There are just some bike companies that seem to make better riding, handling and looking bikes than others.  Guru is one of those companies.  The only negative to hand made and hand painted bikes being exclusively manufactured in the company's Montreal based factory is the resulting cost.  If you can afford one, though, you should be seriously considering a Guru.

I consider myself lucky; I have owned 5 Gurus in the past, 3 tri bikes and 2 road bikes, and they are among my all time favorites.  I now am the lucky owner of a 2007 Guru Crono all carbon tri bike.  I admit to being more excited about riding this bike than any other tri bike in recent memory.  The Crono did not disappoint.  Up close and personal it is a gorgeous frameset with the most exquisite shapes of any bike I've seen in person.  Guru's paint jobs are among the best available and the red over black paint scheme has me and everyone else who has seen it drooling. 

But what makes this bike special is the way it performs.  The first time I tried it, which was on the same loop that I ride every bike, all I could think of was how perfectly suited this bike frame is for riding.  Its road manners are simply impeccable.  Its speed and comfort are exceptional.  Combined, the handling, comfort and speed present the most impressive frameset I've had the pleasure of riding.  Please bear in mind that I will choose ultimate comfort over ultimate speed any day of the week.  What I like about the Guru is that I don't have to.  In my experience, the Crono represents the most comfortable (saddle comfort, road manners and handling balance) and fastest bike I've had the pleasure of riding. 

Please note that the carbon Crono (it used to be an aluminum bike) has been supplied with several different forks including the Alpha Q and Easton aero forks.  My Crono has the Easton, but either fork is perfectly suited for the frame.  The Easton and Alpha Q remain my favorite aero forks due to their impeccable ride and handling characteristics.  Importantly, you want a fork that is in balance with the frame.  One way to test the balance is to concentrate on the resulting impact from road imperfections, expansion joints and the like.  If the fork and frame (front wheel and rear wheel) feel very similar, then the ride is balanced. The Guru Crono is the first frameset that may be more comfortable over impacts and road imperfections than the Easton and Alpha Q forks.

The most entertaining aspects, though, of riding a Guru Crono is the speed and handling.  I've never attributed a significant difference in overall speed to the frameset.  The Crono is different, very different, and I'm now convinced that this frameset is just more efficient than any other I've ridden.  Perhaps this effect is limited to me, but it is nonetheless real.  I've tested this bike on an hour-long ride on the same route at the same perceived and measured effort (albeit via heart rate monitor instead of actual power) and the Crono was faster than the other very good tri bike I compared it to.  How much faster? I would conservatively say 1 mph.  I have now been riding the Crono for better than 3 months and I'm still confident this is the fastest bike (road or tri) I've ever ridden.

It may be that I'm just infatuated or that I've lost my mind, but I believe it.  There's no doubt that other manufacturers, including Cervelo's P3C, Orbea's Ordu and a few others are fast and efficient framesets, but the Crono is my perfect match.  I've always believed that there is a particular frame/bottom bracket stiffness that best suits certain individuals to enable them to perform at their peak.  You will need to try many different framesets to find the best match for you and the Crono definitely needs to be one of those framesets.

The other entertaining aspect is the handling.  This bike can be tossed around at high speed like a Formula 1 car or simply pointed down the road like a comfortable sedan.  You get to choose your flavor instantly, depending upon the situation.  Personally, I would love to race this bike in a criterium, but the tri geometry is not conducive to such use.

The Crono is a relatively straight forward 75 - 76 degree tri bike with standard sizes that use very common dimensions.  Guru can also do full custom geometry for a relatively modest up charge.  You can mount bottle cages to both the down and seat tubes.  The cables run internally, but they are simply inside the hollow tubes similar to Cervelo.  Therefore, other than the need to remove the bottom bracket to run new cable, there is no down side to shifting.  The one thing I don't like is that the proprietary, carbon aero seat post is only compatible with round saddle rails.  My favorite saddle is the new Selle Italia Flite Gel Flow model which is only available with the newer style oval rails that are both stronger and lighter than the older round ones.  Guru needs to redesign its posts to accommodate the new shaped rails as soon as possible.  Unfortunately, Guru does not think this issue is nearly as important as I do and has, thus far, stated that it cannot safely alter the design.  This frameset is so good, though, that I'm willing to use an alternate saddle for now.

Ultimately, the Guru can be summed up as a hyper-expensive, beautiful and relatively rare carbon tri bike that has impeccable handling and comfort and is remarkably fast.  If the post was compatible with oval saddle rails, I'd give it a perfect 10.  Since it isn't, I will only give it a 9.5.

KDG