We bought a Tempus, that arrived beginning of July. I say “we” because it was the idea was for my buddy to use it for IM Canada and then I would take it and test and use it for TTs.
I also own a PSeries which we planned to benchmark against. I have benchmarked the PSeries against the Factor Hanzo so far and they were a virtual tie.
For the Ventum, ordering was super straightforward, no BS. Shipping went well. Bike arrived in perfect condition although my buddy says foam etc was 1/3 of a Canyon. Good for the environment
He ordered the Force version with Zipp wheels. He got the ASC pro bars. Built in PM was flawless.
For my PSeries I have the same basebar but ASC extensions. It is not installed yet (next week). I currently use an Aeria setup with ASC extensions.
Personally I would prefer my extensions, although he is steadfast on the Pro for comfort. I just found it lacked in BTA options.
Assembly has very straightforward, 99% of it was done. Biggest criticism is the lack of PD bits and pieces to adjust the cockpit. You can easily get these from PD which we did but we were on a tight schedule and thankfully PD was really quick.
First ride (and every subsequent ride) he loved. I started riding it 10 days ago and agree.
We tested wheels and tires a lot. My DT Swiss wheels were faster than the Zipp so he raced with those. I tried to keep an open mind the the Zipp hookless things, but after testing different pressures and optimal pressure I don’t think it’s a bad option, it’s just not the best option. I said “sell em”, he will use them for training and get a set of race wheels.
Compared to my PSeries it lacks in storage. He ended up putting a crappy bento. We struggled with the BTA and the PD Pro. BTS was no problem. This is stuff Ventum can easily overcome. I am sure they will.
When IM Canada was over, the inevitable “I will never do an IM again occurred”. Good! Grab the bike and run.
We are same height, I am longer legged and ride with more reach. So first ride I just put up the seat, put it back and left his cockpit setup intact. I have 100s and 100s of data points on my CDA. First ride, with his setup was very, very close to my PSeries.
I then took off everything above the basebar and put my setup, since I have the same basebar for my PSeries (not yet tested). I dialed in my stack and reach numbers, removed the crappy bento and rested. Virtual tie with the PSeries.
Next step is to put the new basebar on the PSeries and see if that gives it the upper edge.
The Ventum cockpit is WAY nicer than what the PSeries ships with (IMO). A big chunk of the decision to go with the Ventum was the PD cockpit. My buddy could have got a PSeries which he found “boring”.
In terms of performance, these two bikes are a coin toss IMO. Having tested it against a Hanzo, I suspect it would be a coin toss with any high end bike. There are some differences. My PSeries is 1x, the Ventum is 2x. My PSeries is currently on PD Aeria, next step is the upgrade to Wing Ultimate S.
The Ventum has a better cockpit that I don’t think needs upgrading to be in optimal setup. I don’t like the wheels, but they are fine for training.
I do like the tire clearance on the Ventum as I plan to test the Archetype tires soon, and I couldn’t do that on my PSeries.
If I have to get rid of one of the two, I would be hard pressed. I think the Ventum is as fast, a little more exotic. The PSeries is more vanilla but excellent and probably a great reference bike.
I’ll just make sure my buddy doesn’t retire from triathlon.
I still have things to explore but after 10 days of testing, I thought I’d throw this out there.