nath, I’ve no idea how long it will take to adjust to a position change. I’m training for my first sprint tri - Ironman is WAY out of my league at this stage
Webswim - Terrible choice of bike. Piece of garbage. Just bring it over to my place and I’ll take care of getting rid of it for you. No charge. Really I will…Please? No huh…Curses, foiled again.
Earlier you had asked about drop bars for a tri bike. I posted a photo of my sled in the “props for steve hed” thread toward the newer posts (pg 2- blue cervelo) and you can take a look at it to see that it can be done, and done correctly.
