2008 Cervelo Soloist Team aluminiun, Dura Ace 7800

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I bought this bike around October last year. I have always appreciated Cervelo's and when this Soloist came up secondhand in my size (61cm) for a good price I jumped at it.

It had been owned by an occasional triathlete who had used it lightly and lost interest so when I purchased it, it had an X lab aero cage mount and an iSM saddle. I stripped that off and here's a photo of what it looked like with the original wheels, ITM finishing kit and ultegra 6600.



I ordered lots of parts in anticipation of the final build but in the interim I put some FSA omega bars and stem I had on (the ITM finishing kit was very heavy) and put my wheel set from my old bike on (Shimano RS81 C35's) and trimmed the cables down to the proper length. It then weighed 8.635kg and looked like this:



I used that as my baseline and ordered a Fizik Arione (K:ium rails), FSA SL-K stem and bars (120mm, 44cm respectively) and some SL-K composite cages (28g each) and some Look Keo 2 Max pedals which I put Ti spindles in. I hunted down a full Dura Ace 7800 group set on eBay and changed the stem, seatpost and bidon cage bolts for Ti, and put on some KCNC chainring bolts and Ti skewers.

I also changed to 25mm tyres (Veloflex Master) with Maxxis flyweight tubes. Here is how it looks now:



Final weight was 7980g with Garmin mount and cadence/speed sensors. I am quite pleased with this especially as it has a heavy fork (Wolf racing CL with cr-mo steerer, about 480g) and wheelset.

I am hoping to have some older (2009-2010) Zipp 808 tubulara on it by the end of the year and maybe a 3T Funda Pro for around 7.3kg and a whole lot of aero for such an older aluminium bike.

I wish I had the budget some others do to spend on my bikes!!

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I need to take some decent photos on the coast this weekend and write up a component list

[sib]

Very cool frame.
The tan sidewalls match nicely, too.

What's that funny thing wrapped around the seatpost?
Do you now have the seatpost setback pointing forwards??

[BmanX]

@sib, this frame along with other Cervelo frames came with a seat post that would allow the head of the post to be flipped forward like the last picture effectively changing the STA to about 76° or 78° depending on the frame. For this frame I believe it moved the STA to 76°.

I used to have a Cervelo Dual (like this frame but steeper STA) and had two seat post heads, 1 for steep STA riding for triathlons with a tri saddle and 1 for relaxed STA riding with a road saddle.

[sib]

Thanks for that, @BmanX.

I had no idea - very interesting.
I do think it looks better pointed backwards, though!

[BmanX]

Agreed.

[gsindela]

cool bike. congrats.

[poursuivant]

Thanks guys.

The seatpost is configurable to 78/76 degrees as BManX alluded to. The forward position is intended for TT and triathletes to facilitate a lower, more forward position on aero bars.

However.. I am 195cm tall with long legs (saddle to centre of the BB is 870mm) so as I ride a 61cm frame with about 28cm of seatpost showing the saddle ends up a long way behind the bottom bracket (less than optimal for power according to my bike fitter/exercise physiologist) so he suggested we try the forward position to get me 5cm behind the BB - Once I got used to it my power increased significantly and I can get lower with more comfort.

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So once I put the Ti axles in I finished the bike there for now and it weighed in at 7995g which met my goal of <8kg but only just.





It has some giant carbon cages there as my wife stole the sl-k's for her tcr- they are about the same weight.

I ended up changing back to continental race 28 tubes because I had trouble with getting the maxxis featherweights in Perth and also with air loss when I was riding the bike every day (~300km/week).

The Ti skewers and axles have been a bit problematic as well. The axles may either be slightly undersized or the retaining collars (interference fit on the axle) have stretched a bit from taking them off of the CrMo axles the collars have been moving creating play and causing the pedals to creak and one to come apart during a particularly hard climb - not fun.

The Ti QR's are lovely but the front one creaks on my carbon fork - intermittently sticking a bit of carbon paste where it seats helps.

This is about as low as I could go practically (without lots of money on super light tuning parts and a change of wheels and fork) and I feel for all round use around this weight is okay for me as I am not a climber.

I recently decided to focus my training and riding for competing in some TT's as I like this type of riding.

In light of this I decided some new wheels were in order..



They are 2010 HED Stinger 9 tubulars. I picked them up for a song from a triathlete who has gone over to clinchers.

Stay tuned.. My tubs get here later this week.

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Tufo S33 Pro 24's test fitted .. got the first coats of glue on the wheels today and have the tubs stretching on a spare pair of rims.

Rough weight with the new wheels .. 7.85kg (with HED skewers)

So excited!

[Frankie - B]

Wow, AL bike porn!

Personally, I love to see an older Alloy Cervelo. those HED wheels will certainly bring it to life. there is one thing though. Friends don't let friends ride Tufo's. For your next tires, please buy from another brand. Continental Spinters are a very underrated tire in my eyes.

[poursuivant]

Glad you like it. I love aero AL bikes.

This is my first foray into tubs and gluing, I knew I wouldn't be able to stop myself from training on them - so I went for some cheap tufo's to get the hang of things. I also needed a spare and didn't quite have $250 for three tyres.

Next tyres will likely be Vitoria Corsa's as I love a good tan wall (not the prosthetic limb beige of the tufo's).

I run continental usually but the boring grey anodised finish of the Soloist needs some colour and currently Continental aren't doing a tan wall tubular besides the Giro which I've heard mixed things about.

I was very tempted by the sprinter and that will be stronger contender for my next tyre if I can live without a tan wall.

Thanks for your comments I was beginning to think nobody liked my bike!

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Raining cats and dogs in Perth this weekend so I got my tubs glued. First time doing this so it was a bit painful.

Next time a little less glue and I think I have the technique now.



Looks the business! I took half the HED stickers off the rims too .. I am still considering totally de-stickering them.



Came in at 7815g which I am pleased with. I went with the tufo's as they were cheap and supposedly quite durable. I didn't want to ruin a set of good tyres if I completely stuffed the gluing process. I will run Vittoria corsas or continental comp's soon, saving about 80-90g.

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Trying to get some more colour on the bike so switching to white jaguar road pro cables and white/logo fizik super light 2mm bar tape.

Also switching out the bolts on my K-edge for Ti for the hell of it.

Still looking at fork upgrades but want to stay with a 43mm rake to preserve the excellent and stable handling. Waiting for a guy to get back to me about a Cervelo P4 full carbon fork (straight 1&1/8" full carbon) advertised locally. This would save approximately 100-150g.

Really wanting to paint or polish/anodise the frame red but don't want to have the bike off of the road for long so that's on the back burner.

Planning to change the tyres for Vittoria Corsa's in 25mm eventually with a tan wall.

I am getting used to the stinger 9's but wish I had a shallower 50 or 60mm front wheel to switch in and out for when the sea breeze is gusting up. Even with my 75kg it gets pretty wild when it's windy. Quick wheels though. I'd love to rebuild them with silver spokes and upgrade the hub to 11spd one day.

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Changed over to Vittoria Corsa Elite 23mm tubulars. Excellent tyres. Saved about 60g here over the Tufo's.

Changed to a single position carbon seatpost (made by Ritchey I believe) saving over 70g from the two position post and being much stiffer, less prone to creaking. Just waiting for the Ti bolts to arrive and will be replacing the steel bolts in the post with those. More for corrosion resistance than anything.

I added some weight back on changing over from the carbon cages to some Elite cannibals. Just so much nicer to use. Function wins out here.

I've ordered a NOS full carbon fork (OEM fork from a Cube) with a 12k weave, which will save some ~100g. I wanted a Columbus tusk straight or a Grammy slim but this came up at a cracking price.

I'm also changing saddles (again) to a Fizik Tritone TT/Tri noseless saddle in my never ending quest for the right saddle.

Having a 16.8cm drop puts a lot of pressure on certain delicate areas, so a noseless saddle has been recommend. I gave the Arione ~12 months.

I felt the Antares wasn't a great departure from what I've tried before and decided to follow the recommendations of my bike fitter.

https://goo.gl/photos/ByCxiSecmswVjSxT8