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Help me pick a new bike
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Riding a cannondale caadx 105 that I've basically converted to a dual use bike (have two sets of box wheels and tires so I can ride gravel/cross or on the road). First season really getting into the tris (I've always been a runner and sometimes biker), but I ride a lot with a team that I trained indoor with all winter but now do outdoor rides that are (mostly) not aerobar friendly.

My FTp is 280+, and I typically ride my CAADX at 20.5 to 21.5 mph for an hour on a fairly hard solo ride. Looking at a caad10 black inc di2 that is a good deal (a little over 2k) but I'm debating whether I will get much speed improvement or whether just to buy a new felt or p2 or a good used tri bike rather than upgrading the road (have 2 Olympics on the calendar starting in June).

Anyone have similar experience? Also I've never ridden a tt bike so I have some question in my mind whether Ill get as much advantage as some seem to over just riding in my drops, which I'm generally comfortable doing for an hour-plus.
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Re: Help me pick a new bike [sscott43] [ In reply to ]
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I love my tt bike to death, a different road bike will give pretty much no performance improvement. In all honesty you should get a long/low stem, tt bars, aero helmet, a really aero suit like the pi octane and a wheel cover lol.... or a tt bike but all that stuff will probably give you more of an advantage than a bike if you can get into a low aero position on your bike with a new stem. If you do get a tt bike then get a fitted to a good position and buy a bike based on your stack/reach from that
Last edited by: eggplantOG: May 3, 15 16:08
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Re: Help me pick a new bike [sscott43] [ In reply to ]
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CAAD10 would be nicer to ride but really not much faster (if at all). And the CAADX not good for putting aerobars on thanks to long chainstays.
Find a TT bike that fits well and you will be much faster. I used my CAADX for a couple of sprint tris on our local course which is a hilly 20km and going to the TT bike is ~4mins faster.
I do have a lot of other aero data and can quantify things to an obsessive degree - but that example is closest to your situation.

New P2 would be great as it's hard to get a faster frame for the money. But you would also get most of the benefit from finding a P2SL and ticking off some of the boxes mentioned by the other poster.
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Re: Help me pick a new bike [cyclenutnz] [ In reply to ]
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But were you also in the same position only difference being frame? No aero bars cause long chainstay? 1000% guaranteed I could put some aero bars on that thing
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Re: Help me pick a new bike [eggplantOG] [ In reply to ]
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eggplantOG wrote:
But were you also in the same position only difference being frame? No aero bars cause long chainstay? 1000% guaranteed I could put some aero bars on that thing

Of course I wasn't in the same position - that is the point of the TT bike.
Could not achieve the same position on the CAADX without an Ergostem (though I do have one). Long chainstays push weight forward meaning that it would be terrifying to have aerobars and a forward position on the CX bike. Have experimented a lot with weight distribution effects.

There is nothing stopping people from putting aerobars, disc wheels etc on any bike. That doesn't mean that you should!
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Re: Help me pick a new bike [cyclenutnz] [ In reply to ]
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Thanks much for the input- I'm always amazed by the collective experience on ST. And good to know about aerobars being challenging on the Caadx -won't waste my time with that.
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Re: Help me pick a new bike [sscott43] [ In reply to ]
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I have a CAADX (just picked it up last week), a carbon road bike, and a P2C.

I don't think you are going to get much performance gain going from the CAADX to a road frame. Maybe a little, but not much. Wheels would probably make a bigger difference than frame. Going with a P2 would make a big difference.

If you are hanging okay in the group rides on the CAAD I would just stick with that for group rides and get a P2 for solo rides and tris.
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Re: Help me pick a new bike [sscott43] [ In reply to ]
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Get a tri bike instead. On a tri bike, I can average 21mph over one hour with an FTP in the 210 range. I can only dream of your 280+, but we're the same speed.

I was in a vaguely similar situation a few years back -- I had an older entry-level aluminum tri bike and was thinking of getting a sturdy road or cross bike that I could use as a commuter, so I could get base miles in for an IM later that year. My bike guy told me to get a new tri bike instead, and to keep commuting on an old mountain bike. Sure, he was selling me a more expensive bike in the process, but it really makes a difference to have a real tri bike. About 2-3 mph, to be precise.


<The Dew Abides>
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Re: Help me pick a new bike [sscott43] [ In reply to ]
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I got a pre purchase bike fit for $250.

The fitter came up with 3x models that fit me best.

I then bought a 2nd hand bike that had been used for 6 months and saved $1500 on it.

I'd never buy new again. Ever.
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Re: Help me pick a new bike [sscott43] [ In reply to ]
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There's a dude on here that might be willing to part with a P5 for cheap.

The P2 is one of the best values out there if it fits you. And P2 and P3's are out there used for really good prices.

I'm beginning to think that we are much more fucked than I thought.
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