Five Stars: Triathlete.com Reviews the V-PRi

After miles of test riding around his home base in Southern California, Triathlete.com editor Chris Foster just came in with his full test review of triathlon’s highest-performance triathlon bike on market today: the Quintana Roo V-PRi. The TL;DR? A review rating of five stars. FIVE. Several elements were expected, but one quote jumped out at us:

“The V-PRi is as close to perfect as any bike I’ve ridden.”

We’re blushing. But… we’re not surprised. 

Performance, aerodynamics, practical use, Triathlete dug into it all. They also addressed the weight of the V-PRi, with comparisons to other category competitors. And at 20 lbs, 12 ounces, the V-PRi shined, compared to the Cube Aerium C:68X (22lbs, 4oz), the Felt IA 2.0 (21lbs, 11 oz), the Scott Plasma 6 (21lbs, 12oz and the Canyon Speedmax CF SLX Disc (21lbs, 5oz). 

Read some of the callouts from the full review we're sharing below. And when you’re ready to explore creating your own version of what Triathlete calls "The Best new Triathlon Bike of 2024," you can start building your own V-PRi. 

 Triathlete.com Reviews the Best New Triathlon-specific Bike of 2024 So Far,

the Quintana Roo V-PRi. 

U.S.-based Quintana Roo still remains a tri-first brand with an extensive line of triathlon bikes that hasn’t missed the mark in a very long time. Heck, the CEO of their parent company, American Bicycle Group, is an active triathlete himself. When that’s the case, you’d better believe the design/product teams are going to pay attention to tri-specific details—knowing that the big boss is literally going to be training and racing on the thing.

Triathlete delves into aero advances and FuelBay hydration and nutrition integration...

With the V-PRi, we see a collection of improvements that range from aerodynamics (QR claims an average six watts of drag savings at 24mph versus the V-PR—which would be roughly 10%) to weight (we saw about a 10oz, or roughly 280 gram improvement when measuring both fully loaded with hydration/nutrition storage). But the big news on the V-PRi has got to be the integrated in-frame hydration and nutrition storage.

QR isn't the first to integrate hydration and nutrition storage into their superbike frame, but with patience comes rewards, and the V-PRi comes with a non-bladder hydration storage system that lives in the headtube/top tube junction to provide 22 ounces of (actually refillable on the fly) fluid and a nutrition bay that holds about six standard-sized gels. 

While 22 ounces isn’t exactly massive, (the FuelBay bottle) is on par with many other brands’ offerings (about the size of a large water bottle). The design of the storage itself is the big news: The opening for the reservoir is easy to open and close, easy to “hit” with a water bottle, drains directly into a solid container (no bladder with its host of issues), can be removed (and cleaned) simply, and doesn’t slosh or spill, regardless of how much fluid is inside.

...and handling...

The V-PRi continues Quintana Roo’s heritage of having literally the best handling in triathlon bikes right now. If triathletes are concerned solely about how relaxed they can get in the aerobars, in any conditions (crosswinds, headwinds, downhill, rolling hills, and so on), there isn’t anything better available, in my opinion.

We hear about the ride...

The smooth ride is yet another instance of having a real-world impact on a triathlete’s actual overall race time: Because the bike absorbs much of the road vibrations, it reduces unnecessary fatigue on the body. And while I didn’t get a chance to test it, I’d imagine this smoothed-out ride would increase triathletes’ likelihood of going to a rear disc without paying the typical penalty of road shock through a solid wheel.

.... and more.

Out of the box, I found the V-PRi as close to perfect as any bike I’ve ridden. Typically it takes a few hours to feel confident and comfortable enough to refill a hydration system while riding, in the aerobars, downhill, and in a cross wind. For some bikes I never feel confident enough to do this, and I’ve put in plenty of sketchy riding time; for this bike, I did it in the first 30 minutes.

Triathlete.com's final thoughts on the V-PRi

If your goals are to simply ride fast in a way that sets you up for a fast run and fast overall day, then this is your bike. However, I will admit that the price tag is staggering due in part to the fact that there’s only a high-end build available, but my hope is that this changes in the near future. In the meantime, Quintana Roo has maintained their role as one of the very few tri-only bike brands that actually gets every aspect of the triathlon racing experience—not just the pro one.

This is just a smattering of the review. And we're still blushing. We encourage you to read the whole thing at Triathlete.com

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