i know i should have probably promised pictures or made my title more alluring, but oh well
to the point: ive noticed that you all have high opinons of the soloist, but id be sifting through a lot of messages to find women’s opinions. my girlfriend is in the market for a new bike, one specifically that she can use to train and race triathlons… a few of my friends offered the idea of the soloist team, its right in her price bracket and she’ll be able to order it from a lbs… before she puts down a deposit, i was hoping to get some feedback from the women of st or from some of the guys who have wives or gfs on one… thanks in advance
I ride a Soloist (not the Team one though), and it’s a great bike. What more can you want out of a bike? I’ll be riding this for many more years. It’s aero, fast, and nimble. Never been sorry I bought it.
The missus has one and loves it. She races tris on it but doesn’t like the idea of aerobars and thus rides it purely in the roadie setup so I can’t comment on the geometry when you flip the seatpost head. I think hers is a 48, it was nice to actually find something small enough, I think the (semi) compact geometry helps there. the finish is nice as there’s no paint for her to scratch
While I am not a woman, I am probably the size of many women triathletes at 5’6". I rode a soloist in 2005 and it did a bang up job. I wrote a review which you can find on the Cervelo website:
However, before you drop money on the Soloist, consider the options available from my sponsor QR. I think the Seduzza in one of the smaller frame sizes is an awesome machine. I ride the Lucero and it is the nicest bike I have ridden. The Seduzza uses pretty well the same frame and slightly different components!
I agree with Dev in that you might want to consider the Seduzza. There are some amazing deals on this bike at this moment from some of the major on-line stores.
as far as the seduza, i personally am very interested in purchasing this bike, but im nervous about fit… ive heard the changes are going to be minimal, but it seems as though they are giving away the bikes…
the gf wants a road bike that she can often race with
im pretty sure she wants a road geometry bike… something she can ride in groups and not be incredibely scared (shes on a hand-me-down bianchi thats about 2 sizes too big for her)… she loves triathlon, but wants her bike to be for road first and tri second… hard to convince her otherwise
im the one interested in the seduza and am more worried about fit… 5’7" an 80 cm inseem… id also hate to purchase the bike and realize that in 2 months somethin crazy is coming out from qr that i missed (i guess im being paranoid though since everyones saying the changes wont be too big)
A small Seduzza would fit perfectly (we are the same size). Well, this geometry handles very nicely and I can ride shoulder to shoulder, wheel to wheel in groups without an issue.
Bottom line is that there is no reason to own a road bike if the main competition focus is tris. A tri bike will suffice for group rides unless she is racing crits. As a point of reference, I was riding my Lucero on my rollers at 110 RPM today in the aero position with my head down looking at the back wheel. If the bike was squirrly in groups, it won’t stay on the rollers doing this!
Anyway, I know I am biased. I am just trying to convince you/her that a tri bike like a Seduzza is a perfect choice. Nothing wrong with the Soloist as you can see from my review, but one is carbon tri geometry, the other road, Aluminium. Really two different worlds.
