Cervelo anyone?

[VeloVT]

BF and I tested the R3 when he was looking for a bike, oh, the fall before last I think. Of the 8-10 bikes we tested, it was the far and away favorite. The ride is SUBLIME. It accelerates itself.

He settled on a Trek Madone because the Madone at that point was about 3k, the R3 about 5k, and the component specs were about the same. The OCLV carbon on his bike (that was back when there was just OCLV 110 and TCT, not a kajillion different grades) is fairly comparable in ride feel to the Cervelo, but the Cervelo is probably close to a pound lighter. Also, there was just *something* about it -- some of it was that it was the lightest bike we tried, and the carbon is nice, but it was more than that. Exceptional handling & balance -- it makes you **feel** instantly like a better rider.

I highly recommend testing . Maybe afterwards you'll think I'm full of bunk, but we really liked it.

I thought it was pretty comfortable. Definitely a racing geometry; but of course you can tweak this a bit with spacers/stem variations. I think the extremely light weight would translate to less fatigue over long rides, and though the frame is undoubtedly very stiff, it doesn't beat you up.

[VeloVT]

I also can't think of Fabian Cancellara without remembering the fantastically idiotic Cervelo ad from the TDF last year.

Fade in. Handheld camera (shaky). Fabian Cancellara relaxing by trailer after a race. Cut to clips of fast race footage. Voiceover:
"Hi, My name is Fabian Cancellara and I'm here to tell you a little bit about the ah, R3 bike. I was very happy when I heard we were going to ride it last year because I've never had a bike like this before. People say it's the best frame in the world."

End.

I drove my boyfriend crazy because every time it came on, I'd say -- "oh look look -- you have to watch this commercial -- it's so ridiculous!" For some reason it totally cracked me up over and over again because of its complete conceptual incongruity. Ok, it makes sense to feature Fabian Cancellara on a Cervelo commercial. After all, who's in a better position to simultaneously offer an expert endorsement AND lend sex appeal? But then they interview him, and he says NOTHING about what he thinks about the bike, or even if he likes it. The biggest endorsement he gives is "people say it's the best frame in the world." They would have been better off either not interviewing him at all and just having shots of him riding, or even having him talk about riding and racing and blah blah blah, but not mentioning Cervelos... but to have him talk about Cervelos and then almost pointedly say NOTHING personal about them, to have him mention his excitement at the prospect of riding an R3 and then switch to what "people say" about them, just defies any kind of logic... It was almost as bad as the Bode Miller commercials for ... was it Nike? ... during the last Winter Olympics, in which he was permitted a rambling voiceover monologue that was totally incoherent and scattered, but still managed to be irritatingly egotistical and self-indulgent. Well, I'm not imputing those personality traits to Cancellara, but it was almost as lame of an advertising strategy (to me anyway, what do I know).

Sorry for the threadjack. I'm off my rant now.

But, according to Fabian Cancellara, "people say it's the best frame in the world." So you should definitely try it .

[RoadRaven]

LOL... sorry, my "how much do you want to spend" was rhetorical... I had seen your $3-4000 numbers... thats either Canadian or US dollars I presume?

The bikes I mentioned (R3, P3 and Soloist) are all race profile bikes. I am not sure what else they have in terms of non-race bikes but I suspect not much. They are a relatively young company and put alot of money into designing for specific purposes.

The R3 is possibly the best example from their stable from this. The Paris-Roubaix is held up as the toughest-on-bikes road race because of all those cobbles. Cervelo have designed the R3 specifically for the Paris-Roubaix. It is designed to withstand the beating that cobble-stones give, and to make the ride as smooth as possible for the cyclist.

My partner would get a second R3 for training on if we could afford that and he often does 3-4 hour rides (for example, we race on Saturdays but every he heads out for a 100-140km training/recovery ride!). He says the R3 is the most comfortable bike he has ever ridden on. He has virtually no back issues after racing on it (or when he does a very rare training ride on it), because the R3 does not shake around like his other bikes.

I am not sure what the R3 sells for over your way, but what we are looking for for me is a 2006/2007 model - either from a bike shop with old stock, or from someone who likes to ride current models (with often the only difference being the paint-work). If we can find one from one of these sources the price will be significantly less.

[Wahine]

I didn't have time to read the other responses so I hope I'm not repeating too much.

P2C is great bang for your buck, is a fantastic triathlon bike and comes with a dual position seat post so you can set it up for more of a road type geometry for longer rides if you want to. If I could have gotten one for as good a deal as I got for my Kestrel - I would have gone for it.

[Tri Girl]

The longest ride I've had my P2C on was 107 miles. It was incredibly comfortable, if you like being in aero position most of the time. I'm very comfortable in that position, so I found it to be quite comfy. I sit up occasionally, but spend most of my time "lying down, resting."

[madisongrrl]

I love my 2004 Cervelo soloist team. It's the favorite bike in my stable and it's a great fit (fit by www.cronometro.com ). It's smooth on the road and its good for racing or long rides. I can't say enough great things about Cervelo.