When Dave Zabriskie rode the fastest-ever time trial in the history of the Tour de France, it was for a lot of reasons. For starters, he's a TT specialist who trains all-but-exclusively to fine-tune his fitness specifically for the discipline. The equipment on his bike is hand-picked to reduce aerodynamic and mechanical drag -- from the Zipp deep cross-section wheels to the ceramic bearings in his FSA bottom bracket to the waynarrow and low orientation of his Vision Tech aero bars: Every choice was inspired by his fixation on making himself invisible to the wind.

When you speak of equipment one consideration overrides all others: The frameset. It has a vital impact on all issues of concern for a time-trialist. It plays a huge role in aerodynamics and it determines the drivetrain efficiency on a bike that'll experience torque like none other (after all, what other bike gets ridden for sustained efforts in a 55x11?) The fact that Zabriskie was riding a Cervélo P3 was a substantial advantage in his favor as he averaged 54.676 kph (that's 34.17 mph!) for nearly 20km. Every tube of the P3 has been sculpted to accomplish two things: Reduce drag and increase stiffness. Zabriskie's Tour record is evidence of Cervélo's success in this, as is Fabian Cancellara's back-to-back victories in the World Championship Time Trial, again proving the primacy of the P3. More chapters were added to the storied history of the P3 in 2008 -- Carlos Sastre rode the time trial of his life to secure overall victory in the Tour de France, then Fabian Cancellara slayed all on his P3 to earn a gold medal at the Beijing Olympics.

Air flows over the P3 and hardly knows the frame is there. The headtube is a thin shape that complements the CCS (Constant Cross Section) seat tube. From its intersection with the top tube all the way down to where it meets the BB, the seat tube has a profile optimized throughout its length to promote a horizontal airflow that dramatically decreases drag. The curved, cut out seat tube works together with your rear wheel to decrease turbulence and drag. The thin seatstays are built with the same philosophy: It's not just a matter of making them aero; rather, it's having them work hand-in-hand with a spinning rear wheel to channel the airflow with minimum disruption across the rear half of the bike. The Cervélo Wolf TT carbon fiber fork and the Cervélo Aero carbon fiber seatpost are two other important components of the P3 Carbon tailored with aerodynamics foremost in mind.

The P3 brings other assets to your TT. It has an oversized, hollow BB shell to give it the ultimate in drivetrain stiffness. If you're doing races 40km in length or shorter and you're choosing to push big gears, the blistering power you're putting into the crankset is the worst force your bike will ever face. The design of the drivetrain area keeps the P3 Carbon flex-free. None of your power will go wasted. And if you're riding on a hilly course, you'll be grateful for the light frame weight you get from the P3 thanks to its high-modulus carbon construction.

The P3 comes with a two-position aero seatpost that allows you to choose between a 75 degree and 78 degree seat angle. It's available in 6 sizes between 48cm-61cm. The 48cm is a 650c wheel size, sizes 51cm-61cm come in 700c only.

2009 Cervélo P3 Pricing
	Frameset	Super Record 11 / Record 11	Chorus 11 / Red	Force / Rival	Dura Ace 7900 / Ultegra SL
P3	$3300	6942 / 6595	6196 / 5811	5069 / 4859	6174 / 4929

2009 Cervélo P3 Geometry

	Size	Top Tube	Head Tube	Head Tube Angle	Seat Angle	Standover
75 Degree Seat Tube Angle (rear facing seatpost position)	48	51.4	11.0	72.0	75.0	71.6
	51	53.5	9.0	72.5	75.0	74.6
	54	55.7	10.5	72.5	75.0	76.2
	56	57.3	12.5	72.5	75.0	78.0
	58	58.9	14.5	72.5	75.0	79.9
	61	60.4	17.5	72.5	75.0	82.8
78 Degree Seat Tube Angle (forward facing seatpost position)	48	49.0	11.0	72.0	78.0	71.6
	51	51.0	9.0	72.5	78.0	74.6
	54	53.0	10.5	72.5	78.0	76.2
	56	54.5	12.5	72.5	78.0	78.0
	58	56.0	14.5	72.5	78.0	79.9
	61	57.4	17.5	72.5	78.0	82.8