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Kestrel Talon review
- Price Paid:$2,500.00
-
User rating:(4.6)
- Would buy again from this company: Yes
- Used product for: 2 months
- # of logged workouts:
"One thing I found out about the Talon is that it is actually a podium finisher in an Ironman Race, as I had found out on youtube. Very nice bike and looking forward to future rides."brianyanowski
Ease of use
Once the bike was built--very easy to ride. The SRAM bar-end shifters work great, and are very smooth when shifting gears.
Quality of Construction
Top quality components--nice paint job.
Fit
I am 5'11 and chose to a 55 cm frame--fits me like a glove. I did my own fitting through trial and error and research both online and with books. I had to play with the right saddle position, but once I got it dialed in, the bike fits great.
Comfort
Very comfortable in the aero position--and out as well. Bike is lightweight, (18 pounds) and first all carbon fiber bike I had purchased. I want to note that I have always experienced a little lower back pain in the past when riding in the aero position over an extended amount of time, but not with this bike.
Adjustability
Barrel adjustments work great, seat, as well as seat height and handlebar adjustments are pretty easy to adjust.
Durability
So far so good. Just rode 100 miles yesterday in the Honolulu Century Ride and handled the bumps superbly.
Value
great value from bikes direct. The bike is easily a $4,000 value.
Appearance
sleek and race ready looks. I chose the red/black paint scheme, with white lettering.
Performance
Awesome performance with the century ride--flies up hills and handles well in the downhill sections of a ride
Strengths
Lightweight frame, comfort, paint job (red and black), supplied mavic wheelset, and profile design aerobars with SRAM force shifters/ derailluers.
Weakness
I was dissappointed with how much assembly was required upon opening the box. I had ordered a previous bike from the same company and did not require that much assembly (Windsor.) This bike did however. I switched out the seat as well, the factory Kestrel seat that came with the bike was a little hard.
- 22 people use
- 1262 workouts logged
- 59010.78 miles / 3411.5 hours logged
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Ease of installation
Bike needed some assembly upon arrival from Bikes Direct. I had taken it to a local bike shop to get a professional assembly, as I was not prepared to tune front/rear derailluers and install cable linkages, and SRAM bar end shifters, etc. I would have attempted more of the assembly, but the instructions were a little vague and unclear for installation purposes.