I haven't ridden my TT bike since Galveston HIM April 2nd. But I'm about to get back on it as I train hard for tri over the winter, not summer, here in Houston.

God speed sir

nope.. I plan on riding my TT bike more then ever in the winter... trying to get lower and longer.. besides I just got a Dash TT.9 so winter is time to experiment with position. I basically only do sprints(as far as TRI is concenred) so it's near full blast all the time.

I also prefer my road bike over my Tri bike. Previously ran clip on aero bars to my road bike until I got a dedicated rig. Now, I just ride my road bike for all training rides. I save the Tri bike for fluid trainer use and race day. Got my outdoor rides on my Tri bike doing a local short distance TT series to get keep my handling skills TT bike from getting rusty. Sometimes during the winter I use a set of rollers but only with my road bike to mix things up.

Actually going on year 3 of not doing Tri's due to life (kid now and haven't figure out that schedule yet). Mostly just bike when I can and do a random run. I'll pick it back up when the kid is older and I can get more consistent time to train in (short distances again only as I don't want to sacrifice my family life for this hobby).

Tri bikes are for business. Road bikes are for pleasure.

Do any of you look forward to shelving your TT bike for the winter and giving your lower back a rest?
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The road bike is for emergency purposes only. Emergencies include:
-The tri bike has a mechanical that I cannot fix myself and the bike is in the shop
-The temp is nice but the road grime is so disgusting (mostly in the spring, post snow melt) that I don't want the good bike in the filth

After that, I can't think of a single reason to even pull the road bike out of the rafters.

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Take a short break from ST and read my blog:
http://tri-banter.blogspot.com/

I wish someone would ask Kienle how much he rides his roadie... it's A LOT! Same with Frodo. They hate their TT bikes... they only ride them because they have to.

And I am right with them/you... HATE riding my TT bike unless I absolutely have to. If I had my choice, every single ride would be on my roadie with at minimum one-5 mile climb! Once Kona is over, that's all I'm doing for 3 months.

During the season I try and do 1 ride per week on my race bike (i.e. TT bike). That and races are it for me. I would say 90% of my year is on the road bike overall. I put my TT bike away after my last race a month ago and probably won't ride it again until April.

I will admit that my goal at this point in my life is not to max my potential for triathlon, but simply enjoy myself.

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Ed Alyanak

The vast majority of people who actually enjoy riding would rather be on a road bike going up or descending a mountains or out in a group than on a TT/Tri bike. TT/Tri bikes don't climb as well, they are less nimble, you can't sprint properly on them, you can't safely ride them in a group, most people find them less comfortable. They're also less versatile on setup. Light and mudguards can be tricky on a TT/Tri bike.
I do thoroughly enjoy riding my Tri bike. Just not nearly as much as the road bike.
The road bike is fun and practical and just as good or better as a vehicle on which to work hard. A TT/Tri bike is fast and works great for general riding when you're solo and on predominantly flatter, non-technical roads.

I ride my Tri bike on the trainer during the winter. The road bike is for all my outdoor winter rides. In better weather I'll get the Tri bike out occasionally and for most riding on the lead up to priority races, but most outdoor riding and all group rides will be on the road bike.
Incidentally, my road bike is an equivalent quality machine to my Tri bike. That makes a difference too, but only a bit.

Then I'd venture to suggest you're only considering a very narrow range of what road cycling has to offer!!!
There's a myriad of things that road bikes do considerably better.

+1 It's nice to actually see where you're riding, and not have a permanently sore neck.

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29 years and counting

I have an SL5 S-works Tarmac and 2017 Canyon Speedmax. 95% of all of my outside rides are on Tarmac. I literally took the Canyon out a few weeks before the race to get use to TT position (usually I need a couple of minutes :)). Rest of the time Canyon is on turbo trainer.

Road bike rulz

There's a myriad of things that road bikes do considerably better.
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Do tell! (I'm assuming that most of these things involve riding with other people, which is not typically on my list of desires. Tried it.)

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Take a short break from ST and read my blog:
http://tri-banter.blogspot.com/

My gearing is set up a little bit different on the tri-bike and road bike. I have 162.5 crank arms on the TT bike and 172.5 on the road bike. 53/39 on both and 11/28 for everyday riding on both. This is the first year I've had the setup different and not identical on either. I've found on some of the rides with long climbs I'd go on with friends I'd get dropped on them just from not being able spin up at a comfortable cadence on the TT bike. So a majority of my long rides this season have been on my road bike with maybe one long ride a month being on the TT. I haven't had any issues holding aero when I've taken the TT bike out and have felt stronger on it too due to all the climbing i've done on my road bike.

Superior handling, better comfort for most, better on mixed terrain and especially if you have some bad roads, better in urban areas where you're unlikely to be able to ignore traffic and junctions for long periods, safer in groups and individually due to easy access to brakes (and gears) from all normal riding positions (there's 4 that I routinely use).

I don't think what I'm saying is particularly controversial. Tri bikes incorporate a lot of compromises that are worthwhile in order to maximise all out speed but which are not ideal for general riding. I think you'd have a very hard time making a solid argument to the contrary. I really enjoy my tri bike, when it's the right tool for the job.

What makes you think any of this is wrong? Or is it just that it doesn't apply to your specific habits?

Whoa nice arsenal!

Glad to know I'm not alone here!


I'd ideally love to be able to do that but my road bike is my tri bike so once I transform it for the season I've no road bike! :/ Saves me $$$ cash/money but the emotional pain isn't worth it!

I spent the first half of this year training for Marmotte Des Alpes. I did a LOT of indoor training on the Tri bike in the evenings and got out for longer rides in the mountains on the road bike. Once the evenings got longer and the weather improved many of my evening spins switched to outdoor rides on the road bike too. By the time I got back on the Tri bike in July I hadn't been outside on the Tri bike at all this year except for one early season Oly race and a shake down ride the day before it. However I was much faster than I'd been before on the tri bike. Hill training on the road bike transfers nicely to tri bike performance.

* Climbing, esp out of the saddle
* Descending
* Sprinting
* Chasing down and drafting behind trucks and Sunday drivers
* Riding in traffic
* Scenic long-distance rides
* Eating, stretching, and riding in varied hand positions
* Being stylistic on the bike, vs. just being a tri-dork.

(Ok the last point, real cyclists understand what I'm talking about...
Real cyclist = someone w/ a racing background.)

My road bike just feels like an extension of my body, whereas my tri bike is a tool to get a job done. The tri bike sits on the trainer all winter and then comes out for handling-specific training sessions and racing. Quite honestly, I'd rather ride my gravel bike than my tri bike, and my roadie more than either of them.

Honestly, I do love my road bike for riding with people and if I'm doing any particularly steep or sustained climb I'd rather be on my road bike, but that's because I've set my gearing up that way. Other than that, I'd rather be on the tt bike. I find my setup to be very comfortable, I can do short steep climbs or long shallow climbs just fine, and it handles well enough for anything I'd have to deal with on a regular basis outside of technical descents in the mountains, where I'd rather be on the road bike for numerous reasons anyway.

I do agree with you that a road bike is better for riding in urban areas with junctions and stop signs and lights and such, but it's only the better of bad options, I'd rather ride inside than have to constantly start/stop like that.

In the end, the moral of the story is ride whatever makes you happy, I guess I'm just lucky in that I have options.

This year was road bike-centric as I trained for the DL sprint tri in Rotterdam. I rode my tri bike 10 times this year (5 times the day before a race & on race day). As the snow has begun to fall here in Big Sky country I'll be spending the next several months on an ol' road bike with clip-ons locked into the stationery trainer.

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#swimmingmatters
Laugh hard. Run fast. Be kind.
The Doctor (#12)

Exactly the same for me. I just don't like the safety compromises of riding the tri bike on the open road. (Diminished forward vision, peripheral vision, emergency braking reaction time, and stability)

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"They're made of latex, not nitroglycerin"

Well said. It sounds like I need another bike!

Hell no...by the end of the season I look longingly at my Road and CX bike.

Flip that around and by spring I'm dying to get on my TT bike again.

I'd give you all except the last point - road bikes are no more stylish than tri bikes, except to roadies. Both look equally weird to anyone on the outside.

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The point is, ladies and gentleman, that speed, for lack of a better word, is good. Speed is right, Speed works. Speed clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit.

I don't mind riding my TT bike, but end up riding my road bike more. Number one reason: it takes me about 20-25 minutes to get out of town. And I feel I can die about twice every one of those minutes. Once I'm out of town, it's fine. So every now and then I'll load the P4 into the car and drive to a parking lot at the edge of town, but most of the times I'm too lazy for that.

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Citizen of the world, former drunkard. Resident Traumatic Brain Injury advocate.

Glad to see all the honesty about people loving their Roadies. Too many posts people boast about only riding TT bikes in the forums when we know that the majority of us ride our Roadies most of the time. By definition road bikes are more comfortable fit or no fit. And a road bike with Aero bars and well tuned geometry is heaven with the best of both worlds... For training... Cuz we all know that a TT bike is 1 miles per hour to 2 miles per hour faster any day of the week.

This is excellent news

I can't agree with the bit in bold. A road bike is excellent when you use it as designed, i.e. riding most of the time on the hoods or drops. I hate clip-ons on the road bike although financially and storage wise it can be an attractive option. A good position with clip-ons is generally at odds with a good road bike position. A good triathlon position on the extensions will typically require both the saddle and the handlebars further forward than is compatible with a good road position. So you either switch the setup between rides or you ride with the bike setup for one of the two options and are far from ideal when in the other.
I love my road bike and my tri bike and I'm very happy with both positions. However, I couldn't possibly achieve them both on the same bike.

Both look equally weird to anyone on the outside.


True.

To almost all motorists, it's not a commuter, courier, road cyclist, triathlete, . . . it's a cyclist!

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

Yep, I think most non-cyclists differentiate into two categories at most.

• Cyclist in normal clothes (The more ignorant motorist contingent tend to think of these as people who can't afford cars)
• Cyclist in lycra (The more ignorant of the general public tend to think of these as wannabe tour de france cyclists)

No-one outside of cycling sport circles is too bothered beyond that. Nor would I expect them to be. I know bugger all about plenty other sports. That's okay!

I ride my road bike all the time year round, gets most of my training miles.

The beast rides again! Many thanks to ST'er Mike from MA for the wheel deal!

For those doing a reasonable amount of training on their road bike, would you recommend a more aggressive race bike with geometry more similar to my try bike (I get its totally different) or a having less "racy" "endurance" geometry bike as a change up to the tri bike?

Thanks.