I would love to hear about your bike when you get it.. I have been looking at the same bike for some time right now... where are you buying the bike? The bike just looks so cool!

I'm not sure where your coming from... you beat litespeeds, cervelos (note you didn't mention Kestrels ) and Corima and Zipp wheelsets with an older Trek bike. You only have stated the obvious. And that is, the rider makes a much greater difference than the ride.

Will adding an equally expensive bike such as the Santa Cruz plus a lot of other "high tech crap" such as aero headset make a difference? You answered your own question by saying "...I know it will make you faster".... but, (I might add) not if you break your legs.

Joe Moya

With Loss comes humility. Admiration in not granted solely by victory.

Based on data from John Cobb and backed up by another posters anecdotal tests (I think it was Art) the best set of aero wheels will add, on average, about 1/2 mph to your speed assuming you are in the 22-25 mph range already and that you are riding a set of standard box wheels right now.

.5 mph / $1000 doesn't sound like a good value to me - at least at my current speeds. A lot more training and then I'll take a look at the new Renn front and back wheel set when it is ready.

I ran a tri last year in an old pair of tennis shoes. They had no arch and were high tops . I beat alot of guys in expensive running shoes so I figure good shoes are a waste of time and money. I also saw some Kinyens running bare foot , so I think I'll just throw away my shoes and run bare foot.
Also while running I feel sooooo much better about my self when I pass people in expensive running shoes, My opinion ,people should not have expensive shoes unless they can run really really fast!!!!!!
Oh I guess this is repetitive, You guys say it all the time about the bike

i'm not saying you have to be fast to have a sick bike. if someone want's to drop a bunch of money because they can then more power to them. one of the great things about triathlon is the diversity. the shoe story was great, but good shoes are important because they reduce injuries and keep your feet healthy. A $4,000.00 bike doesn't make you less prone to injury! i know if i had an expensive bike and guys were passing me on $600 bikes my ego might be injured a bit...hehe

and Teko: i'm getting the bike directly from santa cruz.

If you get the Roadster, you need the Medium. I'm 6' with long legs and short torso and the Medium is just right with an 90mm stem. They are nice bikes. The ride is a little harsh because of the beefy rear triangle and short stays, but the power gets to the pedals without any flex. Having said all that, if I had it to do all over again, I would opt for the P3. It's just a better tri bike. The Roadster converts nicely to a road bike though, so if dual use is your ticket you'll be pleased. Mine's red. :)

-Robert

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"How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world." ~Anne Frank

Luke, in 1985 I was in the Bud Light Houston Tri on my brand new, light, aluminum, French frame with Campy Super Record groupo, Cinelli bars and Mavic wheels tooling along at 20 mph when I looked to my left and I was being passed by another French bike made by Jacques Penney. It's the motor baby; keep working on the motor.

Bob Sigerson

What is the distance between the center of the bottom bracket to the top of the seat on your current bike? If you have long leg/short torso @ 5'11", the seatpost might be too short on the Medium because the sizing chart shows a recommended seatpost extension of 300mm at 5'11" (though maybe you could get one of those M2Racer thingies). However, if you went with a shorter than recommended stem on the large, like 80 or 90, you would probably be just right (although handling might not be as great, that's the compromise with your build and this bike). And if you were to replace the seatpost entirely with a non-setback seatpost (I don't know if they make the reversible ones long enough for the Roadster) for a slightly steeper seat-tube angle and scooted forward on the seat for the race, you would have a better tri setup.

Regarding tubulars vs. clinchers, I think it's safe to say that the advantages of tubulars are almost entirely limited to Euro pros that have spare wheels/bikes following them everywhere. The rest of us have to deal with the cost of tires, glueing (or fixing), waiting (for tires to stretch/dry etc.), fear of high-speed cornering, impracticality of daily use in exchange for knowing that the wheel/tire is lighter and stronger and the tire has a little bit less rolling resistance. The thinking behind this and every other expensive upgrade (like aero wheels) is that in a top professional competition, the top pros will all have nearly the same capacity/fitness so every percentage advantage counts in determining who wins. The best tire/wheel combo can often determine 1st or 2nd since the time differences tend to be much smaller at the higher levels of competition (and if one guy goes for something with a 1% advantage, everyone else is going to follow). At the lower levels, it doesn't matter as much, but it's always cool to have nice gear if you can afford it. There's nothing wrong with working towards being worthy of the stuff you buy. Or buying new stuff to motivate yourself and keep you interested in the sport (maybe that's a little wrong ...).

I think the accepted benefit of aero wheels is something like a 5-10% time savings depending on the wheel and the tire. It's good that you're not hung up on all the "tech crap" because most people don't recognize that there are much easier and cheaper ways to get an extra 10% by doing certain little things (which will be another thread).... but at higher and higher levels of performance, it becomes exponentially harder to get that extra percent of endurance or power and it becomes necessary (if you hope to win) to spend the big bucks and transform into aero-geek tech-nerd. Unfortunately, for a lot of athletes, it also becomes necessary to resort to illegal drugs, etc. (another thread). I think a lot of people who don't have your great fitness level just want to invest in stuff that they can aspire to being worthy of.

Like you said, the triathlon you did was pretty small so there might not have been a lot of competition, but regardless, I think you'll find that having nice stuff will be a great psychological boost because you have confidence that the quality (or cool factor) of your equipment isn't limiting your performance. That's why you're getting the Roadster, right?

Admittedly, since triathlon isn't just a bike TT, it makes sense that someone should concentrate on their overall fitness (because a great bike doesn't necessarily make your run or your swim faster) before throwing down $200 for a 90g stem or $3100 for a Blade frame. But again, everything has its cool factor and everyone has their own spending priorities.

(now that I've written this rambling essay I can go to sleep)

Kelvin

Training and technique will gain the most benefits. But when you feel that your equipment is holding you back (and with racing experience, you will), that's when the nicer (albeit more expensive) stuff comes into play. It can potentially level the playing field, but only when the advantage or disadvantage is very slight.

As far as my quote of "Winners Ride Tubulars", I have had many years of racing to back this up. I have tried many of the things that are out there (as I am picky with the equipment), and can tell you what is a complete waste of money. Conti Supersonics (which is a flyweight clincher) was a complete waste of money for me as they were paper-thin). Ada or Lightweight wheels are a waste of money unless your livelihood depends on winning bike races. But there is a reason why many people race tubulars, and that is that they are just an unbeatable tyre.

You should go onto the medium Santa Cruz Roadster, as I have found a decent guide to using a road bike for a TT bike is to size down a couple sizes from your road bike. A road bike stretches you out too much for the TT/tri position as the top tube is too long.This is where I would find out what your optimal top tube measurement for TT/tri bikes is, and get professionally fitted.