So with the Trek SC and new SHIV Tri and rumors of the iPhone5…er…4S…okay…Cervelo “P5” would you consider buying a P4 if the price were right? I know it depends on fit…I’m just talking specifically “aero-goodiness” factor comparing those bikes. Better to hold the cash or jump on what is believed to be a pretty aero bike in the P4?
Thanks!
I’d buy a Garmin 910XT
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IF your hydration/sparestorage strategy benefits from the integrated bottle
and IF you don’t mind having to spend some extra tweaking time with the rear brake occasionally
then absolutely yes. Assume that this test, observed by a third party is at least almost fair:
http://www.slowtwitch.com/Tech/Cervelo_P4_in_the_Tunnel_1929.html
And you can conclude that the P4 is as good, or better, than any of the other superbikes. Adjusting yoru best guess as necessary from any quibbles you have in the protocol, and what yaw angles you expect to encounter.
If by “price were right”, you mean, they’d pay me to ride one, then yes, I’d ride one. Otherwise, no thank you.
No. Very nice bike. But the new Specialized trumps it for me.
It’s almost a certainty that the P5 will be more aero than the P4, otherwise they’d keep selling the P4. But I bet it’s only better by a whisker.
The real question is whether you are a strong enough rider to need that whisker. For the vast majority of riders(including me), the P4 is faster than they can push. The additional cost & performance of any P5 seems futile until riders can utilize it.
For example: I’ve got the cash. I know my size. But I’m not going to spend the money until I lose some more mass. There’s no point changing to a light bike if I’m dragging my hump around with me.
if the bike saves a fast rider 1 second
it saves a slow rider 1.1 seconds
the question is not how strong you are, but how much 1 second matters to you. If you are 65 years old and slow as dirt, but you compete against your buddy who is also 65 and slow as dirt, and you both have a lot of $$$$$
well then you might consider a p4 =)
It’s almost a certainty that the P5 will be more aero than the P4, otherwise they’d keep selling the P4. But I bet it’s only better by a whisker.
The real question is whether you are a strong enough rider to need that whisker. For the vast majority of riders(including me), the P4 is faster than they can push. The additional cost & performance of any P5 seems futile until riders can utilize it.
For example: I’ve got the cash. I know my size. But I’m not going to spend the money until I lose some more mass. There’s no point changing to a light bike if I’m dragging my hump around with me.
Agreed.
Not sure what the right price point would be for me to purchase a new P4, but I haven’t seen anything that makes me want to sell the P4 I own and buy something else.
As far as the integrated bottle goes: I filled mine with water for use as an emergency backup in case I missed a handup at the Cedar Point half-iron, but never needed to use it. No problems using just a between-the-bars torpedo mount.
So I don’t do iron distance (ducking) yet, but my impression is that I could answer “Yes” to the hydration strategy benefits comment up until the point I decided to “go long.” Then I can see the P4 not meeting hydration strategy needs. I guess I could go with the bottles behind the seat (ducking again)…
IF your hydration/sparestorage strategy benefits from the integrated bottle
and IF you don’t mind having to spend some extra tweaking time with the rear brake occasionally
then absolutely yes. Assume that this test, observed by a third party is at least almost fair:
http://www.slowtwitch.com/...the_Tunnel_1929.html
And you can conclude that the P4 is as good, or better, than any of the other superbikes. Adjusting yoru best guess as necessary from any quibbles you have in the protocol, and what yaw angles you expect to encounter.
I don’t do iron distance either, that is a silly distance!
=)
It just depends on what your plan is. for me, half iron, I just have one cage between my arms, and get handups. That would work for me at iron distance too. MY food is in my jersey pocket. With a P4 I would put my flat kit in the custom bottle.
Others might put custom nutrition drink in the p4 bottle and use another bottle holder for handups
Also, the p4 bottle has a cap system that lets you refill it from handups on the fly. I believe one of the TBB pro females uses that approach.
So I don’t do iron distance (ducking) yet, but my impression is that I could answer “Yes” to the hydration strategy benefits comment up until the point I decided to “go long.” Then I can see the P4 not meeting hydration strategy needs. I guess I could go with the bottles behind the seat (ducking again)…
IF your hydration/sparestorage strategy benefits from the integrated bottle
and IF you don’t mind having to spend some extra tweaking time with the rear brake occasionally
then absolutely yes. Assume that this test, observed by a third party is at least almost fair:
http://www.slowtwitch.com/...the_Tunnel_1929.html
And you can conclude that the P4 is as good, or better, than any of the other superbikes. Adjusting yoru best guess as necessary from any quibbles you have in the protocol, and what yaw angles you expect to encounter.
any thoughts on this from the night shift?
Yes, sponsored by Cervelo. I would not hesitate to buy a 2011 P4, especially if it is a closeout or sale deal. Even with the other bikes that are out there. Don’t want to use the bottle, use a normal one or an aero bottle from Profile or Arundel or XLab.
If it were an older model and the price were right and you were pretty mechanically adept/competent, then yes I would. I would use the bottle or make it into a spare tire holder.
They are nice bikes.
Do you use the integrated water bottle? is it easy to refill on the go? How do people put spare kits in there? do they make 2 types of bottles?
I have the 2011. I use an Arundel aero bottle. You can also use a normal watter bottle and cage on the 2011 P4. We put our flat kits in the bottle on the older P4s since the downtube was different and would not use a normal bottle. We cut a slit in the bottle, but another friend of ours cut a ‘door’ in the bottom of the bottle to use as a spare carrier. Cervelo only makes the one type of integrated bottle at this time.
I had the same question and got a 2011 frameset at a really good price. The bike is fantastic. As to the integrated bottle you can use it as a regular bottle, use it to store spares (you can get 2 of the integrated bottles and swap out as you need one for spares or one to drink out of), or you can easily put a regular bottle cage there for an aero bottle. Not sure how it would be to fill the integrated bottle on the fly. I just completed an Ironman with it. You can use an aerobar mount bottle (horizontal or Torhans type). As to behind the seat, Cervelo has tested that if you need to use bottles behind the seat, just snug them up close to your butt, and in some cases that set up is more aero than without or mount a bottle horizontal back there. I was worried about how the rear brake would work, based on previous year complaints, but it works perfectly, and has not been a pain to adjust at all. It’s a great bike. Feels really slippery, rigid, and similar to other Cervelo’s, handles amazing on fast descents (not a quiver) and in super strong winds. To add, not sure how the other super bikes with integrated set ups are, but the P4 is very easy to take apart and pack up for travel as well.
What bottle?
Thats the set up i want. what did you do to the aero water bottle and what type of rear single water bottle holder is that? i did zipp ties on another bike back there, but it was really hard to grab the water in and out…thnx
What price do you consider right? For me it would have to be considerably less than the new Shiv.
XLAB fo sho.