Alpengeist vs Talon

Vintage is the reversed stat — the older ride wins. Every number here is the same one printed on the card; see /methodology for how Build Cost and Throughput are sourced.

The verdict

Alpengeist sweeps every comparable stat. There is no line on the card where Talon is the better pick, so the only way this duel turns is on who calls the stat.

Alpengeist is a steel Inverted Coaster coaster at Busch Gardens Williamsburg, US, built by Bolliger & Mabillard. Talon is a steel Inverted Coaster coaster at Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom, US, built by Bolliger & Mabillard.

Both are in US, which puts them in the same conversation for anyone planning a trip there.

They come from the same drawing office: Bolliger & Mabillard. That makes the gaps below a question of brief and budget rather than engineering house style.

Both are steel-track, so nothing here is the usual steel-versus-wood argument in disguise.

They are near-contemporaries — 1997 and 2001 — so they were competing for the same riders when they opened.

Stat by stat

• Height goes to Alpengeist at 195 ft against 135 ft — a long way clear.
• Speed goes to Alpengeist at 67 mph against 58 mph — well clear.
• Alpengeist takes Inversions 6 to 4.
• Throughput goes to Alpengeist at 1,820 rph against 1,200 rph — a long way clear.
• Build Cost goes to Alpengeist at 20 $m against 13 $m — a long way clear.
• Vintage is reversed, so Alpengeist's 1997 takes it from Talon's 2001 — 4 years in it.