Cervelo Team Soloist

I have a soloist carbon which quite frankly is the best bike ive ever ridden it is awesome, great handling, great climbing, great power transfer, great looks. The only but is the finishing quality around the lugs but that probably wont be an issue on an ali version. I dont know what the difference of the Ali would be except for the road damping of carbon. Why would you be put off a carbon with your size Voigt is no shorty and he seems to do quite well on one. Also for a larger guy the handling is really suited my freind swaps with me sometimes and he a bit shorter and lighter and he finds it a little twitchy whereas for me is just nice and sharp.

 

I've only just built one (the Al version) and only have about 200km, including two crits so I might not have enough time on it. But my initial observations are the opposite. I've raced a CAAD7 the last couple of seasons and in terms of the handling I feel like I've gone from a sports car to an SUV. The Cannondale was always very twitchy, handled very tightly and I was able to sit it up early out of the corners and get the power down.

The Cervelo is much more relaxed and the cornering requires more effort and I couldn't sit it up quite as fast on the exit. Out of the corners I found myself really having to work hard not to lose the wheel in front, the acceleration just isn't like the CAAD7.

Having said that I also did a 120km training ride and the Cervelo was very very comfortable. It'll be interesting to get it out in road events next season. Clearly it horses for courses, the Cervelo probably isn't really built to ride crits.

btw I'm 6'2" and mid 70kg's.

--brett

 

Mine too, and all I had to do to get one was be rear ended by an accord...

two weeks later she's all mine.

That aside,

I bought it because it doesnt ride like an aluminium bike, it does have a lot more compliance than my cannondale did, and it climbs a bit better, may be fit & the fact that it is compact geometry, where the cannondale was traditional.

Me, I love it!!

 

6' 4"? Trek, or Cannondale 63 cm frames would be preferable. You are right, in as much as compact frames are awkward for taller people. I am quite tall (just over 6' 1") and I loathe compacts, they feel entirely wrong, and I can't get any power into them. I am sure other people may have found differently but for me compact frames are best left to compact people.

 

I have one with Carbon Record and have been using mavic cosmos wheels until I save up more cash for a nice set. The bike is very stiff, fast and comfortable. A buddy from my LBS rode it a couple of times and said it was faster and stiffer than his Giant TCR. My only complaints are the seat adjustment, 2 bolt set up is horrible, and the noise transmission due to the oversized Aluminum tubes. For 1200 bucks the frame was a bargin IMO. Add the 1570 Record groupo and the bike is sick. The bike is great on climbs, centuries, and can be used for TT's due to the adjustable seat position.

 

I owned one for 2 months this summer. I agree on the saddle adjustment. Excel Sports advised me to cut the front bolt by about 1/2 an inch otherwise it bottoms out and it can be difficult to get the nose horizontal. This seemed to work well. Having a cut out saddle assisted in the tightening process. The frame is very stiff with very little flex in the bottom bracket. I do however think the rear triangle may have been too stiff. On several occasions I would experience what I thought was a rear flat tire only to discover it was indeed not flat but just the back end bouncing around on rough surfaces. All in all though it was a great bike that I raced on several times and also rode 130 miles with 10,000 ft of climbing in one day very comfortably.

JS

 

I have also been looking at buying either the cervelo soloist centaur, scott cr1 with centaur or Orbea Onix with SRAM Rival.

The scott and cervelo's stand out at this price range!!!

 

Excellent idea on cutting the bolt. I'll give that a try. I hate changing out saddles because it's such a pain to get the nose down.

 

Cervelo uses two types of seatpost head aduster bolts in their bikes. One of them is longer/higher and with bigger head to grab when adjusting it. The other one is so called reduced clearance seatpost head adjuster bolt, with smaller head.

Take a look at the pictures of these products in the estore on the Cervelo website: reduced clearance bolt is sold separately, the other bolt can be seen in the picture of the replacement seatpost head.

I know that at least some new Cervelo Soloist frames come with the reduced clearance bolt.

 

Thanks. I'll check it out and then head over to ace and get a smaller one. Trying to level the seat is a pain with the stock set up.

 

I'm 6'3" and wondering what the best size of Soloist would be for me? There aren't any shops in the area that have it set up as a bike, only one place sells it as a frameset, and even then it's sold form the website.

 

I'm 6'2" and ride a 58, the R3 has the same geometry.

Jens Voight is taller than you, 6'4", I think, and rides a 58, though he may be a little more flexible

For an online fit analysis the best is probably the one on CompetitiveCyclist.com.

 

Well my current Specialized Allez is a 58 and my old Specialized MTB was 17". The geometry is similar. Thank you.

P.S. I'm only 80 kilos

 

Here's my speed machine...

 

Be careful, as I found the R3 and soloist are a little more stretched out than comparable frames from other manufacturers (i.e. longer top tubes). Ideally, you should consider traveling somewhere you can sit on one to be sure. Alternatively, I found the online fit calculator on www.competitivecyclist.com to be very helpful when I was deciding between the 53 and 54cm. I had the luxury of being able to test ride the 54cm and realized the TT and the DuraAce hoods had me a little to stretched out and I ordered the 51 hoping it was a better fit. Luckily, it was just right !!! BTW I love the R3 and I'm real happy with my choice.

 

I used the calculator and indeed the 58 would be the right size for me. 61 is far too big.

 

Nice ride Tanggoman.

 

I would love to put those wheels on my soloist. Sweet.