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Help Me Spend Money
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Twitchers, I've budgeted roughly $500 towards improving my tri-toy situation and would love your input on how to spend it. Currently I have a straight up road bike, no aero bars, no computer, no heart rate monitor, and a base level sleeveless wetsuit. How would you suggest I improve my setup?
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Re: Help Me Spend Money [boszoom] [ In reply to ]
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Aerobars + full-sleeve wetsuit.
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Re: Help Me Spend Money [boszoom] [ In reply to ]
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Based on bang-for-the-buck:

Aero bars $100
Aero Helmet $100
Disc cover for rear wheel (Wheelbuilder of similar) $100
Bike computer (basic): $50
Heart rate strap/watch (basic): $50

Next Items:
Behind the seat and between the aero bars bottle mounts/cages: $50
Tight fitting tri suit: $75-150

ECMGN Therapy Silicon Valley:
Depression, Neurocognitive problems, Dementias (Testing and Evaluation), Trauma and PTSD, Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)
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Re: Help Me Spend Money [Titanflexr] [ In reply to ]
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Sounds like aerobars are the first priority! Anyone have experience with the Redshift system?
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Re: Help Me Spend Money [boszoom] [ In reply to ]
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I would go with a set of aerobars that have maximum adjustability (esp. the ability to move the pads fore/aft relative to your drop bar).

The Profile T2+ is a good place to start.

ECMGN Therapy Silicon Valley:
Depression, Neurocognitive problems, Dementias (Testing and Evaluation), Trauma and PTSD, Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)
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Re: Help Me Spend Money [boszoom] [ In reply to ]
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Power on the cheap, a used wired powertap wheel & computer.
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Re: Help Me Spend Money [boszoom] [ In reply to ]
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Aerobars: $100 (zipp vuka alumina clip are nice, shop around a bit)
Aero helmet: $100 (Giro Advantage 2 is a safe bet)
Rear disc cover: $100
Torhans frame bottle: $40 (use it as a flat kit)
Torhans aero 30: $50
Faster tires and latex tubes: $110 (GP4000s is a safe bet, sorta fudged the numbers)

Aerobars, aero helmet, rear disc cover, and faster tires and tubes might buy you 4:00 over 40km. There's an outside chance the frame bottle and aero 30 help you pick up another 30 IF they work well with your frame. Clean up your cabling as best as you can and work on your position on the bike.

Personally, other than displaying power meter info, a bike computer doesn't do much for me.
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Re: Help Me Spend Money [boszoom] [ In reply to ]
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1. Proper Bike Fit
2. Aero helmet
3. heart rate monitor/bike computer
4. quality cycling shoes and shorts
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Re: Help Me Spend Money [Petkos] [ In reply to ]
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I agree with the Bike Fit, gift that keeps on giving.
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Re: Help Me Spend Money [B3CK] [ In reply to ]
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Here's my conundrum with the aero bars and bike fit. Don't I need two setups, one with and one without the bars?
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Re: Help Me Spend Money [boszoom] [ In reply to ]
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you need a bigger budget! ......ditto on aero bars, see if you can pick up cheap used power meter

2024: Bevoman, Galveston, Alcatraz, Marble Falls, Santa Cruz
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Re: Help Me Spend Money [nebeachbum] [ In reply to ]
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nebeachbum wrote:
you need a bigger budget! ......

I could have said I have 10 grand to spend and I think everyone here would agree I could stand to spend a bit more.
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Re: Help Me Spend Money [boszoom] [ In reply to ]
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since its winter (at least were i am) skip the aero bars: indoor trainer and power meter for 500$! Save through the winter and have more money to spend come race season.

2024: Bevoman, Galveston, Alcatraz, Marble Falls, Santa Cruz
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Re: Help Me Spend Money [nebeachbum] [ In reply to ]
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Something like this? http://m.ebay.com/itm/251710357459
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Re: Help Me Spend Money [nebeachbum] [ In reply to ]
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nebeachbum wrote:
since its winter (at least were i am) skip the aero bars: indoor trainer and power meter for 500$! Save through the winter and have more money to spend come race season.

I like the trainer idea. Engine first.
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Re: Help Me Spend Money [boszoom] [ In reply to ]
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yes, or get on local tri club email list, people will sell off stuff when season ends (myself included) at really cheap prices. Just make sure it compatible with your cassette if you go power tap.
here is new one 500$ http://www.dcrainmaker.com/...their-powerbeat.html
think there is a 400$ PM out there to.

2024: Bevoman, Galveston, Alcatraz, Marble Falls, Santa Cruz
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Re: Help Me Spend Money [boszoom] [ In reply to ]
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Used power meter
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Re: Help Me Spend Money [boszoom] [ In reply to ]
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That would depend upon whether you had 2 bikes or not. There is a new company in Philadelphia thats making a new seatpost that moves your saddle from the road to Tri position without changing the saddle height on a springed response. This company is also building a set of aerobars that don't require any tools to remove them. Both units will cost you less than $400. These 2 items will allow you to set up your road bike as a tri bike without having to have a 2nd bike to acclimate to everytime you ride it. Go to http://www.redshiftsports.com for more information.
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Re: Help Me Spend Money [Petkos] [ In reply to ]
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Petkos wrote:
That would depend upon whether you had 2 bikes or not. There is a new company in Philadelphia thats making a new seatpost that moves your saddle from the road to Tri position without changing the saddle height on a springed response. This company is also building a set of aerobars that don't require any tools to remove them. Both units will cost you less than $400. These 2 items will allow you to set up your road bike as a tri bike without having to have a 2nd bike to acclimate to everytime you ride it. Go to http://www.redshiftsports.com for more information.

I've actually seen this product, and it seems to be a pretty good one, but haven't seen much by way of reviews other than DC Rainmaker (though of course his opinion is a persuasive one).

Can someone give me the elevator pitch on the utility of a power meter? Is it essentially a tool to train more efficiently and avoid burning out on the bike leg by putting in too much effort?
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Re: Help Me Spend Money [boszoom] [ In reply to ]
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where do you live ?

if a cold place with lots of snow

1- aerobars
2- trainer able to do Virtual power
3- subscription to Trainer road, and a handful of sufferfest videos
4- HRM
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Re: Help Me Spend Money [marcag] [ In reply to ]
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marcag wrote:
where do you live ?

if a cold place with lots of snow

1- aerobars
2- trainer able to do Virtual power
3- subscription to Trainer road, and a handful of sufferfest videos
4- HRM

Boston, so yes on the snow. I do have a Blackburn magnetic trainer but it has not a single bell not whistle.
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Re: Help Me Spend Money [boszoom] [ In reply to ]
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boszoom wrote:
Petkos wrote:
That would depend upon whether you had 2 bikes or not. There is a new company in Philadelphia thats making a new seatpost that moves your saddle from the road to Tri position without changing the saddle height on a springed response. This company is also building a set of aerobars that don't require any tools to remove them. Both units will cost you less than $400. These 2 items will allow you to set up your road bike as a tri bike without having to have a 2nd bike to acclimate to everytime you ride it. Go to http://www.redshiftsports.com for more information.


I've actually seen this product, and it seems to be a pretty good one, but haven't seen much by way of reviews other than DC Rainmaker (though of course his opinion is a persuasive one).

Can someone give me the elevator pitch on the utility of a power meter? Is it essentially a tool to train more efficiently and avoid burning out on the bike leg by putting in too much effort?

Regarding position you can also use shorty clip-on aerobars, which allow you to essentially ride in your road position. This isn't something that should hold you back though as getting aerobars will truly be the one purchase that allows you to gain the most in terms of speed and time savings.

As for a power meter that is pretty much it you have the right idea. It allows you to see what you're truly putting in (power) rather than something such as speed which can vary based on a variety of factors and isn't indicative of your actual effort. In training this allows you to ensure you're training at the right level and in racing it lets you ignore external factors and pace yourself properly.
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Re: Help Me Spend Money [Staz] [ In reply to ]
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Many thanks, Staz, and everyone else who has opined (it's fun to help others spend money on toys, isn't it?)!
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Re: Help Me Spend Money [Titanflexr] [ In reply to ]
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+1 on these. I used these on my first conversion bike (Cervelo S2) and the adjustability was great as I worked my way into getting comfortable in that position, something especially important given the road bike geometries.

In terms of what else it depends on the distance and your strength. Skip the wetsuit as bang for the buck isn't there in terms of ability to impact your overall time. I'd do a HR monitor so you can improve the quality of your training. Otherwise it's like putting a fancy paint job on a VW bug...
Last edited by: dsknudsen: Nov 10, 14 8:28
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Re: Help Me Spend Money [marcag] [ In reply to ]
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marcag wrote:
where do you live ?

if a cold place with lots of snow

1- aerobars
2- trainer able to do Virtual power
3- subscription to Trainer road, and a handful of sufferfest videos
4- HRM

This^^^^^^^^^^^^^

I also have a road bike, I got a Retul fit two years ago which was the best $275 I've spent on Tri upgrades so far. Result was FF seatpost+new stem to go with aerobars and a solid TT position.
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