Kestel has been on the triathlon seen for many many years already and you may find it odd to see something missing from this bike. No we did not photoshop the seat tube out but this is the signature design from Kestrel. This brand defiently has been building a brand for itself especially with triathletes such as Andy Potts and Cameron Dye riding for them. The Kestrel Airfoil Pro SL may not be as stiff as some other bikes out there especially when it comes to climbing hills but in the aero position you can see how one less seat tube would reduce drag. Theres’s also a unique smootheness in this bike that comes from the reduce vibrations from the seat as the seat tube is not existent. What we like about this bike is that it’s in an affordable range.
A bike that was truely designed for a triathlete. The Blue Triad SL airfoiled shaped constructed of Aerus Composites makes this rig light and fast. The seat positions allows you to go from 76 to 80 degrees. The frameset including aerobars goes for a price of $4,000 while a rig with Shimano Red build and Reynolds 81 Clinchers will set you back $9,800. If price is no object and you want the Shimano Di2 makeup that will set you back $11,600.
Say hello to the Cervelo S5 TEAM, their newest aero road bike and their most advanced. The S5 TEAM doubles the aerodynamic advantage their popular S3 had over traditional road bikes and is 100 grams lighter than the S5 while maintaining the same stiffness and strength numbers. Air flow is smoothed from frame to fork and frame to wheel with the dropped downtube and extended rear wheel cutout, respectively. The rear brake is shielded by the seat stays, minimizing drag from front to rear. Their new BBright™ bottom bracket and Smartwall™ technology maximizes energy response and raises the torsional rigidity by 12% of its predecessor, making it faster, agile, responsive and still smooth and comfortable on the road. This is the bike of choice for Team Garmin-Cervélo.
If you’re looking for the most stability available in a tri bike, check out Argon’s 18 E-116. Their 18 series are known for balance and stability. The E-116 has the same mold and benefits as the E-118, which is a racing frameset that can help you optimize performance. Its aero frame features 6105 High Modulus Carbon Fiber layup, monocoque carbon fork, carbon seatpost, integrated aero brakes, bottom bracket and fork crown race and HM Carbon composite to maximize stiffness. Its powerful TRP’s Advanced Braking System creates negligible drag to keep you moving fast.
The Plasma 3 Premium is Scott’s top of the line model and is a marriage of superbike technology with real world practicality. The frame is made from Scott’s proprietary carbon fiber HMX-Net, the same found in the Plasma 2 LTD, for lightweight and ultimate stiffness – it’s what the top pros ride. Deeper, oversized chainstays enhance drivetrain performance, steering and stability while the fully integrated frame, stem and seatclamp increases aerodynamics. Adjustable seat posts allows for the rider to find that comfort zone in riding. It’s easy to adjust, maintain and easy to pack into a travel case for races.
Swiss bike maker BMC brings to us the time machine TM01, ‘the bike that makes you faster’. The aerodynamic frame shape has a length to width ration of 3:1 and uses Tripwire technology, where special wind curbs molded into the carbon frame form a sort of air cushion for the wind flow. A flatter profile with minimized raw materials helps reduce weight and increase stiffness. The adjustable integrated stem system allows for more than 30 different positions to ensure the best fit. Comes in 4 different sizes, small, medium short, medium long and large and is offered with Di2 and Zipp 808s as the top of the line package, but will also be available in much more affordable options with SRAM Red or Shimano Ultegra groups.
There’s a feature on Cannondale’s Women’s Slice 5 105 that Chrissie Wellington calls her secret weapon. Wanna know? Called “Fast Girl’s” bike, its AERO SAVE rear stays offer great power transfer while absorbing road shock, allowing for a smoother ride so you can run fresher. Available in smaller sizes to fit smaller riders, including 650c wheels. Aerodynamic and comfortable.
Quintana Roo’s Illicito is their most aerodynamic bike ever and unique out of all bikes out there. Based loosely on their flagship CD0.1, the revolutionary, high modulus carbon fiber frame records the lowest drag coefficient of any modern design. What did they do? Well, the use of SHIFT technology ‘shifted’ airflow from the front wheel to be re-directed from the dirty, drag-producing side (drive side) of the bike to the clean side (non-drive side). The asymmetric bottom bracket reduces drag around the drive train and they removed the left side seat stay. OK, now you have a puzzled look and asking why the left side…
Avanti’s Chrono Evo II is the result of an exhaustive design process and the very latest in technological innovation. It was awarded the Gold pin for the consumer category and the Purple pin, meaning the Chrono Evo II won the overall Product category in New Zealand’s Best Design Awards. Not only does it look good, it is Avanti’s fastest tri-bike ever. From advanced CAD and wind tunnel research and development, it employs a precise layup of CR5 carbon, their highest grade of carbon combined with modular monocoque…
The latest generation of Felt’s top-of-the-line DA is a product of years of research, engineering and wind-tunnel testing. Composed of UHC Ultimate+Nano carbon fiber material—shaped through extensive Computational Fluid Dynamics engineering, it’s 14% more aerodynamic and 13% stiffer then it’s predecessor. The last generation DA came in a steep price of $12,499 for a complete bike, but this year the company is making it an option to more riders…
