This is a bike built to be ridden in the aero position, and that’s what makes this a tri bike - and a good tri bike it is. If it’s Kestrel and tri specificity you’re writing about, you can start and stop with the Airfoil Pro. Yes, Chris McCormack rode the Talon in triathlons and, yes, Tim DeBoom rode a Trek Madone in the Hawaiian Ironman. But living in a garage doesn’t make you a car, and having only a Talon in your garage still means you’re without a tri geometry bike. Yes, Kestrel makes the Talon and, yes, this has been considered a tri-specific model in years past. These monocoque marvels were first introduced in the 1980s (it made the first all-carbon tri bike in 1990) and since then Kestrel has usually been at or near best in class in carbon bike design. In its former iteration, owned by Sandpoint Design and headquartered in Monterey Bay, Kestrel advertised itself as “the first name in carbon,” a claim it rightfully made. Both these bikes were conceived, however, with a sufficiency thrusting them years in front of most in their competitive set. The Airfoil Pro is like Cervelo's P3C, in that it is a model long in the tooth. The Airfoil Pro is a serious bike for grown-ups. This is not an example of a company simply buying a headbadge and no product. Fortunately (as was our case with Merlin), ASI has a strong product providing it a platform from which to work. Our goal was to place the brand on a sound financial platform while not losing the luster. Like Kestrel, Merlin was on unsound financial footing, but had a stellar brand image among its enthusiasts. But the deal was not sweet enough for us. We took a hard look at Kestrel, which in retrospect has more or less been for sale for most of its two-decade existence. In 1997 I was running what was Saucony's bicycle division, which at that time consisted of the brand I founded, Quintana Roo. (Fuji American's legal corporate name) has in front of it I know whereof I speak. When I acknowledge the challenge Advanced Sports, Inc.
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