Hi,
I was wandering if anybody out there had ridden the soloist carbon & could share their thoughts.
I’m a triathlete (mostly long course) but also do some road riding and can’t afford to have two racing bikes. I was thinking of getting one of these & changing the set up for time trials & triathlons as required. I’m not sure how appropriate this will be, particularly in a long course tri. I’ve heard it’s a pretty twitchy racing frame.
Jackk,
Do a quick search of the posts under “road bike/tri bike” and you’ll find a million threads about this topic. It comes up virtually every 3 or 4 days.
I don’t know if the Soloist Carbon has two seatpost positions like the Soloist Team.
The geometry chart for the Soloist Carbon on the Cervelo website lists geometries for two positions, (forward facing seatpost at 76 degrees and rear facing seatpost at 73 degrees) but the component listings of the Carbon describes the seatpost as Cervélo aero carbon - 1-position compared to that of the Soloist Team which says Cervélo aero Aluminum - 2-position and the P2C which says Cervélo aero carbon -** 2-position.** I am sure someone else can tell you the answer to this.
If the Soloist Carbon does indeed only have one position, I would say that the Soloist Team would be the better choice because it would enable you the choice of riding either relatively steep (good for the aero position) or shallow.
Hope this is helpful. 
I got the soloist carbon with the 2-pos seatpost and I ride it in the 76deg position. I slapped some Vision TT bars on it and it rides great.
I don’t see how the carbon is any different than the standard soloist from a positioning perspective, but after a crash last summer when my Guru trilite was wrecked,my local tri shop lent me a soloist, and I wrote up this review on the Cervelo website:
The carbon soloist is not an appropriate long course bike. The longer the race, the more time good aerodynamics can save you, and the soloist is simply not designed to get you low. That being said, if I were a tour rider on a solo breakaway, there is simply no other bike I would want under me.
BTW, if you can afford a carbon soloist, then you can afford two racing bikes.
How many triathletes do you think should be lower than they can get on a soloist for long course?
I would say it is the opposite, the shorter the race the lower you want to be in the front.
Disclaimer: Soloist owner with spacers.
"The carbon soloist is not an appropriate long course bike. "
Maybe someone should have told Mr. Lessing that before he took a crack at his first IM and won the thing on a soloist. It was not carbon of course, but that is not the issue at hand. We should also give all the other people that qualified for HI on their soloists this bit of information.
For the original poster, you need to look at your setup to see if the the soloist will fit they style you ride. If you like to ride at 78+degrees, it won’t be the best option, but if your a 74-77 style of rider it might be a very nice option.
I would also second JohnA’s point that if you are looking at a carbon soloist you can in fact afford two racing bikes.
"Maybe someone should have told Mr. Lessing that before he took a crack at his first IM and won the thing on a soloist. "
Sorry, I didn’t realize that the OP had extremely long legs and a short torso and would be riding in a standard road configuration with a standard front end. I got the impression that the OP was planning on riding this bike steep with a TT front end - not sure how I got that impression - my mistake. Thanks for clearing this up for me.
Thanks for all those responses.
I’m currently riding a standard Wilier road frame with the seat back as far as it can go, but I haven’t done a tri for years. I can’t get the position I would like for tris on the Wilier because it’s a touch too big and I can’t drop the handle bars low enough.
The Soloist seems like a good option. I should be able to drop the bars another 4 cm and bring them back one or two. Initially I will probably use clip on bars, then look at something like vision bars for a flat IM course.
I don’t think not having a full time trial bike is really necessary. I don’t need to be that far forward or low down.
Finally, I am looking at spending a little over $6000 Australian dollars on the soloist. Is it really possible to get a road bike and a time trial bike for that sort of money? The cheapest time trial rig I’ve seen with suitable componentry is about $4500. Road set up’s are that at least, usually more.
I’d say go for it and get the flippable post. Especially since you want the bike for multi-purposes. It’s a case of affording one really great bike or two mediocre ones. I don’t agree that the Soloist is a poor choice of bike fo an IM. Lessing won IMLP on one for heavens sakes.
These days I am all about simplicity. If you can get one bike that does it all for you, then that’s the way to go. I have heard that the Soloist both in aluminum and carbon is such a bike. I know there will be the purists out there that will drone on and on and on . . . and on( this is an endurance sport!!) and on. . . about the fact that you NEED a full on TT bike and then your will also NEED a road bike. That’s great if you are loaded and you have all the time in the world to look after not one but two bikes. However, if you can get a Bike like the Soloist to work for you, I say go for it.
Fleck
I see your point, but I tend to disagree. Simplicity from the standpoint of one bike, yes. But simplicity from less maintenance, no. Every time you want to train in one position (i.e. road or tri), you have to change the seatpost and handlebar setup. If I’m racing tri’s, I want to train in that position too. But what if I want to go for an easy ride on my road bike, or go on a long ride, or whatever? Then you have to go to the trouble to change your setup. It’s not a huge deal, but can be a pain if you are time-constrained.
Not really that big a deal if you get two seat posts w/saddles. That’s what I did with my Giant TCR when it was my dual purpose road/tri bike. I also had a separate rear wheel w/CH Aero cover and cassette. Have to agree with you that it was a bit of a bother if you have to reverse the seat post and bolt on the aero cover for a Sunday sprint tri or club TT and then redo everything after the race for the group ride the next night.
It’s much easier just to have two bikes that you never have to change anything on.
Since the Soloist Carbon comes with a one-position post, I’d make one recommendation when you get it from your shop:
Ask them for the flippable-head carbon post, and for an extra seapost head. Then you can mount your road saddle on one head, and your tri saddle on the other, faced in the appropriate directions. Just pop out the head, bolt on (or remove) your clip-ons, and you’re good to go.
From the Slowtwitch front page: Here are some tri bikes in in the $2000 price range. I don’t think that you will loose any races because of a component on these bikes.
This plus a Aluminum Soloist Team (which is what many guys from CSC are riding right now) you should be ridiculously well set up for tris and road rides.
Cervelo: Dual at $1650 (durace) P2SL at $2500
http://www.slowtwitch.com/mainheadings/product2006/tribikes/tribikecerv.html
Q-Roo’s 2006 Lineup: Kilo at $1900 US
http://www.slowtwitch.com/mainheadings/product2006/tribikes/tribikeqr.html
Felt: S32 at $1400 (105/Ultegra) S22 at $2500 US (Duraace, FSA carbon cranks)
http://www.slowtwitch.com/mainheadings/product2006/tribikes/felt.html
Finally, I think a Soloist Team for $2200 is a steal and could be your one bike. Do you really need the Carbon Soloist? CSC doesn’t yet (although they all will be on it eventually - probably this year for big races - but not the Tour of California).
Maybe you can chat with the down under stud about his set-up. Talk to him about his seat height while you’re at it. ;o)
The Soloist “CAN” be set-up however you want it. IMO, it’s more of a road bike than a 2 trick pont. But, it “can” be used VERY well as a steep tri bike.
I’ve been racing one in draft legal ITU races for a couple of years and will be going longer on it this year. No problems at all.