A few years ago we said that Blue is Back. Unfortunately, we may have been a bit premature on that claim. But after spending some time with their new Triad Elite SL, we are pretty comfortable saying (for real this time) Blue is Back.
The Triad Elite SL
The Triad Elite SL is a brand new bike from a brand new Blue Competition Cycles. We had seen it previously in photos, but this was our first time getting up close with it.
The first detail we noticed was the Vision Metron crank. The Triad Elite SL was not the only frame in the halls of the Mandalay Bay sporting the crank, but that doesn’t change how beautiful it looks.
Front and back are hidden brakes, and up front is a fork and cockpit that flows cleanly to the included Profile Design bento box. Speaking of the cockpit, the Vision cockpit allows you to easily add stack height to the bars (something past Vision cockpits have had challenges with).
Blue tells us their new aero nose cone design (they call it Aero Cone) is both aesthetically and aerodynamically effective with proven results in the wind tunnel (we are looking forward to seeing the full results).
Inside the frame’s triangle are two bottle locations (something becoming more and more uncommon). On the downtube location you actually have 3 bottle bosses which allow you to position the bottle farther up or down (depending on your needs).
The seatpost is the (now almost standard) Ritchey clamp design featuring full adjustability to 40mm forward and 40mm backward.
The Triad Elite SL on display features 28c carbon Aerus 88mm wheels with 25c Hutchinson Equinox2 (wheel clearance is maxed at 28c). Groupset will be Shimano R9100 Dura-Ace Di2 (the 2017 version) and will retail for $8,888. There will also be an upgrade to Vision Metron wheels, with pricing still needs to be finalized.
Our Thoughts
Without time on the Triad Elite SL, we have to admit it’s tough to have a fully formed opinion. But wow – standing next to this bike we are really looking forward to some ride time with it. We also want to see the complete aero data and how it stacks up against the current state of super bikes. Until then, stay tuned for all the details on the new Triad Elite SL, as well as the rest of our continuing Interbike coverage.
