This week I conduct three product reviews I've been anticipating: Quintana Roo's PR7; Cervelo's P2K; and the bike I review herein. These bikes all have one thing in common: a more than cursory sophistation in their approach to the notion of "aero" bikes, yet still at prices that are affordable.

Those who've followed my opinions on such matters will expect me to pooh-pooh the idea of aero tubes in a tri frame, but I thought I ought to stop talking about this subject in a theoretical sense and just get out and ride the damn things, put serious miles on these bikes. This week has been spent on the Mariola.

Though these three bikes have some commonalities, they also have distinctive sets of features on which they hang their hats. QR's PR7 is U.S.-built frame containing a terrific-looking seat tube -- that much of it is made in Taiwan -- which fairs the rear wheel. Cervelo has come closer to achieving the holy grail of Hookerdom than has any company (if you don't know what I'm talking about you'll have to wait until we interview Gary Hooker, and expose you to an online-photo-essay of the most aero double-triangle bike in history).

The Yaqui is the only tri-specific company we're aware of that uses Easton's Scandium tubing. Furthermore, this alloy -- red hot in road cycling right now -- is available from Yaqui Cycles in both round and aero configurations. But I must digress and talk a little about the company -- and its owners -- before I talk about the bikes it builds.

Owner/builder Ves Mandaric is a Yugoslavian who fled his country right when things started getting dicey. Prior to that his bikes showed up under Russian -- and other eastern bloc -- national team, trade team, and Olympic riders. He and his family's first new-world point of disembarcation was Eastern Canada. Discovering it was cold there, the Mandarics eventually (did the smart thing and) angled southward to San Diego. Mandaric has built for several companies, including QR, and if you own a steel QR road race bike -- a #101, or a Palomar -- Mandaric built the frame bottom to top. If you own a 1999 or earlier Private Reserve, Monitor, Redstone, or aluminum road race bike from QR, he most likely welded it.

So the owners of this brand come with a resume. What they don't come with, at least yet, is a website, or any fancy literature. They are bike builders, and any shop or individual wanting a bike from them will have to endure some provincialism. These people are Europeans, and it's much like buying a bike from a small Italian builder: come in, sit down, have a cup of Turkish coffee, argue about how many switchbacks there are on the Mortirolo, and perhaps eventually talk about the bike you want. That said, if what you want is a well-built Scandium tri bike you go to Yaqui Cycles or you don't go anywhere at all. Since I happen to be intrigued by the Scandium product, it was to Yaqui Cycles I went.

The bike I rode was an aero-tubed, Scandium-alloy, internally cable-routed (well, the rear brake cable, at least) bike with 700c wheels, a steep (78 degree) seat angle, and a Kinesis Carbon Airfoil fork. While this model is called the Mariola, a round-tubed Scandium bike is also in Yaqui's linup, and is called an Ocotillo. Top age-grouper Peggy McDowell picked up one of these just prior to Perth Worlds.

The 59cm Mariola I test-rode came with a Dura Ace kit throughout, Syntace SLs mounted on a Syntace flat Stratos base bar, and also sporting Syntace's brake levers (Space Controls). While I loved this bike entirely, through-and-through, up-and-down, credit must be given to the impression Syntace makes on the rider. Slowtwitch will soon publish an overview of tri-bike front-ends and we'll go into more detail on Syntace's achievements. Suffice it to say that putting an entirely "Syntaced" front on one's bike will make anything ride more nicely.

But I still had to make some adjustments, like cutting down the Streamliners. As with the C2s, all Syntace aero bars come with extensions that have about twice as much metal protruding after the final bend than is needed. I always must take a hacksaw or tube-cutter and whack off two to four centimeters. I also got a quick reminder as to why I don't like Shimano Hollow-crank technology. While the Q-factor is identical to previous Shimano cranks, the outside of the crank in the bottom bracket area sticks out a full 11mm further away from the bike than old-style Dura Ace cranks, so there is precious little heel clearance (this is a difficult thing to explain, so I've attached a graphic which I hope illustrates my point more clearly). Shimano, if you're listening, that one-in-every-five of us that have this problem would sure like to be able to buy old-style Dura Ace. In the meantime, I keep a cache of Stronglight Speedlight cranks in my garage, and promptly yank off the Shimano crank and BB and replace with a Real 103mm squarehole BB and 175mm Stronglight cranks. NOW I can ride the bike without wearing out the medial heelcup of each shoe, and the anodizing of each crankarm.

The first thing I did with this bike was climb a several-hundred-yard long hill that I ascend on every ride from my house. I know precisely the effort level, gearing, and cadence this hill takes. I can muscle up, out-of-the-saddle, in a 39X15. Or I can sit and spin up in a 17t. That's on my road race bike, and assumes I'm feeling good that day. I sat, stayed in the aero position, and rolled up in a 39x17 in this bike. It was just too easy. So I reached up and plunked down into the 15t, got out-of-the-saddle, and accelerated to the top with minimal effort. After climbing a variety of hills over the weekend the question is not how much does this bike give up on the hills, but whether this bike might actually be a better hill-climber than my road-race bike.

Geometrically, this bike fits and handles fine while in the aero position, which is to say it is no better or worse than any well-built tri bike. You can get this ride on a QR Kilo or a Trek Hilo 1000 for less money. What was impressive, though, is the degree to which this bike felt entirely like climbing on the hoods on a road-race bike when I was out-of-the-saddle, with my hands on the Stratos bars. Certainly, part of that is just, again, Syntace. But kudos have to be given to the builder: this guy knows how to geometrically construct a timed-race bike to mimic a road bike when the bike is asked to perform road-race duties, i.e., climbing and descending. If you love riding -- scratch that, if you love the ART of riding -- this is your bike.

How much of this is due to the Scandium tubeset? I don't know, but I'm going to find out. I didn't ride the Trek Hilo 2000 very far, but the Mariola rides much more comfortably (both bikes are plenty stiff enough laterally). In Trek's defense, though, the Mariola had a saddle I prefer, and a QR seat pad I put on ( with all due respect to the bike and the wetsuit, QR's seat pad might be the single most delightful thing in its product line), and most of my riding on the Mariola occured on three-cross 32-spoke wheels, vs the tightly sprung Rolfs the Treks come with. So I'm not sure whether there would have been that significant of a comfort difference if the frames were otherwise identically spec'd. The Mariola is amazingly light, which IS a function of the tubing. But the Cervelos are light as well, and my upcoming rides on the P2K and QR's PR7 will prove illuminating. One final thing about Easton's Scandium tubeset: Easton's round tubes, such as the top tube on the Mariola, are "necked-down:" their diameters funnel down shortly after leaving the head tube and heading back to the middle of the bike. So my top-tube knee clearance was better than on any bike I'd ridden since my days of riding steel frames.

I'm also having Yaqui build me a Scandium road bike, as a personal test against my beloved Easton-Ultralight-tubed Quintana Roo De Luz. The latter is hands-down the best road bike I've ever owned, and this ought to be, for me, the definitive mano-a-mano tubeset test: two bikes identical in every way except for the choice of tubing.

The down tube aero (26mm by 65mm), and seat tube (less aero, more tear-drop) are aggressive, the down tube especially. But the bike doesn't suffer because of them. As to the aerodynamics of this bike and its tubes, we punt. We ride them, and we might blow smoke ABOUT them, but we don't blow smoke ON them. That is John Cobb's department. He recently published on this site a treatise on his latest aero tube testing, perhaps readers will find that of some use.

Now for the good part. While this bike does not come spec'd the way I rode it, the only difference between mine and "for sale" versions is that all Yaquis come with Ultregra derailleurs, and either a higher or lower grade of Shimano dual pivot brakes (depending on which kit you choose). The bike I rode, thusly equipped sells complete for $2,395 (with standard spoked wheels; I put the Hed3s on just for the photo). This bike, at this price, slays everything in the vicinity of its price-point, and Ultegra-equipped Yaquis can be had for as little as $1,795 complete.

But, I'm about to jump onto a P2K that sells for $1,999, so hold onto your hats -- and your wallets. My next two test-rides should prove equally interesting.

I've got to disclose conflicts-of-interest before I end this review. A little-known adjunct to Slowtwitch is a frame and bike sub-assembly sales business with about three-dozen customers: frame-builders, retail stores, mail-order companies, distributors. Yaqui/Mandaric is one of them. Also, Ves Mandaric and I go riding together quite often, and if I write bad stuff about his bikes he might not ride with me any more (or, perhaps worse, he might drop me on every ride). Finally, RedEngine Design's owner Rob Empfield -- readers will notice the nepotistic last name -- who does perform, or has performed, graphic design work for Hed Wheels, Kalifornia Kool Stuff, USTS, QR, Merlin, and other tri-related companies, is also Yaqui's graphic designer.

While I doubt this bike would have ridden any worse had the graphics been done by somebody else's brother, it seemed only right to disclose these facts. Yaqui Cycles can be reached at 760-736-4427. For those who read this review prior to Wildflower, the bike I've test-ridden -- the one photographed above -- can be viewed at Nytro's booth.

(OTHER TRI BIKE REVIEWS)