Maybe consider a crossbike too, with 2 set of wheels you are kinda all year condition set.

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-shoki

My tri bike is primary, and just bought a Merckx MX Leader to build up as an occasional road bike. :)

As to why..........I don't feel the need for a second tri bike, and I started road racing in the 90's, so wanted a road frame like I used to race on. It is currently being repainted for me. And of course, I could always throw clip-ons on it if I needed it as a back up bike for a tri race.

I've always been a Trek Guy so in addition to my new Speed Concept I have an H1 Trek Domane that I use for training and group rides. If I were shopping today for a new road bike I would consider the Trek Madone which is a surprisingly comfortable, light weight aero bike. But honestly there are so many great bikes out there now it boils down to which one speaks to you.

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"They know f_ck-all over at Slowtwitch"
- Lionel Sanders

 
shoki has a good point - a second bike that can do several things is a great option.


Cannondale CAAD 12. You do almost anything with it.

I had a CAAD 10 a couple of years ago and loved that bike. It was unfortunately stolen from my garage shortly before I moved cross country and I never replaced it (went from living in a house to a small apartment). I for sure miss that bike.

I'm going the other way I'm going to sell my road bike and have two tri bikes.

Train like you fight.

Only one second bike,?
Depending on where you'd be riding. Or racing? For riding in a group go for a disc road with a good spread of gears.
Find a colour you like.

Surly Cross Check. Solid, steel frame, nice wide tires. I wish it had disc brakes, but I bought it second-hand. It does it all. Bike packing, commuting, gravel. I've got fenders and a rear rack on it. Living up in Minneapolis, I've gotta have a beater for the weather.

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"The person on top of the mountain didn't fall there." - unkown

also rule 5

Go for a cross bike.

I have a Santa Cruz Stigmata and am thinking of ditching my road bike.

I have to work a bit harder on group rides because I am running 36 mm tires, but that okay by me. The ride is really plush on the roads and I can take it off road when I want.

I have two sets of wheels for the Stigmata, but I rarely swap in my knobbies.

Get a spider based PM - that way you won’t have to worry about smashing your pedals or crank when you go off road.

my second bike is a road bike, because training on a road bike opens up so many avenues to better fitness, and also it's fun.

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Eric Reid AeroFit | Instagram Portfolio
Aerodynamic Retul Bike Fitting

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My tri bike is third behind my road bike (Giant TCR) and mountain bike (YT Jeffsy 29er). My roadie is much more versatile than my tri bike and I use it for group rides and general training. It's comfortable enough for long rides but aggressive enough to keep up on fast group rides. I pretty much only ride my tri bike when racing or preparing for a specific race.

I have two tri bikes and two road bikes so I can't really say which one is second. But the most versatile is my 2015 Argon 18 Gallium Pro road bike. It is all Dura Ace with a mid compact crank and DA C35 wheels. These are aluminum rim so I naturally have rim brakes .... purposely stayed away from disc brakes. The front end is an Enve Aero base bar with narrow Enve handle bars that sweep wide in the drops for better control. It has integrated Enve aero bars and an after market carbon Red Shift seat post that allows me to shift between road and tri positions on the fly. I've raced this bike in triathlons several times and it gives up very little to my TT bikes. If I could only keep one bike it would be this one. BTW, this bike is mech. One of my TT bikes is Sram Red eTap and my other road bike is Ui2. Gallium Pro mech for the win.

Tri bike is my main bike. Bought a Felt Road Bike, put a Quarq on it....and have ridden it 1 time outdoors and a handful of times on a trainer when away from home. It was the second time I bought a road bike and it was a stupid purchase. I started with Triathlon and don't like riding in a pack.

Not enough info. If you live in an area with good gravel or mountain bike riding then I would kinda lean towards a bike that could do that. If that stuff isn't readily accessible, those bikes are kinda turds for riding mostly on the road. If I could only have two bikes then something like the new Madone or the new aero C-dale would have to be the choice. The Madone is a pretty wickedly fast and comfortable road bike, but I think you slap some cross tires on there in a pinch and take it gravel riding. We have a gravel fondo with 100 miles of mostly packed dirt and some single track. I rode it on a Mtn bike with cross tires and it wasn't ideal. In fact there was no part of the ride/race where it was advantageous. It was just a kind of lumbering turd everywhere. Most people were on cross and gravel bikes. Some on pure road bikes with 25 or 28 mm road tires and except for a short trek through a farmer's field the pure road bikes worked pretty darn well. Assuming you can get a cross tire on there, the Madone would be my weapon of choice for that gravel fondo and it is a killer road bike the rest of the time. .

My BMC TM02 is my second bike. I use it for triathlons and road training. My first bike is my Specialized Diverge. It does everything I need a bike to do and is a joy to ride!

#1 bike: Cannondale Scalpel (MTB)
#2 bike: Orbea Diva (road) It's more like the #1 bike but for the road.
#3 bike: Cervelo P2 (tri) I only did one race weekend on the road last year

The order will change next year

For what you want, a regular road bike or gravel bike will fit the bill.

I have a bunch of bikes, I’d be hard pressed to call any of them my “main” bike. This year I was mostly on my tri bike, but that was the first time I’ve tried that and I don’t think I’ll repeat that experiment.

For what I do, if I were limited to 2 bikes I’d have an road bike with clipons disc brakes and lots of tire clearance for triathlons, odd group ride, and general training, and a hardtail 29er XC oriented mountain bike with a second set of wheels with cross tires mounted to them. That combo would let me ride pretty much anywhere around here that I’m capable of riding.

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2020 National Masters Champion - M50-54 - 50m Butterfly

My second bike is a CAAD10 that I built up myself. Love it. It's my trainer/bad-weather day bike.

I’ve got a 2003 Fuji newest that weighs around 23 pounds. Looking at upgrading it to a specialized Allez that will fit my wife and I.

Depends where you live and what you want a second bike for. You said general riding and group riding. A nice cross or gravel bike with 2 wheel sets would be my vote.

My stable:
TitanFlex Transition
LeMond Poprad cross bike
De Vinci Django full suspension mtn Bike
Motobecane Fat Bike
Trek 5500 on dedicated trainer duty

All get used regularly.

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Formerly DrD

Cervelo R3 is my main bike - the one i lovingly ride and clean and lock up after use.

My "2nd bike" is my Cannondale Slice which sits on my trainer full time. It only went outside for 15 miles this year on an abortive 70.3 ride...

My second bike is also a CAAD10 and I also built it up myself. And it is also for me my bad weather / trainer bike. Like it a lot!

I personally would just get a standard road bike dependent of your budget. If you're just group riding no need for an aero road etc. Read there was a recent post how a lot of triathletes/Ironman athletes actually do most of their riding on a road bike. Other option is all the gravel bikes coming out. A better geometry than a cross bike and can put wide tires on to ride on the dirt roads if is a good option for where you live.

Main bike is a 2012 trek SC7.0 FLOs 90/90 1x di2 and my other bike is my lovely spesh 2012 sworks venge di2 FLOs 60/90

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Speed kills unless you have speed skills!!!

I have a Caad10 road bike as my secondary. Great for group rides, off-season fitness, joy rides, etc.But I also have a Cannondale F-si mountain bike because I like mountain biking. Then I also have a vintage Trek 970 I restored for fun. And a shitty 1x1 26" for riding to bars. n+1

But seriously, if you have no real intention of doing mountain biking or otherwise off road riding, I would go with a road bike. Its versatile and fun to ride.

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Robert Dao
ATC Racing - Austin, TX
Gold's Gym Triathlon Coach
@speedao1
@daotraining

You're right there are so many options out there. Its really about what piques your interest or what color you like ;)

I have an Felt IA and a Trek Emonda , because who doesnt love climbing?

I may be a wee bit overboard, but in NoCo we have loads of different terrain to train/ride

#1 bike: Cervelo P2 (Tri) -- self explanatory
#2 bike: Trek Madone 9.2 (Road) -- great for off-season rides and group rides
#3 bike: Cervelo S3 (Gran Fondo) -- self explanatory
#4 bike: Specialized Fatboy (MTB/Snow/Anything) -- cuz hell yeah... fat bikes rule!

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In search of the righteous life... we all fall down

Cervelo Soloist circa 2007 or 2008, Ultegra, and bombproof Mavic wheels. Because it is safer to ride a road bike in the city. My tri bike is the Shiv. I don't have any other bikes. I occasionally commute on the soloist. I do lock it. If it gets stolen there is my excuse to buy a new road bike! Otherwise I'm happy keeping it a long while yet.

Bike 1: Scott scale 29er hardtail MTB
Bike 2: Blue AC1 SL (aero road bike)
Bike 3: BH Aerolight (tri bike)
Bike 4: YT Jeffsy CF 29er dual suspension MTb
Bike 5: unicycle.

Would like a gravel enduro or CX bike...

Bike 1: Premier Tactical
Bike 2: Specialized Roubaix (purchased before bike one)

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80/20 Endurance Ambassador

CAAD 12! I have a Felt IA 10 and Allied cycle works Alfa (both Di2) and have no need for my CAAD 12, but I just can’t get rid of it. I love it too much. Ultegra mechanical shifting and Thomson parts make it bullet proof. Use it for travel, bad weather, and just as a change up. It’s amazing.

2nd bike? Pfffttt....

What about my third, fourth, fifth, and sixth bike?

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Favorite Gear: Dimond | Cadex | Desoto Sport | Hoka One One

 trek checkpoint gravel bike. I don't road race or do group rides so this fits the commute, social ride, and everyday get around boxes for me. Sounds like your usage is different. Fun, comfy, no worry sort of ride regardless of road type or quality and I don't feel bad locking it up or if it gets dinged a little. I don't feel the need to baby it which is nice, and therefore it gets a lot of use.

2000 Giant TCR Advance Limited Edition. This is the Team ONCE version from back in the day. The limited team version has an anodized rear half instead of paint to keep the weight down. Seems to flex a lot compared to my Cervelo S2 and the ride is pretty harsh b/c it's aluminum. But I really wanted this bike at the time as one of the first compact road frames, so I have to deal with it.

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Great things never come from comfort zones.

6 Bikes currently.

1. Cervelo P2 tri bike
2. Serotta HSG Titanium Road bike (very comfortable and stable bike, great for long rides_
3. Raleigh Militis Carbon Road bike (go fast stiff and light, 15.2 lbs.)
4 Cannondale CX 9 Cross Bike (gravel, bad weather, spring riding bike when there is salt on roads after winter)
5. Scott Scale Mtn Bike (hardtail, good for gravel and some MTB trails, racing)
6 Scott Spark Mtn Bike (120mm F+R suspension, all around versatile MTB)

With my wife and 2 daughters who also ride and race road, mtb and cross we have 16 bikes in our household currently. The number has finally exceeded my mental abiltiy to keep any of the supporting gear straight.

I guess my Tri bike (P2) is technically my second bike now. My primary bike is a 2019 Salsa Warbird. I recently upgraded from a 7 year old CX bike for riding gravel and it's a huge leap forward. I have a few hundred miles on it now, including a race last weekend and am absolutely loving it. I like the flexibility of being able to ride gravel (pretty much all I do now), light single track (sometimes gravel exploring leads to unexpected trails), and even toss a set of road tires on and hold my own with my roadie friends.

I used to only own a TT bike cuz I did triathlon.
Started road racing, bought a nice aero road bike.
Realized that Cyclocross was the greatest sport ever, so bought a cheap CX bike.
That CX bike became my commuter when I bought a new fancy 1x gravel/CX ride.

#1 Shiv <- the bike I am referring to when I say "my bike". Spend 80+% of my ride time on the Shiv.
#2 Venge Vias <- for days I want to go out on group rides with friends or too lazy to pull the Shiv off the trainer.
#3 2018 Diverge 1x <- Crappy weather, go anywhere do anything bike, gravel, single track, road rides in the fall leaves with my wife, or for those days when I am not sure what type of ride I am headed out on... leaves all the options open.

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______________________________________________
Team Zoot

There's always someone who doesn't know how to reply to the right post.

#1 Trek Speed Concept - The race bike
#2 Cervelo S5 - For Group rides, long rides outside tri season and the odd road race
#3 Ridley X-trail - Gravel bike for commuting, gravel rides, winter and bad weather riding

The X-trail is my new love, replacing a 29'er and a commuter road bike. I'm getting a second wheelset to have one for road riding and one for gravel and winter studs. These days I am doing most of my outdoor riding on this bike and may race a gravel race/MTB Marathon on it next year.

If you know you are not doing any competitive road races I would higly recommend the X-trail as a versatile second bike.

gravel bike. raleigh tamland 1. steel frame. great tire clearance. I like gravel biking so that's why I have it. I can also put size 28 tires on it if I feel like riding on the road with it but I have a road bike for that.

So, let's define 'first bike' as the one with the most miles per year. For me, that is an ancient Cannondale on my trainer. It fits and having other, outdoor bikes is convenient. Bike #2 is a CAAD3. Outdoor rides, some training, some group. Bike #3 is a QR Cd 0.1 for racing, limited outdoor training. Don't tell Mrs. giorgitd about the Specialized Allez steel frame that is my 1st road bike as an adult. Did a mountain tour in France with it in 1999 and have no plan to get rid of it. It's also my ace in the hole. Mrs. giorgitd often threatens to run over my bikes with her SUV. But the Allez is in a box, hidden from view...

I've got a Felt IA for tri, and that's my primary bike on the trainer and on the lead up to a priority race, the Felt becomes primary bike on the road too for a short while. However, most of the year my road bike, a Canyon Ultimate, is my primary bike when I'm not on the trainer.
Road bikes are just more enjoyable! And they're safer in most outdoor conditions, especially group rides. In fact tri bikes would not be acceptable for most group rides I'd do. I love the tri bike when I'd riding solo on fairly non-technical roads and I just want to go fast. But the road bike is so much more fun when there's climbs, descents, corners and sprints! Variety is good.

I've also got a Specialized Tricross which preceded the other two bikes. I originally used it as a road bike and later set it up as a tri bike of sorts with clip-ons and a forward seatpost before switching to purpose built tri bike. I've hung onto that and fitted cross tyres so I can use it for the occasional adventure off-road.

If you just want a road bike for general riding and group rides, I wouldn't worry too much about which one so long as you like it and it fits. There are lots of excellent road bikes. Aero is nice but certainly not essential. I'd prioritise, your personal aesthetic preferences, a good fit without resorting to excessive spacers or extreme stems, ability to handle a good range of tyre widths, spec, and value for money. It sounds like you won't be racing it or anything, so if the idea appeals to you, it might be worth considering a gravel bike or cross bike for the extra flexibility. With good road tyres, they won't be much of a compromise on the road compared to a road bike but they give you options to try some other stuff too.

Sounding like a broke record here. I have a seven year old CAAD 10-4 that I've since updated with a combo of SRAM Red/Force 22 and a P2M power meter. It's around 16 pounds - not super light, but pretty easy to get to a decent weight. I ride it maybe 5% of the time, but whenever I do I always ask myself why I don't ride it more.

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Blog: http://262toboylstonstreet.blogspot.com/
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Primary: Giant Propel utilized for road race and TT duty

Second: Trek Crockett

Why the second? It's a "do it all bike" outside of true singletrack. You can toss on a road tire and ride in the group ride or train on the road. Toss on knobbies and do CX or gravel, or a bigger knobbie and do some very mild and flow-y singletrack.

I've actually been swapping a wheelset with Gators and a wheelset with CX/gravel tires on the Crockett and riding that more often than the race bike.

More comfortable, marginally slower on the road (can still drop the group on the hammer ride), and is overall a cheaper bike to fart around with training and riding.

I think for a triathlon person, a perfect second bike to a tri/TT bike would be a CX bike.

I ride a full Campy Tommaso that I bought in the early 90's.
It is hot pink and white. Shifters on the the down tube.
Very original. Only changed out the brake levers to an aero style around '93-'94.

I don't ride it often but I love it. I've had it since I was 15.
I worked at a bike shop assembling bikes as my first job.
Started when I was 12. Got paid $5 a bike cash under the table.
I bought it for cost. Could've bought a car but settled on the bike.
I've never had a reason to get rid of it.

My Stable includes - Speed Concept / Cannondale CAAD 10 / Trek Cross Point Gravel / Jamis MTB.

Cannondale - Winter / Night Rides

Trek Crosspoint - Gravel Rides. - Night Rides.

Jamis - Cold Winter Bike in the woods.

Go with a road bike of the "stage racing" variety. It's a great way to improve your bike handling skills. If I could only have one bike in addition to my TT race rig, it would be custom titanium, such as a Baum Corretto. It will last a lifetime and is a thing of beauty.

If I had an interest in gravel, I'd also consider a 3T Exploro with a 2x drivetrain. Kind of a cool way to get both an aero endurance-geo road bike and an unstoppable gravel grinder (2.1" tires on 650b wheels) in one. It's an unusual beast.

2015 Cannondale CAAD10 105 for all my weekend/group rides. I love my P2, but it stays on my Tacx Flux unless its race day!

My second bike is a trek 820 pseudo mountain bike circa 1994. Why, because I don't have enough money to buy anything new and I need a bike to ride to the donut store with my kids on Sundays. Bonus: I recently got it tuned at an REI because I didn't feel like spending $300 on a new cruiser; I tell the tech that the bike is not worth $50 and that he was not authorized to spend more than $80 on the tune up (including a new chain); tech calls me up and tells me the crank set and related parts were subject to one of the most notorious bike recalls of the early 2000s, and, Shimano is still honoring the recall. So I got my crappy old bike back for $80 bucks with some all new components. Bonus points to REI and Shimano for being good.

I just brought home a new Cervelo C3 today. I am really excited about it, as I feel I have 2 bikes in 1 depending on the wheels/tires I use...

I generally ride to train for Triathlons...and just don’t have the time to warrant a true, road-only bike...I think this choice will allow me to get in on a century or two if I want, but also allow me to try out this gravel thing I hear about...

My 2nd bike has been the bike I bought "next". Didn't see it mentioned here, but I recently got a single-speed, fixed gear bike as my '2nd bike. Came setup as a single speed, and I plan to flip the wheel and try the fixed gear mode, and replace the straight bars w/bull horns for additional hand position options. Not a lot of money, totally lo-maintenance, commodity and easily available parts, suitable for any casual outing - tooling around, occasional errand, recovery ride, ride w/family, etc.

I started with a road bike, then got a high-end road bike, then a mountain bike, then got a dedicated tri-frame bike (that I rode all the time for training, racing, or just riding) then another fancy road bike when I and buddies signed up for an epic Euro trip. Setup that road bike w/compact cranks. Then I moved where there's lots of flat riding but instead of swapping out the compact crank on the road bike, I just bought another fancy road bike :-). Most of my rides are on my newer road bike -- the one other than the "climbing bike". I rarely ride the mountain bike - too slow, too much maintenance.

If you're going to do any group riding, definitely recommend a road bike - find the fit, the price point, components, color scheme, and brand that appeals to you.

A 2000 Quintana Roo TiPhoon, that I upgraded the components to SRAM Force 10 sp some years ago. Barely used since the upgrade, since it is my indoor trainer bike & I hate riding trainers. B.O.R.I.N.G. I'll dress in all my gear and ride in 35 F if roads are dry.
I keep the bike because it is 1) Titanium & they are not as common anymore--and they just won't die! 2) It's my Ironman P.R. bike (as well as bike PR for that distance as well). Sentimental reasons I guess. 3) Because it's not time to rotate it out of my line up until I get a new bike (likely going to wait until 12 speed comes out and they refine it after a year). 4) I'm too cheap to upgrade more than once ever 10 years...besides, my P3C works just fine--it's the motor that needs the work.

In Order of use the last 2 years due to injury:


'17 Madone 9.9 - My absolute favorite bike ever
'16 Speed Concept 9.9 Project 1 - hasn't been on the road since July '17.
'17 Fuel EX 9.8
'19 Boone Disc - Frameset custom build
'18 Super Commuter
NEXT BIKE - Domane Disc or Madone Disc

"2nd bike"???

I think at last count I have 13....

What for?

Get an R3 and a set of Hed Ardennes. You can ride it anywhere with a variety of tires.

This thread has affirmed my decision to get a road bike. It's been on my list for awhile but now I'm committed to picking one up this winter.

Agree with this.

Right now I have:

QR tri bike (it's on the trainer and pretty much stays there - don't love it and I'd like to get something else)
Cannondale CAAD10 (my main ride)
Salsa Warbird gravel bike (my new love)
Trek Crockett cross bike (could sell this since buying the Salsa)
Cervelo Prodigy (my original road bike - steel frame - keeping just because)
Felt track bike

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clm
Nashville, TN
https://twitter.com/ironclm | http://ironclm.typepad.com

Because I don't just say n+1 for fun??

Aside from a couple road bikes and a couple MTB, I collect antique and vintage bikes.

1. Puch Force XII - all rounder fast road
2. Cervelo P2 - tri
3. All-City Space Horse - bike packing and anything over 120 miles
4. Specialized Camber Comp - mtb

My 2nd bike is a MTB - there's nothing like some fun flowy trails to mix up the routine.

My 2nd bike is my Cervelo road bike. I started mountain biking first on my Pivot, and that is my favorite kind of cycling. My third is my Specialized Tri bike I got new-to-me for tris that will be mostly flat, and windy.