Cervelo

wahlrab

Hello Everyone

I am thinking of spending a serious bit of dough on a new road bike, i came into a few bob recently, so i was thinking maybe a cervelo, an r3 to be more precise, maybe some zipp wheels. I am just wondering have any of you got experience with cervelos? they've got great reviews online. I must admit the tour has had some role in this decision cheers guys

Chips Lovell

Raam and Quigs Snr both have Cervelos. Might be in idea to PM them.

Caroline_ie

wahlrab wrote: »

Hello Everyone

I am thinking of spending a serious bit of dough on a new road bike, i came into a few bob recently, so i was thinking maybe a cervelo, an r3 to be more precise, maybe some zipp wheels. I am just wondering have any of you got experience with cervelos? they've got great reviews online. I must admit the tour has had some role in this decision cheers guys

The R3 is probably the best Cervelo you can choose when it comes to the road conditions in Ireland. Zipp 404s go very well with the R3, my buddy Jens Voigt told me ...

E@gle.

Cervelo are one of the best brands out at the moment. The R3 is a lovely bike.

I'd probaly go for the soloist myself but thats just me.

Are you going for the 404's in Tubs or clincher??

Caroline_ie

E@gle. wrote: »

I'd probaly go for the soloist myself but thats just me.

I wouldn't think a Soloist is a good idea with strong winds of Ireland...

wahlrab

Jens Voight.... what a legend, remember when he had to stop and wait for Basso so that he could help him catch up with ullrich, i think i am remembering it right? germany went crazy calling him a judas but I love Jens he's a hero

Quigs Snr

I am happy with mine, I have the R3 SL. Very light, weighed mine at 789g. Bottom end is very, very stiff, you do notice it on a hill when you are out of the saddle, incredible how they manage that on such a light frame. You cannot go wrong, do you really need to tell me how good they are now ? You did see Sastre crucify them all on the R3 SL up Alpe D'Huez didn't you ?! Good enough for the CSC boys, good enough for any of us mere mortals. I will probably do that Martin Early thing next week, haven't done any Leisure rides this year at all, just racing all the time so could do with a break... if you are around you can have a look, take it for a spin etc...

I got mine in spokes Waterford, price matched to the same price it would cost me for delivery / maybe a little customs from racycles who are usually the cheapest for Cervelo. Cheapest I could get anywhere in the world for the Cervelo..

The Zipps are beauties too. Get the tubs though or don't bother I reckon. My one reservation with Zipps are the horror stories of them breaking. Thats ok for Jens Voight, he gets them for free, however some of the more serious race types I know have had difficulties with them. Of 5 guys I know with Zipps, 3 have cracked theirs. (All are A/International riders). That being said I will probably pick up a set of the tubs at some point for hilly days.... right now using Cosmic Carbones, Ksyrium ES and Planet X Pro Carbon 50 Tubs, all go great.

Cervelo themselves push the Soloist as being quicker. I doubt there is much difference, aero tubing on a bike makes next to no real difference in road race conditions, maybe you'd get 10 seconds on a 40k TT, but in road racing forget about it, thats just marketing and the need to put a new product out every now and then and then justify that product. Its no co-incidence that the Soloist costs more either ! Don't get me wrong the Soloist is a fantastic machine, but the R3 is considerably lighter and perfect for road race conditions in Ireland. I had the budget to go for any bike I wanted, as a weight weenie, I went for the R3 (And then ruined it by sticking on a big set of Cosmics, which are like a set of garden gates, I just love the way they roll)

E@gle.

Quigs Snr wrote: »

My one reservation with Zipps are the horror stories of them breaking. Thats ok for Jens Voight, he gets them for free, however some of the more serious race types I know have had difficulties with them. Of 5 guys I know with Zipps, 3 have cracked theirs. (All are A/International riders). That being said I will probably pick up a set of the tubs at some point for hilly days.... right now using Cosmic Carbones, Ksyrium ES and Planet X Pro Carbon 50 Tubs, all go great.

Another good wheel to consider would be a set of campagano Bora, they would be a slightly more expensive wheel but hearing from reviews and opions on people that have them they are bullet proof.

Also i agree with Quigs if you are going to be spending money on a decent set of Carbon wheels go for tubs

Dangerous Dave

if you're looking to get your hands on a good bike I can definitely suggest the Specialized Tarmac SL2 that Gerolsteiner and Quickstep ride - as an alternative to the Cervelo.

I have a brand new one that i'm selling at a great price if you're interested in considering it - here's the details;

Specialized S-Works Tarmac SL2 carbon frame - BRAND NEW
Brand new, still in the box, with all labels and booklets
Collected last week
Full warranty from Cycleways
Pro level frame ridden by Quickstep and Gerolsteiner
Boonen won Roubaix on it
Bettini won the Worlds on it
Kohl won Polka Dot and finished 3rd in the Tour on it
Steegmans won Champs Elysees stage on it
Full carbon
S-works carbon fork
S-works carbon seatpost
Carbon headset with ceramic bearings
54cm
Retails at €2,700

Campag Record 10 speed carbon groupset - 3 months old and absolutely perfect
Includes;
- Record carbon Ergo levers/shifters (incl full set of cables)
- Record carbon rear mech
- Record carbon and titanium front mech
- Record (titanium) Differential brake calipers
- FSA carbon chainset and bottom bracket (plus spare bottom bracket)
- Record titanium cassette
- Record chain
Retails at €1,400

ITM carbon bars and ITM carbon stem
1 year old and used
Slight pinch on the carbon wrap on the bars where mounted to stem - otherwise perfect
Retails at €300 for the set

€3,000 for the lot
[Frame, groupset, bars and stem - worth almost €4,500 total.

If you want a complete bike I can also sell a BRAND NEW set of Zipp 404 carbon wheels in tubular to go on them. They cost €1700 and have titanium skewers worth an extra €70 and I'll throw in wheels bags worth another €50. I'll let those go for €1,600 and I'll buy a new saddle to go on it for that

Then you're ready to go on the road on a NEW pro-level bike that would normally cost you at least €6,500 just €4,600.

What do you think? I can send you some photos. If anyone is keen let me know.

fish-head

Dangerous Dave wrote: »

Boonen won Roubaix on it

Boonen won Roubaix on more than just a bicycle.

penexpers

fish-head wrote: »

Boonen won Roubaix on more than just a bicycle.

And even then it wasn't a carbon framed SL2.

Dangerous Dave

actually, you're right, it was the 2009 carbon Roubaix SL2. But he won enough other races on the Tarmac SL2.

Don't slate Tornado Tom for going partying after winning Roubaix, some of his fellow pros are at much worse

Raam

How come you are selling a brand new bike?

Dangerous Dave

I bought the frame and built the Record onto it in April, but straight away the bike was making noise. After trying everything (bottom bracket, cranks, pedals, wheels) to eliminate it, Cycleways took the frame back off me in July and sent it back to Specialized.

I bought something esle to race on in that time and a few weeks later they sent me a brand new frame. So now I've decided to sell it to re-claw the money back that I spent on the second bike.

The Zipps I got as a present yesterday, but I'd prefer something else to be honest, so I've decided to try to sell those straight away (if she finds out she'll kill me). I'd sell those seperately either.

Everything is a completely legit sale - I'm well known in cycling/racing circles so there is nothing shady about any of it. Happy to meet anyone to look over the stuff.

E@gle.

Dave thats a lovely set up there, I would edit your post and remove your phone number if i were you

Dangerous Dave

will do Eagle, thanks for the advice
recently joined so not 100% on the etiquette
i presume if someone wants more details they'll ask me for my number or send me a private message
thanks

Raam

I meant to respond to this ages ago, but I forgot.
Yes, I have an R3, and it's brilliant. I have been getting some teething problems with it as the seat stays come out a bit further than my old bike (Spesh Allez Elite), so I haven't quite got my position right yet.
Apart from that, I can't complain about it. It climbs ace, hugs the road on the descents and I don't get half the amount of speed wobble I get with the Allez.
It absorbs road buzz like no mans business. You can put the power down real quickly. I got Ultegra with mine.

White is hard to keep clean, which I am learning now in this shoddy weather.

Dangerous Dave

the front end on the Tarmac SL2 with the raised internal head tube bearings in line with the down-tube make handling a dream. And the beefy chainstays and bottom bracket cluster mean every lean on the pedals drives you up the road

here's a picture of the one I built in April that went back to Specialized - the new one I have is exactly the same frame and groupset

cantalach

fish-head wrote: »

Boonen won Roubaix on more than just a bicycle.

So which is worse: Tom powdering his nose during a planned break from racing or Cadel getting pissed one week before heading off to Beijing and tearing his ACL?

SACH Central

Raam wrote: »

I meant to respond to this ages ago, but I forgot.
Yes, I have an R3, and it's brilliant. I have been getting some teething problems with it as the seat stays come out a bit further than my old bike (Spesh Allez Elite), so I haven't quite got my position right yet.
Apart from that, I can't complain about it. It climbs ace, hugs the road on the descents and I don't get half the amount of speed wobble I get with the Allez.
It absorbs road buzz like no mans business. You can put the power down real quickly. I got Ultegra with mine.

White is hard to keep clean, which I am learning now in this shoddy weather.

Raam, I'm going to splash out on a new bike before the year is out. I've a budget of €3,000. I'm a Cervelo fan too. Where did you get yours and what did you pay for it, if you don't mind me asking. I reckon I'll have to go the Ultegra route too, groupset wise, what do make of it?

I presume you'll have it with you tomorrow at the SK, I'll keep an eye out for you.

Raam

SACH Central wrote: »

Raam, I'm going to splash out on a new bike before the year is out. I've a budget of €3,000. I'm a Cervelo fan too. Where did you get yours and what did you pay for it, if you don't mind me asking. I reckon I'll have to go the Ultegra route too, groupset wise, what do make of it?

I presume you'll have it with you tomorrow at the SK, I'll keep an eye out for you.

The frame was 2200, and the groupset was 440 or something. I already had saddle, wheels and pedals so that helped keep the cost down. I can't remember the price of the stem and handle bars, but they are by Easton. Not top of the range stuff, but not rubbish either. I got it in Cyclelogical in Dublin.

I was talking about Dura Ace at the time, but Cliff (Cyclelogical guy) talked me out of it. He reckons I had no need for it given the type of cycling I do, the price of it compared to Ultegra, and the fact that it does the same thing, only with a lighter weight. I was happy to take his advice.

I was there alright on Sunday with me Cervelo. I hope you enjoyed the day, I know I did

cantalach

If you have any lower back problems, it might be worth checking out the RS as an alternative to the R3. It's essentially the R3 but with a taller head tube that allows for a more upright position (balanced by longer chainstays). Reviewers have stressed that the RS is not a compromised comfy bike like the Specialized Roubaix or Giant SCR/OCR. It is a proper race-oriented bike but tailored for people with average or sub-average flexibility. I fall into this category and the RS is definitely on my wish list.