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STW collective, I need some help.
I'm in the market for a TT frame for some longer triathlons over the next couple of seasons.
Does anyone have any experience of the Planet-X Exocet 2 frame? I'm aware that there have been a lot of threads about customer service, but at this point I only want to know if the frame is any good.
Price-wise it looks to be a bargain 449, down from 899. Does anyone know the reason for this or is it to clear out in time for the next model?
Thanks
Matt
One chap at our club setting quite a few course records this year on his. A few others I know have them too. I'd not have any worries about getting one.
[Pulls up chair]
Im also interested in this.
It's the end of the tri-season etc so they're just getting rid of stock they don't want to sit on all winter would be my guess.
mrs has one of the mk one versions, good bike. I would look at chinese carbon frames as well but i am cheap
Maybe new one with proper routing for Di2 on the way?
No experience myself, but my dad hasn't managed to beat his Houghton CC 9 mile times this season. He was on a road bike with clip ons last year, and is now on a Planet X TT bike.
Admittedly, he's mid 50's and has had to raise the bar height a bit using a shorter, high rise stem, but even so, he's not been any quicker. The course is probably quite technical by TT standards too, as you do two laps of a circuit, and from memory, four of those turns are at a t junction, where you may need to give way, and the other four are sharp left turns.
A dual carriageway with some nice big roundabouts may be a bit different.
Admittedly, he's mid 50's and has had to raise the bar height a bit using a shorter, high rise stem, but even so, he's not been any quicker.
I'd have thought that was down to the position being too comprimised than any fault in the bike, if he cant get low without losing more power than he saves in aeroduynamic gains then he'll be slower.
i've been racing IM distance for a couple of season now on a exocet 2, it's faired pretty well, it's a pretty solid buy without being spectacular, handles is a pretty confident manner (of course also depending your finishing kit), maintenance etc is ok, the internal routing is easy to manage.
one thing to be aware of, especially for long distance stuff is that the head tube is very short, I ride an XL at 6'2 and use all the spacers possible and my stem points up (50mm stem) and i still have a super aggressive position (had a retul fit done after my first season).
not sure if this help, if you've got any specific questions ask away.
Alan,
How do you find the reach on the XL? I am just 6'2 and was looking at the large. Mostly this is because I have a road bike, which is also a 'large' and I find it a stretch, even with a short stem. Having said that I have just measured it and it is 575 effective top tube, which looks to be longer than the XL.
Would the L be an even more aggressive set-up with the same kit?
Matt
matt,
i think at 6'2 you need the XL, there is a lot of seat post showing on mine (33" legs), the reach is fine for me, bear in mind that its not like a road bike, depending on aggressiveness, but it's pretty much determined by your back length, as you want your shoulders and elbows at 90degrees, the relative geometry between a road bike and TT bike top tube doesnt really compute as your kinda holding it with your elbows....
?ill try and dig out a photo so you can see how it looks on me.
alan
Recommend some Zipp Vuka bars. Reckon pretty much anything can be made to fit as they are so adjustable.
Alan,
Thanks, that makes a lot of sense when you see the picture.
I'm about 34.5" inside leg, which initially made me think of the smaller frame size.
What bars are you using, can you adjust them backwards and forwards?
The blue also looks better in reality!
Matt
The bike was an off the shelf job, so it's got the px bars, which are actually reasonable adjustable, though I changed from s to j bends. You can adjust the reach between the elbows and bends but the elbow fore aft movement has to be done by changing stems, I like them because they allow wide elbows unlike lots which was critical for my comfort over 5+hrs
You can adjust the reach between the elbows and bends but the elbow fore aft movement has to be done by changing stems,
That's the great thing about the Zipp Vuka. The clamp to fix the poles to the bars is separate from the clamp that attaches the pads to the poles. So loads of fore/aft pad movement without changing the stem.