ht001

Does anyone have an opinion on the '06 Caliente (Carbon, DA rear der, Ultegra front der, Real Design deep dish wheels, carbon crank) in comparison with the Kuota K Factor (Carbon frame, all Ultegra, Reynolds Aero Comp Wheels). I have a great price opportunity on the Caliente, but doesn't look like I'll be able to test ride it. Measurement wise it would fit. I have ridden the K Factor and found it to be a great fit and a wonderful ride. Just want to see if there are any thoughts among you forum-ites.

StalkerZERO

Please understand I'm not a TT guy at all but for looks alone I would go with the kuota. Was at sbrmultisports in manhattan the other day and their shop is full of kuota TT bikes. Man were they ever so suhweeeeet!
And, if you have a good fit with the Kuota I mean sure go for it.
So why can't you test any caliente's?

ht001

I actually bought the Caliente on Friday.

Ended up getting a screaming deal on it, which made it so I couldn't pass it up. Did get to ride it breifly and found it to be as smooth as the K - Factor in aero position, but snappier out of the saddle. I'm so excited to get out and ride it...only thing is I'm having the shop replace the Vision TT Aero Bars with Profile Carbon Stryke's (because the former don't allow the fore and aft adjustment that I need to achieve the best fit) so the bike is in the shop for a few days. Now I just have to see if I'll be adjusted to the bike enough to race it in 2 weeks.

Since I don't have mine to show off yet, I'll let you look at this link...

https://rooworld.com/bikes/2006/caliente.aspx

StalkerZERO

Oh dude thats hot!
Please tell me u got it in those colors black and yellow. Man thats nice. You realize of course that it is now mandatory for you to take pics of your actual ride to share with us right? Forum rules you know.

Triguy

The Real Design wheels are the same as Zipp Flashpoints, so they'll be good wheels. Being able to ride a bike before buying it is big, but not a necessity.

Same price? I'd go QRoo
Retail price? I'd go Kuota and spend the extra $1000 on the exact wheels( A renn 575 and Hed Stinger front) I wanted

TheCahill

selling the visions ??
if so pop me a PM

StalkerZERO

OMG dude where are the bike pics?
If you continue your insubordination I might be forced to report you to the admin.

bsyptak

ALRIGHT ALREADY...pics forthcoming. They'll be here tomorrow...Promise!

ht001

Sorry...sent that under the other username in the household....we're constantly on the forums one way or another and don't always log out! Koffee investigated us one time just to make sure we were legit. All's well!

Triguy

Woahh, congrats on the bike. I look up the Lucero(same frame but comes in one other 650 size) once every couple of weeks to dream. I am jealous.

ht001

At long last, here are the pictures.

El Caliente is muy rapido!

Triguy

Very, very nice. I gotta say it's better than a Kuota

dotnate

I think I am getting ready to pull the trigger on the same bike. The fitter thinks it'd be great for me (as well as the Seduza, & etc.) I am curious on your thoughts a few weeks later. Also, are those wheels durable enough for training or do I need to figure a training set into the price. I plan on doing most of my training on my ole steel road bike but I'd like to figure for each race a course training ride plus two loosen up rides the week of the race all on the Caliente. I guess for me, that'd be about 20 rides per year on those wheels (hmmm...which means a 5 year bike, 20 rides per year, roughly $4k after tax and pedals, a cost of $40 per ride). Can the wheels handle those levels? Can they handle more riding?

28105

Those wheels are crap use them for training, and get a pair of zipps.

ht001

dotnate,

I'm a few weeks into my ownership of the Caliente and each time I ride it I find I like it even better. It is a sweet fast carbon ride. I was a little iffy on the FSA chainrings initially because it didn't seem to shift as nicely as I was used to from my Ultegra ones on my road bike. But I'm not having that much trouble with it any more...maybe because I'm not shifting much there these days....

As for the wheels, I don't think I can comment on their durability. This is my first experience with these sorts of wheels so I can't really combare the longevity of these vs any other race wheels. You might find that for training that a standard wheel would be better all around for a couple of reasons. My front wheel is a little noisy with a creaking sound on the carbon piece. My tri coach says that is to be expected with wheels like these, and he's had experience with many different race wheel sets. I also had 3 flats on my rear wheel and learned quickly that there is a learning curve on changing tubes in these puppies. I've done some long training rides on my wheels to date and I haven't had any issues.

Send me a PM if you have more questions. I'd be glad to chat more about it.

28105

I having been looking at tri bikes for a long time. The Caliente and kuota are very sweet bikes. I added scott bikes to the choices. I have been riding 3 years now and have gotten 1 flat in that time. You must be getting good and changing flats.

Triguy

Getting flats is a crazy thing. Last year I never had a ride over 50 miles where I didn't get one. This year I've done %50 more mileage with no flats all year. Of course this year I have the 300 gram $10 tires and last year I had some $40 tires, haha go figure.

As for the quality of the wheels, they are the same as the Zipp Flashpoints, so really, you did get a pair of Zipps. Creaking I'm not sure about, might want to get into the bike store just to be sure. It also could be not getting your front skewer tight enough.

I'm glad you enjoy the bike. Keep on logging those miles.

munckee

Does QR sell frames anywhere, or just complete bikes?

StalkerZERO

I am sufficiently titillated thank you.

EDIT: No wait! I'm angry dammit!! You mean to tell me that first picture is real and not a fake background? So lemme get this straight........you apparently live in some heaven on earth......place....and are riding around with MY BIKE???
The outright nerve!!!

rplong

That is a really sweet bike. I like the color scheme. Like Stalker said, you live in a really nice place.

Jstyle

I am so jealous it's insane...

StalkerZERO

omg where do you live ht001? I want to move there!