I am a relatively newbie to triathlon competition (just one under my belt so far, but I did place in the top 10%). I am looking to purchase a new bike and I am debating between going with the full tri bike (Dual or P2K) versus going with a Soloist Team. My current bike is old, real old and probably borderline not safe. I am leaning towards purchasing the Soloist Team, and if I progress from just top 10%, then make an additional bike purchase down the road. Does this seem like a reasonable approach? Second question, is 76 the max effective seat angle possible for a Soloist or can one cheat a little with the seat positioning and possibly squeeze out another degree?
There are differing schools of thought on whether a triathlete should buy a road bike or a tri bike first.
Regardless of the side of the fence you stand on the Soloist Team is among the most versatile, well designed bikes out there. I’ve owned one and I sell a lot of them.
The variable geometry seatpost, and much more importantly- the central positioning of the rider’s weight relative to the two wheels throughout the seatpost head’s range of adjustment, enable the rider to effectively use the bike from a shallow end of mearly 73 degrees to a steep end of almost 79 degrees. Now, remember- these are the effective seat angles where you are SITTING. which is always a little different than where the seat angle actually is.
You asked if you can squeeze out a few more degrees beyond 76 degrees. Certainly. If the bike is configured at 76 you will likely wind up sitting at 78. The front end on the Soloist is long enough and the rear end short enough to facilitate this and work just fine.
I am trying to make this same decision and have recieved two different answers from two different people in the same shop on different occaisions (one said go tri setup the other Soloist). I definitley don’t have the $ for two new bikes. I have been leaning to a Tri setup bike but the last guy I talked to told me I was better with a Soloist so that I could do more group rides etc, but it seems that if I want a bike to race tri’s that is the way I should go. What limitation will I really suffer by not having a road bike and vice versa? I just can’t decide.
The Soloist Team is a sadly under rated bike. Because (in part) of the unique construction of the chainstays, seat tube, front center and stiffness of the downtube it makes a pretty darn good tri bike. I am almost certain you can “induce” a nearly 79 degree seat tube angle in most sizes by using the forward post orientation and locating the saddle forward on its rails. The impressive thing about it is this: Ride the bike like that. Reach for your water bottle. It is stable and comfortable! Try that with a regular road bike. Won’t work.
I asked Gerard how he did that on the Soloist while we were at Dan’s house. He said, “IF I told you, everyone would know…” I think he has discussed it on this forum though.
However, I bet that Solist will do what you want it to. It is the “Swiss Army Knife” of bicycles but without the usless corkscrew. I am considering setting up a Solosit Team in the TT position at 78-79 degrees with FSA/Visiontech aerobars (the cool new ones) just to show it works. We’ve done it before for customers, worked killer.
It’s a life saver when everyone is singing 'round the camp fire, and somone whips out that bottle of wine, and no one has a corkscrew except you, becuase you brought your swiss army knife along.
Hi…I went to the ‘other’ way; namley from a Tri bike to a Soloist. In part this was due to IMC which has some climbing…but I actually find it great for training and racing…and much better for group rides and hills. As pointed out elsewhere in this thread the main thing you can is great handling and diffenrenct seat post angles; something very nice to have when a sudden swerve is necessary or on high speed descents.
Hey, I was in the same boat as you last year. Jumped from a 15 year old Trek 1000 in need of a tune-up, but raced it in a road race and a sprint tri, to a Soloist Team and never looked back. I ride in the “slam” position for tris, but do some group rides as well. It is great for undulating terrain (like the IM Wisconsin course) where you’re changing position relatively frequently, and good for climbing the “poppers” around here. I am near the front of the pack on bike splits, so I don’t really know how much you are actually giving up in aerodynamics to a tri-bike, but probably some. It’s a great bike to own and will get you through a few years, and if you decide to get a tri-bike, you still have a great road bike for everything else.
Well, I think you guys may have convinced me to change my mind again to the Soloist purchase. I live in CO and since you guys mention the advantage to the Soloist in varied terrain and hills that seems to make sense. Plus, no one has given and big dowside from not riding the Soloist as my only bike, it sounds like I can come very close to duplicating a true Tri bike on the Soloist. Thanks for all your input.
so thankfull for this thread as i am in exactly the same dillema as dan4th… and a very similar situation using an old, almost unusable, bike now. Allthough i am extremely tempted to go the full tri route, it seems to make more and more sense for me at this point to go with the soloist (if it fits!).
Tom you wrote:
“I am considering setting up a Solosit Team in the TT position at 78-79 degrees with FSA/Visiontech aerobars (the cool new ones) just to show it works.”
Any interest in setting something like this up for me? what would the rough price range be with fit et. all? you can contact me privately if you would like:
One piece of advice for those wanting to use a Soloist in both positions and change frequently between the two: spend another $10 and buy a second seatpost head. This way yo can set up your two saddles (road and tri) on their own seatpost head and you can swap saddle+seatpost head, instead of just the saddle. It reduces the swap from a few minutes to a few seconds, and you never have to worry about putting the saddle in the correct position.