Converting Cervelo P3 to Road bike

This is why I tell people they should buy a road bike, it is more versatile.

I would think you can convert it over for about $200-$300.

However your position will never be great, and your handleing will still be more like a tri bike than a road bike.

what year is your P3 ?

I think you'll find the P3 is going to be uncomfortable as a roadie, due to it's geometry.

It's a 2011.

the 2011 does have the two position seat post, so maybe it would work ok

But the geometry seems to be too aggressive for a road bike.

Don't waste the money... it's never going to handle well, so you're better off selling it and buying a road bike

I converted my Felt S32 to a Road bike when I got a new tri-bike. I use it to ride in cruddy weather and the random group ride. I did compare the $'s from selling it and buying a road bike but figured the hassle factor + limited use factor, went this direction. The geometry is just fine for me and what I plan to do with it.

Did it for about $155
Bought used road drop bars off ebay for $20
New 9spd shifter/brake levers for $100. I didn't feel like upgrading the whole drivetrain, cassette/RD, etc. You can easily fine used shifters on ebay that will work just fine.
Cables/bar tape for $20. Used same housing, just had to cut them down a bit.
Shorter Stem used off ebay for $15 to change the front end feel.
Also did the work myself to save a few more $'s, it was not difficult.
If you are patient, don't mind used and don't need top-end components, deals are out there to be had. I figured that since this was a 2004 bike with mostly original parts that were not top of the line at the time anyway, whatever I put on couldn't be worse......


How the bike feels? Not so stretched out, handling is more nimble. I had plenty of wiggle room with the seat so moved it back a bit, that changed the feel of the bike as well.
Con's ? can't think of much.

So all depends on what you are looking for. I just did a metric century with a group and was perfectly fine.

Not exactly.

I have done this exact conversion on several tri bikes. And I have raced very successfully on a such a bike (tri bike with drop bars and clip-ons), as have many other athletes (and pros have won triathlons on bikes like this). And the bikes handled great, zero problems. In some ways, tri bikes set up this way (correctly, of course) handle better than many road bikes (far less squirrely). The conversion is very reasonable, far far cheaper than buying another bike.

We actually have a detailed blog post about the reasons pro and con here:
http://darkspeedworks.com/blog-whatbike.htm

And a gallery of many tri bikes set up this way.
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.648558345177062.1073741825...

Give it a shot, I think you'll like it.



Edited by DarkSpeedWorks 2016-11-17 10:11 AM

But the geometry seems to be too aggressive for a road bike.

I did this on my QR a couple of years ago and have had zero regrets. Did cost me a few bucks (~ $400-500 I think) as I upgraded from 9 to 10 speed and bought Ultegra brifters. The thing that I did to offset the steeper top tube of the QR geometry was to buy a Thompson Elite seatpost (again, not cheap) with a setback. I also installed a fork with increased rake to provide better handling characteristics. In all, these modifications work pretty well and while the bike perhaps does not handle as perfectly as a designed road bike, I can't tell the difference.





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