One of my clients wanted to upgrade his Tri bike from the faithful steed that I set him up on five years ago. At the top of the option list I gave him was the Speed Concept 7.0 – not only does it offer the best value but after running the numbers it also offered the best match for his position (it’s nice when life works out that way).

It’s an impressive bike on paper and in the flesh, the thought that has gone into the Speed Concept (SC) range clearly shows. It’s no stretch to say that the announcement of the SC range was the most exciting news for 2011 Tri bikes.

The 7.0 is the base level carbon frame model, equipped with SRAM Apex and Bontrager parts. The only failings with the spec are the round basebar and a set of uncomfortable aerobars. So I swapped these for the well proven Vision modular set up.

I’d also mention that I’m not a huge fan of the Tektro front brake caliper, though it does do the job so I don’t class that as a critical upgrade (unlike aerobars – the use of which is the whole point of a Tri bike).

Naturally we fitted it with the Draft Box (the fin behind the seat tube) as the innovative storage solutions (the Draft Box is for tools/tubes) this bike offers are a large part of the appeal. We also fitted the very nifty Bontrager Duotrap – a speed/cadence sensor that is integrated into the chainstay that uses the ANT+ protocol so you can pair it with any ANT+ head unit.

In race dress the bike will wear a set of 50mm carbon wheels that the rider already owns.
This is the first 7-Series I’ve worked on and it was definitely easier than the 9-Series (the integrated front end of the 9s can be time consuming).

As is my standard practice I drilled the Aerobars to route the cables over the top of the bars to give a better cable path into the frame. Paying attention to cables is worthwhile for both aerodynamics (less stuff in the wind) and  for improving the ease of shifting.

The front view: as you can see in the front on view it’s very easy to keep the cockpit area clean (I’ll find a better spot for taking photos next time).

I can promise that this will not be the first 7-Series bike that I recommend or sell. It ticks the boxes of all the factors that matter most in a Tri Bike purchase – it’s easy to fit people to, it’s really fast and it’s one of the cheaper carbon bikes on the market.