I front loaded my tri season by doing the NOLA & Chatt HIMs already & while I will do some sprints & OLYs over the summer, I don't have any more "A" races left. I am doing the Chicago Marathon in October & working to get to a BQ, so I will be running a lot all summer. However, I want to get better on the bike for 2017, as that is my weakest area. I will be mixing in a lot of riding to mix up my training, but it will be very different riding from what I have been doing. A lot more base building rather than race specific training. I only own a tri bike right now, and I would like to get a roadie to log a bunch of summer miles on. I do not plan to do any road races (at least not at this time), so that's not a deciding factor. My question is, what road bike will be the best to help me improve?
I currently have an FTP of 240 (up from 218 last year). My goal for the start of next year is to get that to 270 or better. My weight bounces between 175-189 with 175 being my ideal race weight. Climbs are where I get passed in races, but on flats & downhills, I pass more people than those who pass me. In Chatt last weekend, only three people passed me before the halfway point, but after that, the speedies all caught up to me. I want to be able to hold most of them off for the full ride next year.
I'd like a bike that matches the components on my tri bike (Ultegra 11sp) to make things easy from a maintenance & parts sharing perspective. That said, I'm looking for the bike that would help me improve the most, so I'm just as interested in hearing about what bike style (light vs aero) would help me more than what make & model would be best suited. I know the ultimate answer is to put in the miles on whatever I can find, but since I'm looking to pick up a new bike, I'm looking for the ideal setup to improve.
I currently have an FTP of 240 (up from 218 last year). My goal for the start of next year is to get that to 270 or better. My weight bounces between 175-189 with 175 being my ideal race weight. Climbs are where I get passed in races, but on flats & downhills, I pass more people than those who pass me. In Chatt last weekend, only three people passed me before the halfway point, but after that, the speedies all caught up to me. I want to be able to hold most of them off for the full ride next year.
I'd like a bike that matches the components on my tri bike (Ultegra 11sp) to make things easy from a maintenance & parts sharing perspective. That said, I'm looking for the bike that would help me improve the most, so I'm just as interested in hearing about what bike style (light vs aero) would help me more than what make & model would be best suited. I know the ultimate answer is to put in the miles on whatever I can find, but since I'm looking to pick up a new bike, I'm looking for the ideal setup to improve.