You can't go wrong with the Felt IA or Cervelo P2/P3.

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Make Inside Out Sports your next online tri shop! http://www.insideoutsports.com/

But is there any reason to not go with the trinity? Honestly I really like it but I know its not popular on here

I've never seen one in person so I have no idea about that bike.

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Make Inside Out Sports your next online tri shop! http://www.insideoutsports.com/

I know that the felt and the cervelo are great and highly praised but I guess I was wondering why not the trinity. My local bike shop sells felt and cervelo but nothing in stock of my size, but I have been on the trinity and it felt pretty decent. I was just wondering if there are any performance differences between all of them.

My 2010 Giant Advanced Trinity SL-1 is still one of the fastest TT bikes out there.

I am not up on the fit coordinates for the Trinity or how easy it is to adjust, but assuming you can get comfortable and aero I see no reason to think it wouldn't be a good choice.

I rented an older low-end model over the summer and it rode nicely and I have owned 3 TCRs with no complaints. Giant makes nice bikes and tends to offer a little more bang for the buck.

Giant tends to be a brand that people don't get excited about because it doesn't have the 'personality' of many of the others.

After being put off by Giant for many years, I have become a huge fan of theirs. My primary bike is a Giant, we have 4 Giants in our garage, and I've steered my brother, his wife, and my sister to get Giants. IMO, the bang for the buck on a Giant is simply unsurpassed... it's just the benefit that comes with being such a massive company in the industry. Many of their bikes that I've ridden have felt fantastic, and their geo happily works really well for me. It's a tired point but many bikes for other 'more sought after' brands roll of the same assembly lines. (Trek, Colnago, the list goes on)

As for the Trinity, I have no direct experience with it. The two things that jump out me are the brakes and the stem/bars. I wouldn't expect high performance braking from those V brakes and working on the rear will be a pain since it's under the BB. I would expect however that the performance is adequate for TT/tri. As for the stem/base bars, it doesn't look like there's much in the way of adjustability or aftermarket options (I could be wrong) so I'd be doubly sure the geometry works for you before pulling the trigger. Lastly, I'd verify that there's enough clearance for the wheels/tires you want to run but I suspect this would not be a significant issue at this point.

Assuming you're good with fit and the what's written above, I'd have no reservations about buying that bike.

Funnily enough despite Giant being such a big company, I'd imagine the Trinity would be a relatively unique bike in the transition area.

I've never ridden one, but the guy next to me at age group nationals had and apparently the integrated bta hydration has a nasty tenancy to fall off. Or at least something like that. Might be worth looking into before buying

Yeah I read that too about the hydration possibly coming loose, I feel like I read that about a bike a few years older and supposedly its been resolved but im not 100% sure about it.

None of this is a concern.......the OP is just buying something to "look" at.......not actually ride it or anything.

I just picked up a used one with Di2 on the slowtwitch classifieds for a great deal. I was coming from a cervelo S2 with clip-ons. For me the bike fits great and rides likes a dream. However I'm coming from the S2 with base level components.

I got the all black frame. I know some people don't think it's a nice looking bike, but I prefer the all black frame and design over the current P2/3 or even a Felt. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder!

I will say the front water bottle sucks. You will need to secure it with double sided tape or some other means. I did not and learned my lesson the hard way as it launched off twice during my HIM a few weeks back. Probably cost me a few minutes getting off the bike twice, once to pick up and the second time to toss after realizing the top popped off and I lost my fluids. I'll be going with my own aftermarket hydration for future races, but in my experience the bike is fast and I would buy again.

I have the Trinity and love it. I did have the issue with the BTA water bottle coming off. Spoke to my LBS and they contacted Giant. Within a week they sent the new and improved BTA bottle free of charge. Have ridden with the new bottle for quite some time now over some pretty rough roads and its worked beautifully and has not budged at all. You may want to look into getting a replacement bottle.

Pros:

• cheaper than similarly specced bikes
• integrated hydration/smooth transition to bento...seems good aero wise
• front end looks tidy, but the Di2 wires annoyingly don't drop down between the pedestal bolts, but just outside
• different - not another blue/white p2

Cons:

• bento flops open but it is standard bolt spacing, so you could rebuy aftermarket, but that of course will eat into the cost savings and be quite the right shape
• front hydration falls off unless you have one with the bottom mounting tab...and it still might. I put a piece of gorilla tape on each side, it won't fall off.
• brakes are easy enough to setup, but the rear requires removing the fairing - 3 bolts.
• you cannot angle the bars, so if you want to do praying mantis, you need bends (more money)

If possible, I'd probably have got the canyon instead. It ticks all the same pros, but it easier on the cons.


If you have any questions, ask away!

Hey dfroelich,

-What kind of adjustability is there for the bars on the trinity? I see there's not a typical stem which might make things interesting.
-Have you had to fly the bike anywhere? Is it possible to ship in a regular bike bag (I have a Shimano bike bag which fits my Felt DA just fine)? I heard the Trinity might require a specific bike bag for shipping due to the front end.

Thanks!

aesthetically, i think the older Trinity's were some of the best looking tri bikes!

I have not flown with it, so I cannot say. The base bar detaches from the integrated stem easy enough and the aero bars come off super fast. I do not see any issues, but who knows until you try, right? I have flown with my old Felt S22 in a tri-all-3 box and would assume this would fit the same.

The bars are super UN-adjustable. It comes with a kit for swappable riser spacers and appropriately lengthed bolts. So, the pads and bars can go up and down. That's it. There may be some way to move the pads in and out, but I have no need for that, can't be sure. I'll check tonight. You CANNOT angle the bars. The bar pedestals have a clamp that is flat, so the bars can only exit them flat. If you want different wrist positions, you need to buy bent bars.

If you've got any other Q's, let me know. If you want pics, no problem.

I ride a 2016 Giant Trinity Advanced. That's the entry level model, without the integrated hydration. Because I don't do long course, the hydration setup wasn't necessary for me (nor was the Ultegra drivetrain). As for the adjustability of things ... I was fitted, and the stem is a standard stem -- not the aero type that I see on the higher end aero bikes. Fitter just stacked spacers and flipped the stem in order to get the bar height correct for me. I didn't stick with the OEM Giant bar -- I went with a Deda setup (Kronos Due bar and I forget what type of stem). He cut the seatpost to fit me (I'm 5'9") and I used an ISM PN 2.0 saddle.

He didn't have to do a whole lot of tinkering to get it fitted to me -- it was mostly there, with the 3rd party parts, out of the box. Overall the fit has been fantastic. My long rides aren't that long (40 miles typically) but the geometry of the bike and the fit work perfectly for me.

The one massive PITA is the rear brake. Because of its location, it's a pain to work with. There's also not a quick release on the rear brake, so I have to deflate the rear tire in order to remove the rear wheel. The Tektro TRP brakes work fine for my riding, but I do wish I could replace them with non-Tektro brakes.

My younger brother has the all black Trinity with Di2, I've used it in a race and it was a nice bike to ride, I think they look good too. No problems with the bottle coming off, but I'm not sure if Australia got the dodgy mount set up that some people seem to have gotten.

But I didn't like the front hydration bottle, the straw is super thin and i pretty much had to look straight down at the road when i was drinking. My brother has taken the hydration system off and put a torpedo on.

I have ridden and raced the di2 model all season long. It is a great bike! Some points below:

1) The base bar is flip-able to either drop 20mm or rise 20mm
2) The extensions are able to pedestal, coming up using the included risers and bolts
3) The elbow pads can be adjusted narrow or wide, as well as fore and after, to increase/decrease reach
4) The front end is very adjustable, minus the lack of extension tilt
5) The nose cone hydration stays in place quite well if you correctly install it using the lower support. I use a piece of tape for extra security on race day, but have never launched a bottle in training
6) The bento is not great. The flap on top does not secure very well. I use it for a flat kit and have it taped down, so it is a non-issue for me. For use of fuel and gels, it may not work well
7) The brake/shifter routing take a little patience, but the brakes are plenty powerful

Tim Van Berkel's Kona bike appears to have a new front hydration and bento box design, so we may see a new release in the near future.

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Alex Arman

Strava