dumb mick:
It is a natural transition time for the 'bike industry' as well and there could be times where things change, not that its a defense but its pretty standard to see from some companies from year to year and may not be soley one companies 'fault'.
I'm an advocate of the CL just due to adjustability, unless there's a change to the SL's steerer cloumn that I haven't seen you have to glue the compression sleeve in and its fixed once glued so your stuck with whatever steerer length you cut/glue it at. Probably not an issue for most, I've just learned that I like the flexibility in fit and stiffness felt from a star-nut v. any other compression plug's etc.
Transition time? Pretty standard? What other companies are you talking about that switch out forks? These "swaps" by Cervelo have not been limited to a few weeks or even 1 or 2 months near the end of the production year. Why push a product out when it's not spec'd properly even if you have a policy to save your hide? Why give a customer a seatpost that has not been supplied with frames since the old R 2.5 was around years ago (reference the R3-SL seapost thread) when he is expecting a more modern/better product? Yes they have the policy, but I will still point the finger to fault one company---->Cervelo. Don' get me wrong, I love my R3 and am glad it came with what I thought I was going to get, but if I decide to go with Cervelo again, believe that I will be making sure of what I'm getting before I lay down the money. Especially when we're talking about dishing out around $2500 just for frame and fork. Believe it or not, that's 2 months salary for some people out there and when money is tight but you've been saving for months, you don't want to be gambeling with what shows up at your door (or in the shop).
I'm sure if you are paying the extra money to get the SLC-SL over the Soloist Carbon, you are probably a little concerned about weight. Having a fork show up with an aluminium steerer tube does not help you much. As well, True Temper says that the tube insert produces a very stiff tube http://www.alphaqbike.com/performance_tubing/insertsystem.asp. I adjust my fork at times during the race season. I have two spacers under the stem. When I am at a point where I am a bit more flexible, I move one spacer on top of my stem giving me a more lower/aero position in the drops. No problems with adjustibility. I'm sure you're happy with your CL, but I don't think the OP is (hence the starting of this thread).