So I have finally saved up enough to buy a pretty nice ride and wanted the opinions of the audience!
With my fit requirements I have narrowed it down to either the Qunitana Roo Illicito or Boardman Elite AiR TT 9.8E both with Ultegra Di2. I need the bike and a good set of racing wheels.
Thoughts?
Do you plan to ride on the the trainer? If I remember correctly, QR doesn’t recommend using the Illicito on the trainer.
I do have a couple other bikes to put on a trainer in the winter, but hopefully, i’ll not have too much time on the trainer…
I have no experience or familiarity with the Boardman bike, but I ride a CD0.1 and have friends with the illicito. The geometry is the same for the CD0.1 and the illicito and I love how it rides. It is the only tri bike I have ridden that I enjoy riding almost as much as my Ti road bike. All my friends except 1 with the illicito have been very happy with their bikes. A this point, the only way you are getting me off my CD0.1 is by putting me on QR’s new PR bike.
Guess I’ll add that what I like about the QR is that it seems to climb very well, doesn’t descend badly, is comfortable even after 100+ miles, tracks in a straight line well, and feels stiff enough that it accelerates in a sprint well. It seems that at least to my back/spine they got the vertical compliance right for comfort but have it stiff in the other directions so the power transfer is still there. Also, the seat post has lots of adjustability for fit, cable routing was easy, the front end is easy to work on (no propietary headset/stem etc), and unlike many people complain about, both brakes work well enough for me to lock up the wheels if I grab too hard. They can be a little difficult to reach to work on and you have to pay close attention to the cable routing when you set them up, but not really difficult. I’d go so far as to insult some people and say that the brake set up is simple enough that if you can’t get the illicito/CD0.1 brakes set up correctly, maybe you should leave the work on such a safety critical component as brakes on any bike to a professional who knows what she/he is doing and if your mechanic can’t set them up, then find a new shop.
Here is a good review of the illicito’s sister bike http://www.thetrishop.com/blog/qr-cd-0-1-tri-bike-in-review-solid-novel-and-quirky/
Love the QR design…really know nothing about Boardman
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Cyclistposer - I am happy to say the TTE is delivering to dealers mid May. There will be some of the Ultegra Di2 builds around for $7500 and a fair number of framesets with both brakes and the cockpit included for $5000.
Certainly I’d love to have you on one of our bikes!
Kind regards,
Fletch
Thanks for your input Tim!
Might want to take a look at this from Dan: http://www.slowtwitch.com/Products/Tri_Bike_by_brand/Quintana_Roo/QR_unveils_a_new_mold_4245.html Seems like the Illicito has some perceived rear end stiffness issues. Probably not a big deal for your average AG rider but you could probably get good deals on the bike now that replacement in the works…
The Illicito is a unique bike. We’ve got about a dozen pros racing on that frame who are on their third year using an Illicito - some of which have the fastest bikes splits in their race. We give our sponsored pros the option of racing on the frame they feel most confident in. None who have switched over to the Illicito have asked to go back.
Hopefully that clears up any questions or assumptions about the Illicito.
There are also no plans for the Illicito to leave the product lineup any time soon, so the PR6 is not replacing it.
I’m biased, but my wife and I both ride Illicitos.
I can spend several paragraphs touting the features and benefits, but those are easy to find in reviews. I like to have conversations about QR as a company. QR has been and will continue to be the only bike company 100% committed to triathlon. We attend more events, expos and triathlons than any other bike manufacturer in the sport. If you have specific questions that I can help with, just let me know.
Ill chime in here. I have an illicito and i love it, but more than that i love the people behind the brand. I had a Seduza bedore that. My frame was cracked traveling to IMFL in '12. QR is at almost if not all IM races. I brought my bike down there for them to look at. They said it looked like a small crack and i would probably be ok to race on. They also offered me an Illicito. Well i was not comfortable trying my luck so i took them up on their offer. They fitted me to the same specs as my Seduza and off i went. When they brought the bike to IMAZ a month later it came home with me. Is it a rare occurrence, yes. But i know when I travel they will be there if i need them.
Hey Mac, what is the best way to install the Garmin Cadence/Speed sensor so the pedal can reach the sensor and register cadence?
All are pretty neat bikes, not enough independent data about them to have a real good idea of how aero they are or how they compare.
I might lean Illicito because of the neat UCI illegal design
OR maybe I lean Boardman because Boardman is cool.
Or maybe I lean Dimond
Interesting I had looked at both bikes as they fit my profile similar to you. I had perviously rode a Dolan (England company with links to Boardman) so it was part of my drawing to the Boardman. But I have to say I’m glad I got the Illicito ! On a side note the company are get to work with.
Its a great bike: Easy to get fitted on it, adjustments are also straight forward to do yourself. I travel with the Rooster Sports Hen house and find it so easy to pack and build back up. I’ve had faster 70.3 splits this year on it.
I’m looking forward to riding it at IMChoo in a few weeks.
If you got any questions hit me up.
Robbie Wade