hey folks,

I'm interested in hearing opinioins from experienced others with regards to the R3 vs. the Kestrel Talon SL.  Now I know that each piece of equipment is different, but I'd love to hear what others think.  The thing that intrigues me is the versatility of the SL to switch into a Tri bike with just a few quick fixes.  Is there any Cervelo that can morph into a Tri bike like the SL.  I'm eager dive into the local race scene and may eventually venture into Tri's.  For now my addiction is towards pure cycling, however...if I can purchase a more versatile piece of equipment I'd prefer to do that.  Right now I'm high on the R3, but...this sport is expensive.  I've already grown tired of my first purchase (Giant Defty) and now I want more.  Figures, right?

I'm not sure if you're joking or not??  Cervelo more or less invented the Aero road bike... The S1 was the original, now the S2 AND S3 are road bikes that can easily be transformed into Tri bikes using the 2-position seatposts and clip-ons!....

Ad Rock,

 Unfortantely I'm not kidding.  Being new to the sport my equipment knowledge expands with every interaction.  You mentioned the S2 and S3 are easily transformed, but what about the R3?  Or is this more of a pure road bike?

 Thanks...I really appreciate the feedback.

The R3 is really more of a road race bike, if you want something to do Tri's on i'd stick with the S series. They have the aero frame.

Wow an R3 vs a Talon. i used to have a Talon back in the day not the sl but still a talon. Im on my second S1 now. So when i finally dug up my Talon to sell on the garage sale I rode it just one more time to see how much flex it really had. These bikes dont go anywhere the frames are really not worth your hard earned money. I would buy an S1 and switch it around for Tris and put areo bars on it too if you want. I have seen a Cervelo dealer do this for a guy that had a road race on a saturday and a time trial on Sunday. It doesnt even take too long. Call me dramatic but if I had to race on a talon knowing what I know now I would probably give up the sport. Kestrel? Who are you going to root for? Go test team!

 Tryingformore if you were car shopping you would have just wondered in to the Ferrari dealership. The good news for you Cervelo riders are like Ferraris owners in that they tend to be very passionate and knowledgeable about their product. The S range meets what you are after and the S1 is probbaly the best bike on the market for a "convertible" bike. I used an S1 for most of my first season time trialling starting with clip ons progressing to a lo-pro set up which I kept switching out to drop when I was road riding. I got through  a few sets of cables and got the change time down to about 30 mins. Eventually I took the plunge and bought a dedicated TT bike in the P2c. Both bikes are fantastic. I have attached a review from Bikesport Michigan that you may find helpful

http://www.bikesportmichigan.com/reviews/CerveloS1-2009.shtml

 

One last thing as you are in the Ferrari dealership hopefully you haven't got Ford money!

Really the talon, does not deserve to be in this conversation.  In either a road or tri position, road or TT model, something that cervelo offers will be the winner.  The ride quality, performance of kestrel, in my mind just does not hold up.  Kestrel just is not a bike that competes with cervelo, kestrel was one of the forefront designers in carbon, and I rode one of their SCI frames back in the day, they really did alot for the carbon innovations in bikes, but they are a dying brand, as a matter of fact they did die and fuji put them on life support

 I think you guys are being too hard on the Talon.  I rode one from 2003 to 2006 replacing it with a P2C.  Is it in the same league as the P2C? No, it's not, but it was a good bike for the money.  I relegated it to road training status when I got the P2C and I still have it.  I can tell you that it's stiffer than my RS and P2C and exhibits a lot less flex than both (it's also not as comfortable as either).  The Talon is a lot quieter than the S1. 

I think Kestrel's decline started in '04 with what I saw as poor quality control combining with a lack of R&D funds that started a downward spiral.  This led IMO to their eventual sale to Fuji - too bad for such a carbon innovator.  Buy a Cervelo.

 

 

Flex where?? Cervelo's flex where they are supposed to and are stiff where a race bike should be. My Talon flexed in the bottom bracket but was harsh in the ride. but i do agree it did sound cool on the road especially crossing tracks. snap crackle pop!!!!!!!

Hey tryingformore, I don't know if you already selected a bike but here is my .02 I looked at the Kestrel early on in my search for road bikes. There was not a large following for the Kestrel in my area and I did not find anything online that stood out. I was really looking for an all purpose road bike with great performance. I ended up with the Cervelo RS, which is a bit more comfortable (upright riding) with out the sacrifice on performance. The R3 has the same lineage but the top of the Cervelo R series. At the time I wasn't interested in riding a bike always in an aggressive riding and speed position. Well yesterday I jumped on a S2 which is an aero road bike and fell in love with it. Kinda the best of both worlds. So I bought it LOL on the spot! I am told the S3 is even better but the cha ching factor goes up :o) If Cervelo is in still on your short list based on your duo road / Tri requirement I would look at the Cervelo S series bikes... or get a dedicated tri-bike which might be too much for an all around bike.

I actually have both a Talon (non-SL) and an R3.  I bought the Talon about 6 years ago and it was a good value and I really liked it a lot. I've put over 16,000 miles on it and it's held up well.  I had been riding an aluminum, non-aero frame before that and it was a huge upgrade.  It is smoother than aluminum, and I am not a big guy who is going to flex a frame so that doesn't matter to me.  About two years ago I decided I wanted to do some serious climbing and so last year I looked around for something lightweight and went with the R3.  In most respects, it was again a huge upgrade, the 2.5 lbs of weight made a bigger difference than I would have imagined and the loss of the aero on the flats hasn't been that big a deal.  At the same time I went from Ultegra 9 speed to DA 10.  It took me some time to adapt to the more compact geometry of the R3 as at first I found it a little squirrely going high speeds downhill.  No doubt the R3 is much, much better, but then again it is five years newer and cost about twice as much, so shouldn't it be?

I don't know why Kestrel is taking such abuse here, but in any event, the Talon design is at least 7 years old now and for that reason alone I would tend to go with something more modern.  They do have a newer RT800, I believe that's what they call it, which would be more competitive with an S2.  As far as Cervelo goes, I think almost everyone would agree that the S2 is the better choice than the R3 unless you are riding over terrible roads or up big mountains, my goal was the latter.

Good luck.