Keep the tri or say bye?

Apr 21, 17 13:18

Post #1 of 15 (1893 views)

Im planning on moving and heading back to grad school soon which probably means I will not be doing a long distance tri anytime soon (maybe next year at the earliest but only that would be a 70.3 but I need to get settled with everything). My question is: should I keep my tri bike? I already have a road bike and figured I can just race on that since I will be doing mostly sprints and an olympic this year. Might shoot for AG or something in a sprint races but would it be worth racing my tri bike in besides the aero position? Should I just sell it (its a 2014 so not super old but not new) before I move and get a new bike when I decide to do a long distrance tri?

Just looking for some insight. Not sure if the gains of a tri bike outweigh keeping it.

2020 Team Zoot MTN

Last edited by: tsdogma: Apr 21, 17 13:18

Re: Keep the tri or say bye? [tsdogma] [ In reply to ]

Apr 21, 17 13:21

Post #2 of 15 (1874 views)

If your planning to race triathlon, keep the tri bike and sell the road bike.

In short course seconds matter - why would you given up any advantage?

Re: Keep the tri or say bye? [B.McMaster] [ In reply to ]

Apr 21, 17 13:24

Post #3 of 15 (1866 views)

I was gonna say that.

Re: Keep the tri or say bye? [tsdogma] [ In reply to ]

Apr 21, 17 13:25

Post #4 of 15 (1863 views)

Sold my wife's tri bike recently. Realized every year it sits in the garage the value on BicycleBlueBook drops.

Re: Keep the tri or say bye? [B.McMaster] [ In reply to ]

Apr 21, 17 13:29

Post #5 of 15 (1851 views)

Thanks for the input. I want to keep the road because it would be a good climbing bike for the mountains but good point on the seconds matter.

2020 Team Zoot MTN

Re: Keep the tri or say bye? [tsdogma] [ In reply to ]

Apr 21, 17 13:30

Post #6 of 15 (1844 views)

Short course is a blast—definitely keep the tri bike. You will regret selling it the first race you do.

@floathammerholdon | @partners_in_tri

Re: Keep the tri or say bye? [tsdogma] [ In reply to ]

Apr 21, 17 13:40

Post #7 of 15 (1803 views)

Look at your long term plans. If you plan to pick up tri racing again in 2018 or 2019, are you going to be in a position that shortly after grad school that you will able to afford buying a new tribike? Your 2014 bike is certainly not going to be "old" in 2 years (this said by someone who still rides a 2008 P3 and has no plans to upgrade, even though money is not a problem for me).

Most people I know, barring those whose grad school includes Harvard MBAs or law school, where a good paying job won't be hard to come by, would not have a spare 5G's laying around for a new bike. So unless you are going to be making 100K right out of grad school / and or living in your Mom's basement, I would not think you will be in a financial position to buy a new rig.

Re: Keep the tri or say bye? [sto] [ In reply to ]

Apr 21, 17 13:41

Post #8 of 15 (1792 views)

Ha good thing to think of. I should be fine out of grad school and I will most likely be working full time during it. I was more worried on the time training I guess but I think I could get a few morning rides in during the week.

2020 Team Zoot MTN

Re: Keep the tri or say bye? [tsdogma] [ In reply to ]

Apr 21, 17 13:44

Post #9 of 15 (1782 views)

I sold my tri bikes towards the end of my tri "career" and just used the road bike with clips. If you're planning on doing any cycling outside of just doing tris you'll find the road bike to be far more versatile.

Re: Keep the tri or say bye? [tsdogma] [ In reply to ]

Apr 22, 17 15:16

Post #10 of 15 (1342 views)

I don't know if you are aware of this, so consider that used bikes have a lot lower resale value than many anticipate. At 3 years old, you might only get 35-40% of what you paid.

For me, I'd keep the bike unless I really needed the money. Because in 2 years it will still be a good bike, but replacing it with something only marginally better will cost a lot.

2015 USAT Long Course National Champion (M50-54)

Last edited by: Paul Dunn: Apr 22, 17 15:18

Re: Keep the tri or say bye? [tsdogma] [ In reply to ]

Apr 22, 17 15:42

Post #11 of 15 (1296 views)

Im planning on moving and heading back to grad school soon which probably means I will not be doing a long distance tri anytime soon

Grad school is a good time to do triathlons...

Re: Keep the tri or say bye? [tsdogma] [ In reply to ]

Apr 22, 17 15:43

Post #12 of 15 (1296 views)

I would just keep both bikes. You won't get much money back selling. Bikes last a long time.

Re: Keep the tri or say bye? [Sanuk] [ In reply to ]

Apr 22, 17 16:16

Post #13 of 15 (1241 views)

I can vouch for this—in my second year of law school and while the first year was rough, I've never been faster.

@floathammerholdon | @partners_in_tri

Re: Keep the tri or say bye? [tsdogma] [ In reply to ]

Apr 22, 17 17:20

Post #14 of 15 (1158 views)

old is a 2001 Aegis Trident, still kickin' to this day.

Re: Keep the tri or say bye? [tsdogma] [ In reply to ]

Apr 22, 17 20:06

Post #15 of 15 (1019 views)

tsdogma wrote:

Im planning on moving and heading back to grad school soon which probably means I will not be doing a long distance tri anytime soon (maybe next year at the earliest but only that would be a 70.3 but I need to get settled with everything). My question is: should I keep my tri bike? I already have a road bike and figured I can just race on that since I will be doing mostly sprints and an olympic this year. Might shoot for AG or something in a sprint races but would it be worth racing my tri bike in besides the aero position? Should I just sell it (its a 2014 so not super old but not new) before I move and get a new bike when I decide to do a long distrance tri?

Just looking for some insight. Not sure if the gains of a tri bike outweigh keeping it.

If you want to take your season of sprints and OLYs seriously (shoot for AG?), highly recommend keeping the tri bike, especially since it's only three years old. Your going to lose money when you sell. You'll miss out on the fun of seriously competing short course......and you'll need to spend a considerable amount to get a decent bike when you resume long course.

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