# Soloist Team v. BMC SL01 Road Racer



## gauchoracer7 (Aug 27, 2008)

I'm going to be building up a new racing bike soon so that I can get rid of my oh so pedestrian Trek and have narrowed the framsets down to the Soloist Team and the BMC. i was just wondering if anyone here some experience comparing the two at all or had a friend who had. One question I have been wanting to answer: Is the aerodynamics on the soloist worth it or even noticeable?


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## California L33 (Jan 20, 2006)

I love my Soloist Team, and unlike a lot of people, I don't think Cervelo's marketing is all advertising puffery. On every road bike I've ever ridden you can really feel the resistance when you get to around 20 MPH, and you can feel the frame start to flex as you hammer in higher gears. The Soloist is iron stiff, and just seems to slip through it to 23, 24. I estimate that it's made me about 10% faster. That said, I don't have any experience with BMC. A guy on a BMC did try to catch me and failed (and I'm not all that fast), but he was poser in full BMC kit.


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## gauchoracer7 (Aug 27, 2008)

Thanks for the reply. I'm going to try the BMC in a couple of weeks but I'm almost sure I won't even be able to fit on it due to the super long top tube (52.5 on a 49 seat tube!!). I was on a local ride this weekend and chatted with a guy on a Soloist Team and he was raving about it as well so the odds are I'll be riding one within a month or two.


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## v22osprey (Aug 19, 2008)

Hey, give us a report about the differences between the two if you can. I'm looking at the exact same bikes (except the 2009 soloist team aka s1 has different paint)


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## thedips (Mar 26, 2007)

i have both... actually soloist team / carbon and ride bmc slt01 team and tried slc carbon.... out of all the SOLOIST TEAM is fast.... its stiff and its fast... you can really feel it wants to go faster... the carbon soloist is the same.. but takes out that harsh aluminum edge off the ride.. where i really feel the aerodynamics of a frame and stability is when im going 30+ downhill.. the soloist just seems to scream downhill... for the price and history of the cervelo soloist frame.. its really tough to beat... i think alot of the bmc stuff is gimmicky ...id say on the flats and going under 15/18mph.. its a tough call.. but anything over you can start to feel it... and another thing is that you will start to notice crosswinds more....


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## v22osprey (Aug 19, 2008)

How bad would you say the crosswind performance is for each bike?

How's the stiffness on the BMC? 

I'm a climber, but at 145 lbs I'm none too shabby on the descents. So the extra aero and stiffness of the Cervelo would be a welcome advantage.


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## thedips (Mar 26, 2007)

v22osprey said:


> How bad would you say the crosswind performance is for each bike?
> 
> How's the stiffness on the BMC?
> 
> I'm a climber, but at 145 lbs I'm none too shabby on the descents. So the extra aero and stiffness of the Cervelo would be a welcome advantage.


im like 150ish... i mean obviously with your weight ur not really gonna feel how flexy each frame is... individually... but comparing one to the other.. a soloist feels more stiff to me.... 

crosswind.. .id say i can feel it comparing the two... especially in those gusty along the beach rides here in sunny socal.... the bmc you dont tend to notice it as much of course.. but in the soloist with zipp 303s i can feel it.


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## v22osprey (Aug 19, 2008)

Well, everything is going to be stiffer than what I'm riding now. 06 Jamis Ventura Elite. It flexes when I sprint, it flexes when I climb, it flexes when I corner at high speed. The only time it doesn't flex is when I hit a bump. Sigh.

Anyway, how's the road feel on the Soloist? I might be using the bike for a coast to coast trip this next summer so...

Yeah, not so much crosswinds like that here in not so sunny maryland. What we've got (at least in my area) is hills. And head/tail winds because the wind gets into this channel between the trees along the road.


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