Scott CR1 or Cervelo Soloist
swaman
Posts: 110
OK, i have been shopping around for my first good road race bike which I need to compete in races and time trials.
I had been looking at bikes from Viner and wilier but for some reasons had to rule these out.
Now I think I have narrowed it down to two choices. I can get a new Scott CR1 Comp from last years range with Shimano Tigra. I was about to make the purchase when another option cropped up. I have been offered a Cervelo Soloist Team bike with Ultegra group. I love both bikes in different ways and its a hard choice. The Cervelo will cost me £200 less than the Scott.
I know that people will say buy the one that rides the best for me but I am not sure that I am experienced enough to know which feels the best for me or which rides the best for racing. I liked them both. I cannot get to ride them side by side, I rode the Cervelo today and the Scott yesterday so its hard to compare but I instantly likes both.
Any help or advice bearing in mind that I want this bike to be a race bike, but it will be ridden over some bumpy roads and needs initially to double as a race and tt bike.
I had been looking at bikes from Viner and wilier but for some reasons had to rule these out.
Now I think I have narrowed it down to two choices. I can get a new Scott CR1 Comp from last years range with Shimano Tigra. I was about to make the purchase when another option cropped up. I have been offered a Cervelo Soloist Team bike with Ultegra group. I love both bikes in different ways and its a hard choice. The Cervelo will cost me £200 less than the Scott.
I know that people will say buy the one that rides the best for me but I am not sure that I am experienced enough to know which feels the best for me or which rides the best for racing. I liked them both. I cannot get to ride them side by side, I rode the Cervelo today and the Scott yesterday so its hard to compare but I instantly likes both.
Any help or advice bearing in mind that I want this bike to be a race bike, but it will be ridden over some bumpy roads and needs initially to double as a race and tt bike.
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Comments
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Neither of those are in the super-comfy range of bikes for rough surfaces (I have owned both) but I am a huge fan of the older CR1s. Comfort can be increased by using a shimmed 27.2mm post in the 31.6mm seat-tube. I also ran some Look HSC5SL forks in mine which made a difference. I'd go with a CR1 - still a truly great frame, although the Cervelos are good bikes too.0
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i know i would be probably ok with either bike, or even a caad9 if i got to try one of them
i suppose what worries me also is what is like to live with, not just to take for a quick spin
if the bike has to be used for road races and time trials then i suppose it needs to be quick so needs to be fairly stiff
but will these bikes be ok to ride on a daily basis, maybe up to 200 miles a week during the summer
thats why i ask on the forum, you guys that have these bikes can tell me more about having them long term and how satisifed you are, or would you rather have got something quicker, or more comfortable, or are these just right0 -
Sounds like you'd be happy with either. I reckon it's tIme to stop deliberating and to start riding.0
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go for the soloist. It is much more aerodynamic for racing and will be a huge help in the TT's. plus the ultegra componentry is a nice touch.0
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ultegra vs tiagra - no brainer go the CerveloCheers
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"Don't buy upgrades; ride up grades." -Eddy Merckx0 -
I've a Soloist - top bike but I've just moved from Kent to rural scotland and my joy has become a massive pain. In fact I'm selling it and I've bought a 2nd hand Ridley X-Bow.
Soloist is a really super bike but if roads are poor then clocking up miles becomes a nightmare, in Ket with great smooth roads centuries were fun & fast and I could crank out mile after mile averaging 22mph.
Up here it hurts to average 17 mph.
think about what roads you will be riding on.‘There is No Try. There is only Do. Or do not.’0 -
I have a soloist and i love it, went to that from a new madone.
I wanted a bike for racing and TT's as well.
As far as comfort its fine, not as upright as a scott but for racing im sure its better, you could always double the bar tape and run 25mm tires.
I build up my cervelo with full sram force for £1690..
Scott are good but cervelo is better for racing.0 -
well as far as owning a Scott CR1 long term ive had my CR1 Pro since Nov 06 and done 7000 miles on it, lots of rides in the 60-90 mile range and some 200+ mile weeks and its been and still is a brilliant bike certainly stiff enough for racing or tt,ing but still comfortable enough on long rides as long as your not entireley riding on rough roads,mines still on the original chain and sprockets too, its a shame that the Scott CR1 Comp has got the tiagra and not the 105 or ultegra groupset which mine has as they are a good step up from tiagra and if the Cervelo is 200 quid cheaper with ultegra it would seem be the better buy.0
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amd-sco wrote:I've a Soloist - top bike but I've just moved from Kent to rural scotland and my joy has become a massive pain. In fact I'm selling it and I've bought a 2nd hand Ridley X-Bow.
Soloist is a really super bike but if roads are poor then clocking up miles becomes a nightmare, in Ket with great smooth roads centuries were fun & fast and I could crank out mile after mile averaging 22mph.
Up here it hurts to average 17 mph.
think about what roads you will be riding on.
This man speaks much sense.
A lot of the reviews of bikes are done on super smooth tarmac in Europe and the US.
Most of my riding is done in the pot hole ridden country roads around Glasgow and in the Campsie hills. A bad F&F choice along with a poor wheel and tyre choice and those Sunday 60 mile runs can be bone jarring nightmare trips.
Think carefully about the road riding you are doing not just the groupset or review of the bike from a mag/ website0 -
amd-sco wrote:I've a Soloist - top bike but I've just moved from Kent to rural scotland and my joy has become a massive pain. In fact I'm selling it and I've bought a 2nd hand Ridley X-Bow.
Soloist is a really super bike but if roads are poor then clocking up miles becomes a nightmare, in Ket with great smooth roads centuries were fun & fast and I could crank out mile after mile averaging 22mph.
Up here it hurts to average 17 mph.
think about what roads you will be riding on.
This man speaks much sense.
A lot of the reviews of bikes are done on super smooth tarmac in Europe and the US.
Most of my riding is done in the pot hole ridden country roads around Glasgow and in the Campsie hills. A bad F&F choice along with a poor wheel and tyre choice and those Sunday 60 mile runs can be bone jarring nightmare trips.
Think carefully about the road riding you are doing not just the groupset or review of the bike from a mag/ website0 -
I was tossing up these 2 bikes as my first roadie.
In the end I went with the cervelo and am glad I did.
Great race frame and can double as a TT bike much better than a CR1 can.
CR1 ride was very nice but the cervelo won through.
Also remember the CR1's from 09 back do not come with a replaceable rear mech hanger. Something to consider if you plan on racing. I have replaced 3 on my Soloist.0 -
ok, i have made my decision
i have decided to get the 2008 Cervelo Soloist with Ultegra. My reasons ????
- both bikes rode great but the Cervelo felt faster though, there didnt seem to be a lot of difference in comfort although this is hard to tell over a short ride
- the Cervelo feels like a great bike for racing, but can also convert to be a time trial bike, this was a big plus for me while I will only have one bike for racing
- the Cervelo is a tough frame and i dont need to worry about crashing as much as i would with a carbon frame, and it felt like i could just throw it in the boot of the car and gave it some abuse with no worries :-)
- the Cervelo had a better spec and better wheels
- while the Scott looked nice, the cervelo looked special, and there are not as many of them around in our local area
i am hopefully going back to pick up the bike on Tuesday and will ride my first TT on it on thursday so will let you all know then if i think I still have made the right decision
many thanks for all your replies, i guess everyone is right and both bikes are great, i would have been happy with either it was a hard choice even though both bikes are so different0 -
i got my Cervelo and have it all set up for myself, apart from i still need to get a 10cm stem to shortern the reach a little, the 11cm is just a tad too long
went out yesterday for a 38 mile ride on a route of the roughest roads in our area and while the ride is not plush, you definately can feel the road, it was not uncomfortable and I did arrive home a lot fresher than i was expecting, and not measureably any worse than on any other bike i have ridden, my previous bad encounters with alu bikes had me worried but this is a different story, the Cervelo seems to handle the bad roads so much better ( than Lemond Etape, Giant OCR )
but.....the Cervelo is so much more fun, it feels very nimble and corners great and is steady on the descents, I was taking corners on the descents much faster not touching the brakes where I would usually brake, it reacts very well when you get out of the saddle, all-in-all i think i am going to love this bike
its quite light too, right now it weighs exactly 18.3lbs with pedals and bottle cages and I know how to quite easily get this down to under 18lbs ( i have double sided spd's on just now, a lighter set of pedals will be coming soon and will change the tyres and tubes also )
thanks to all for your views, thought i would let you know what i got and my initial impressions
so initially i am very happy with my purchase, i dont see any reason why i sh0 -
There's a lot of talk about how 'aero' the Cervelo is here, and how useful this is for testing.
Its highly unlikely (not impossible) you are ever going to win a TT on a road bike with clip ons, so why bring the absolute speed of the frame into it on this one? I doubt that there is much difference aerodynamically between the two frames in reality too... Testing is about beating your PB, unless you're one of a few people who can win Open events, so don't choose the bike based on the appropriateness for doing it. There are more important factors like comfort etc.Racing for Fluid Fin Race Team in 2012 - www.fluidfin.co.uk0 -
swaman, glad to hear you went for the Soloist in the end.
Where did you manage to get your hands on a 2008 build, and what was the total cost in the end. I'm currently trying to get a soloist built up but can't seem to do it anywhere near as cheaply as others are managing.
warrior4life said he did a force build for £1690, and I'm being quoted £1750 for a Rival build without wheels at my LBS, and using the cheapest components online £1650 for Rival and no wheels!
I spoke to one shop which said the frame distributor has recently put their foot down regarding dealers selling the frame at a discount?0 -
nice choice, Cervelo's are great !!!0
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incog24 wrote:There's a lot of talk about how 'aero' the Cervelo is here, and how useful this is for testing. Its highly unlikely (not impossible) you are ever going to win a TT on a road bike with clip ons, so why bring the absolute speed of the frame into it on this one?
The seatpost is reversible so you can get TT geometry, particularly if combined with proper TT bars rather than clip ons.Commuter: Taped-up black Trek 2200 (FCN 5)
Shiny bike: Pinarello FP2 (FCN 3)0