Now i am a newbie, but i say ride it, kill it, and then talk about it!!!  To sweet of a date to not take to the prom. When i get a Tri bike and put the roadie away, i will be looking for that exact bike but in the 2006/7 black and blue!! 

good luck with the new ride, great choice!!

No, it's not a great idea. I went from an upright, beach cruiser configuration (not kidding) to an aggressive tri-bike configuration RIGHT before an Oly. It wasn't pretty.

However, in your case, it's not necessarily the world's worst idea. Plenty of ppl I know have rented a tri bike for a triathlon--even a HIM. You have ten days to get used to and tweak the bike.

My random thoughts: You should bring in your road bike for the fitting, be honest about doing the race, and have them fit you to the tri bike very closely approximating your road fit. After the race, you should probably have another fitting done, one that really tunes you in to this particular bike.

Do you have aerobars on your road bike?  It takes different muscles to ride in the aero position.

Very important Q. I didn't even think of that. I just assumed you had a road bike with drops and clip-ons.

Yes, the roadie is set up as aggressively as it can be.

Then get the Cervelo, put the roadie for sale on Craigslist, and don't look back.

You're getting the bike anyway, make it a condition that they have it ready for you by this weekend. Over the weekend, get in a couple 30-40 mile rides to see if you have any unresolvable issues.

Then, decide which bike you're going to ride in the HIM.

I think my first gut instinct is ride the new bike. Then comes a little reality.

First, is this the last race of the season for you? If it is, you can stomach the possibility of getting an injury from a less than perfect set up. ( Think sholders from the aero set up, trust me it sucks). Second what do you do for work. If you sit for a living, any additionaly sore mussles could be ignored more than if you have to do physical labor with new sore spots. The third issue is how well trained are you? If this race is going to be a struggle/just finish type of race, stick to what you know, otherwise, ride the new bike. Last point, how much do you trust your LBS to get a perfect fit/ assembly the first time. Nothing is worse than a derailer that is just a little out of adjustment, or a brake pads rubbing for 56 miles.

I do agree if you can get it set up and ride this weekend, it would help. Personaly, I would wait and buy the same bike in Feb. when they realy need to get rid of it for about $400 less than the awsome deal they are offering now.

I personally would not make any decisions regarding which bike to ride until you have put down some miles on it. Now as a fellow triathlete going through the process of purchasing a Cervelo P2C myself, I would bet that after a short ride, you will "Know".

One of the strongest points during the sales process for a Cervelo is the test ride. Once your on it, there is no reason not to eat the cake

Me: I am going to race a Sprint a week after I get mine just to get a feel for the bike before I head into the remains of my tri season with it.

i think you have enough time to do a recovery ride to get the feel of the bike; and a free fitting; and you only live once so you should live hard; if you have the cash, I would get the bike.

You've already done the stupid thing (go try it at the LBS) so we can't do much more damage...

If you pick it up today, you can ride it tonight, Thursday night, a nice long ride Saturday (which you'd have to do...you know...to get really familiar with this new bike... ) a short recovery ride Sunday, and short rides Tuesday and Thursday.  By my tally, that'd be about 125 miles.  (Would the LBS be able to re-adjust shifters after the cables stretch and before the race? ) 

On the other hand, is that enough time to scrub the mold release gunk off the tires.  Would you feel comfortable riding a new bike in a (possibly large) crowd?  Your HIM might be hilly enough that you won't gain much from the P2C over your existing bike.  Will your wife still get up with you at 3AM on race day after you've spent the next 10 days fawning/lusting over your carbon mistress?  (Don't forget, it'll take time to get pedals, computer, cages, etc. installed. ) 

Finally, come August 25, will you still cherish that P2C?  Is there some reason they're trying to move it and you'll find yourself with the equivalent of a spent Kleenex when you realize what else is out there for 2009? 

Not to hijack this thread, but a couple responses mention waiting for the '09 models. It's still early enough in the year to get a lot of time in on an '08 if you're buying now, so is it really worth waiting?

And if it were me, I'd ride the bike in the race. But I have a crappy road bike so it would pain me to know I had a P2C sitting at home. 

Last year I got my B2 frame in April, built it up, rode about 2 weeks on it, got a pair of Zipp 999's that arrived 3 days before my first race of the season.  I just barely had enough time to stretch the tires on the rims for a day, glue them for a day and test ride them to make sure they didn't roll off the rim.

Then on Sunday I raced the bike .........

Yeah, if you are fit correctly to it, and get a few rides in, you could probably use it.  But here's the caveat: you are going to push the pace because of "new bike syndrome" and are going to put in a great bike split compared to what you would usually do.  And then??  You are going to have one of your worst runs ever ........ a sprint or an oly??  Sure.  I'd say go for it.  A HIM??  I would probably do it, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.

Your legs, your race, your call.

I would ride the bike if I bought it....

I would however make them sweeten the deal.  I would ask for:

FREE Fit (It's included by a top national tri shop here)

50% off accessories

I would work down the price say $2300.00 or less. 

$2500.00 is the asking price here.  You're late in the '08 season so they'll probably lower the price anyway pretty soon.  '09's are coming.

What's the worst they can say...No then you're right where you started.  Chances are they are just as excited to sell it as you are to buy it!!!

Don't talk to the hot chick again...they use jedi mind tricks on weak minded men like ourselves...personally I always find a ugly dude salesman that way I'm not persudaded by..."you look good on that bike...."

Good luck.

2,500 is msrp on the p2c with ult groupo.

free fit is std with bike purchased around here along with 10 to 15 % off assc. 

Add to the fact that its getting late in the season, that "Deal" isn't very good imho. 

If you do get the p2c(at whatever the cost) a few training rides should be fine.  No one says you HAVE to ride aero position for all 56 miles.

Don't ride it. Please don't!!!