My Meivici test ride

[Blastinbob]

I made the 60 mile trip to Sundance on Saturday to give the Demo fleet Meivici a try. I went up early in the morning, long before they opened, to get some miles in on my Ottrott. As some of you know I have put many miles on a Calfee Luna, some on a Tetra and many miles on a Parlee Z2, so I was really looking forward to trying out the new carbon Serotta.
I patiently waited for the bike to return from the Sundance group ride. When the bike returned, James tightened up my pedals and made the necessary seat adjustment then off I went. If you have ever been to Sundance you know that you are in a prime So Cal. riding area, if you love hills this is a great place to ride. Within a few hundred yards of the store my climbing began and continues for some time. I really wanted to see how well it climbed and descend at speed. It rode very similar to the Parlee, more so then the Calfee, making climbing feel almost effortless. I figured the ST would soften up the rear end, which it did, nicely soaking up the hash bumps and holding the rear tire to the pavement on the high speed down hills. The bike was equipped with Zipp 303's which caused the bike to move in the crosswind I had on the big descent.
The demo bike I rode was a sdt 56 with all 6.5 tubes, including the F3 6.5 fork, with my weight the 8.5 tubes would better suit me. The 6.5 fork gave more feedback then the 8.5 fork on my Ottrott, but I personally prefer the F3 8.5 (which rides very much like the old F2). The bottom bracket was solid/stiff, I would see no need to go with the heavier chainstay option because this one worked just fine. The only thing I didn't do was ride it down a twisty downhill, but I would assume that with the typical Serotta angles it would handle no different then my legend or my ottrott.

If I were in the market for a carbon bike this would be high on the list, but the cost as compared to a custom Parlee would be a big influence on my decision, if I had to decide. It's still a carbon bike and rides like a carbon bike, good or bad, that's for you to decide. All in all it is an awesome bike with tons of potential to be tuned to your liking, but for me I'm going to stick with what I have.............. for now. :beer:

Okay Jack, how did your test ride go?

[Fixed]

bro nice post from someone who knows carbon thanks .cheers :beer:

[1centaur]

That review is exactly what I expected. A very good CF bike up to top current standards with more design angle flexibility, presumably, than at least most of the competition. As someone with normal proportions, price and aesthetics, rather than quality, become the differentiating factors.

[Blastinbob]

Yes, as expected it looks to be of the same detail to finish as any other top carbon builders that I have seen (limited as it may be). I was a little surprised how much lighter it was then my Parlee with a similar build, as far as wheel weight and components. The bike I rode was, according to James, a shade under 16 lbs and it did feel like it. If money wasn't an issue I would most definately have one built, pimp it with carbon wheels, Zipp cranks, zero gravity brakes...... a serious climbing bike that you could ride all day without feeling beat up.

[05Fierte TI]

Bob, can you compare teh Meivici to the Luna you have put soo many miles on? The Meivici is out of my price range, the Calfee is not.

[Blastinbob]

The Luna wins the best buy award hands down, it's a excellent price for an American made carbon bike. It had slightly quicker steering then the Serotta, but that could have been changed with a different fork rake. The ride on the Calfee is vertically stiffer then the Meivici as was the Parlee too. The Meivici and the Parlee feel very similar climbing out of the saddle, all the tubes attached to the bb are larger (especially the Meivici chainstays) on both frames vs those attached to the bb on the Luna Pro , not that it is a bad climbing bike but IMO not on the same level. You can't really compare the 2 frames ( Luna & Meivici ) because the Luna Pro comes one way, no modifications other then a HT ext. and the Meivici is a total custom.The one I test rode was designed for a much lighter rider.
Like I said in the beginning the Luna is more affordable carbon frame ( $1495 ) and rides much the same as it's brother the Tetra Pro. Do you have the opportunity to a Luna or Tetra out on a 50 or 60 miler to see if you want a carbon bike? Carbon frames have a different feel to them, not to everyones liking.
Not sure if I helped but I gave it a go.
Bob

[rnhood]

I have a Calfee Tetra built with the standard Serotta geometry - meaning it is just a bit relaxed from the standard Calfee geometry. I weigh 200 lbs and my bike simply does not flex. It is a model of efficiency and, as effortless as any bike that I have ridden (which is actually not too many). This makes climbing relatively easy which, is high on the priority list when going up and down the hills in SW Virginia where I seem to do most of my riding. The advantages to the Calfee are; efficiency, stability, and buzz free. It's exhudes a quiet and refined behavior, especially on good pavement.

The disadvantage of the Calfee in my opinion is that it is a brutally stiff bike. It rides smooth as butter on nice pavement but, over rough pavement with pot holes the bike is jarring. There is virtually no give in the frame (or fork). I mitigate the stiffness by running my tires about 90-95 lbs and, I am getting ready to put larger tires on it (as large as it will take anyway). But for now, it's stiff.

From my understanding, the Luna rides 99% like the Tetra except you can't get custom geometry on the Luna, I don't believe. Also, my frame as the extra-stiff tubes which were recommended for my weight but, might explain some of the stiffness.

[CarbonCycles]

First, thank you for the write-up. I'm in the midst of building up a new ride, and you are fortunate enough to have experienced the bikes I am looking at. This may sound like a very odd request, but would it be too much for you to compare the Mei with the Otrr and Parlee? The Mei sounds like a very good bike but 6kittens is pretty steep for just a frame. Thank you very much in advance. If you would rather, I can pm you just as well.

[LegendRider]

I bought a Calfee back when they were called Carbonframes. It was a great bike - very advanced for its time - but the geometry didn't work for me. Recently, I purchased a Parlee Z1x and it is without question the finest bike I've ever owned. I put it ahead of the Legend because I was able to design the frame myself (as opposed to stock geo on my Serotta) and the fact it is stiffer and lighter while maintaining a great road feel. I'm sure the MeiVici would be tremendous as well. My only complaint is the pricing. Parlee just raised prices and we all know how much a MeiVici costs.

[Blastinbob]

First, thank you for the write-up. I'm in the midst of building up a new ride, and you are fortunate enough to have experienced the bikes I am looking at. This may sound like a very odd request, but would it be too much for you to compare the Mei with the Otrr and Parlee? The Mei sounds like a very good bike but 6kittens is pretty steep for just a frame. Thank you very much in advance. If you would rather, I can pm you just as well.
I feel that my Ottrott rides more like a ti bike then a carbon bike, road feel is dampened more. The Parlee, like the Calfee, have much more road feel, I don't think the frames absorb much. Like RN said a bigger tire, lower air pressure or maybe a fork with more flex to soften up the ride. My Parlee had an F2, so I could have gone softer with a ouzo pro, which rode similar to the F3 6.5. It also required me to run a lower tire pressure in the rear then I normally would. Now on my Ottrott I don't find it at all necessary to run a lower tire pressure in the rear. Now the Mei still has a carbon bike feel but with a vertically softer rear.

Bob

[05Fierte TI]

Thanks for the great opinions!!!

[vaxn8r]

I don't see how you can compare custom Tetra Pro to custom Parlee vs Meivici with any degree of certainty. You can tune any of these to ride exactly how you want with different stiffness tube sets, forks or geometries. I also don't understand why some seem to question Calfee geometry. His standard geometry is very standard with pretty much any other race bike including Serotta.

FWIW, my Legend and Tetra Pro are "std geometry" from each manufacturer and to me the bikes are interchangable in how they handle. I think some are attributing "twitchy handling" to geometry when it might be more likely to come from a lighter bike/front end and not geometry. My Legend/Ouzo soaks up a bit more road noise than the Tetra Pro/Alpha Q but not by much. The Tetra Pro feels stiffer out of the saddle but I'm not sure that translates into speed up hill and certainly not on the flats. They're both fast, efficient bikes. The Ottrott ST/F2 I've been on is a great bike too. It feels fast too though I didn't feel as efficient climbing on it as my bikes. In a sprint it felt really fast. Could be my positioning on the bike or maybe the ST, I couldn't say for sure. Again, there are so many variables it's hard to draw too manyhard and fast conclusions.

[Climb01742]

vax makes some good points, i think. over bad roads, my ottrott absorbs all the crap better than either my parlee or time. but for pure acceleration and climbing, the parlee and time are more to my liking. as vax sez, with so many variables, it is hard to pinpoint things but my personal take-away is: (over-simplified) that ti mellows things out better than carbon, but that carbon transfers energy better. my very unscientific guess as to why is that ti, being a metal, flexes some when you hit something like a big old pothole, and carbon doesn't. but this is just me trying to explain something i feel while riding. i'd be very curious to ride a legend back-to-back with a meivici, both tuned for a light rider, both with serotta stock geo. would be interesting, i think.

[CarbonCycles]

I agree with both comments said above, as for me, I was asking for general feedback such as the comments on the hybrid Ott versus the carbon bikes. You guys are absolutely right that they can be tuned to one's liking. Thanks for all the input and please keep them coming.