I am not an experienced cyclist although I have trained for and raced Ironman triathlons for the last 4 years. I did no riding before that (apart from when I was a kid). I have ridden exclusively on my 2000 model P3 (51cm) and I competed in the Hawaii Ironman a few weeks ago in my first year in the 40-44 age group.
My coach and I have decided to resist IMs for at least 12 months while I attempt to improve my cycling by, among other things, competing in road races and trying to hang on to fast groups in training. I am a bit of a diesel with absolutely no top end.
I am considering buying an aluminium Soloist (size 51 presumably) and my question is whether you believe it to be feasible for me to ride the Soloist with the seat post flipped forward (76 degrees) while racing on the road and training in groups (i.e. without aerobars). My objective would be to make sure whatever gains I make during the next 12 months in terms of power on the bike will transfer to the P3. I plan to still ride the P3 when I can which might be 50% of the time.
I have just changed to a more aggressive (aero) position on the P3. The seat is as far foward as it can sensibly go with the seat post in the rearward position. My fitter says I have very long femurs so flipping the seat forward would be overkill. I have now taken all the spacers out to lower the front (it remains to be seen whether this position is sustainable but I am guessing it is). Also, I prefer to ride at a higher cadence (95+).
The answer will help me justify my purchase of the Cervelo which is about USD 600 more than my other option (a Giant TCR 1 alloy). I know there are other significant differences between these two but every bit of rationalisation helps.
Any thoughts would be appreciated.
Cheers
Vernon
PS I have sent a similar question to Cervelo but the auto-reply said they are a tad busy at the moment.
If you are riding the P3 50% of the time, particularly focusing on riding it solely in race specific prep phase…then there is no need to ride the Soloist in the forward position. Frankly, you would be compromising your road race handling by sitting more forward (and higher). Assuming you are doing crits, you need good balance on the bike and you need to keep your center of gravity as low as possible while keeping the BB high enough to clear corners. Sitting forward will put your center of gravity higher, and your weight will balance more forward…neither of which is advantageous when barreling into a 180deg corner with 50 of your closest peloton-mates.
That said, there are PLENTY of other good reasons to favor the Soloist over the Giant.
If you’re gonna give road racing a try, equip yourself for it on a properly fit road bike. I’ve got a soloist and, as long as I stay mostly in the drops when I ride, I don’t have any problems going back and forth with my TT bike.
But at least with the Soloist, you have the option to swap that head around if the urge or need arises. I’ve got a 51 cm soloist I was gonna sell 'cuz I just wasn’t riding it much. Now that it’s the off-season, I’m riding it more and loving it. You say you have no top end. Man … I love the way the Soloist performs in a sprint. With those short chainstays, the power gets to the rear wheel in a hurry. That’s really noticeable when you pop out of the saddle to jam small hills, too. Maybe it’ll transform your riding in all the ways your coach is looking for.
What tribriguy said. Ride with your roadbike slack…but buy the soloist. If you go want to ride it mildly forward, it will still handle well in a peloton (ie jacked forward in the rearward position). I have one and really like it. Very studly that you got to Hawaii in your first year of tri racing !
If you’re gonna give road racing a try, equip yourself for it on a properly fit road bike. I’ve got a soloist and, as long as I stay mostly in the drops when I ride, I don’t have any problems going back and forth with my TT bike.
But at least with the Soloist, you have the option to swap that head around if the urge or need arises. I’ve got a 51 cm soloist I was gonna sell 'cuz I just wasn’t riding it much. Now that it’s the off-season, I’m riding it more and loving it. You say you have no top end. Man … I love the way the Soloist performs in a sprint. With those short chainstays, the power gets to the rear wheel in a hurry. That’s really noticeable when you pop out of the saddle to jam small hills, too. Maybe it’ll transform your riding in all the ways your coach is looking for.
I’ve just got a soloist, love it. I’ve been set up forward for a race but will be mainly be training/riding without aerobars and probably with roadies. Is it worthwhile swapping it from a medium steep position round to a road position, or will I hardly notice ?
I have the two bikes - the tri bike set up at about 76 - I have long femurs as well, and the road bike set up in a standard position.
I use the road bike for much of my training - power work, bunch riding and obviously a lot more in the off season or preparation section of my year plan.
I use the tri bike for specific sessions and race simulation sessions. Closer towards my important races my volume on the race bike increases as the training gets more race specific. I can’t imagine having to do long climbs etc. on the race bike. It just wouldn’t feel right to me.
That said, there are PLENTY of other good reasons to favor the Soloist over the Giant.
Like stiffness, build quality and handling? Is that right? (Can you tell I haven’t got a clue?) Any other reasons that I can use in negotiations with the Ministry of Finance?
Very studly that you got to Hawaii in your first year of tri racing !
Ah… I might have misrepresented myself there. It was my fourth year of racing but my first in the 40-44 age group. Not quite as studly.