well, the handling in the slam position is very good indeed. the key is being able to ride with proper tilt of the pelvis. in my admittedly breif experience the handling issues in the forward positon on a road bike are somewhat overstated, predictable, and mostly easily dealt with. at the least you can duplicate whatever tri-like position you are intersted in and check it out. you may want to consider a sort of "half way position and go with a straight no setback post- this would give you an effective seat angle between the two. remember that the forward position is also as much about being lower in front as it is about being forward at the seat. and, the road/slam is about being a little higher in front. . . . . . think of each position in terms of rotation of the body about the bottom bracket as a whole.

Some road bikes lend themself better to a forward post than others. Compact frames such as TCR, Soloist, etc seem to work Ok. However I would not recommend going to 78 degrees on a forward post with any road bike unless you will be racing on a strait flat area with little wind. Your weight is quite far forward and this effects handling. The best position on a road bike IMO is at about 75/76 degrees. One of Dan's articles has a nifty chart that shows how you can determine your effective seat angle by plumblining your seat in relation to the BB. Instead of a forward seat post have a look at the M2 Racer power module seat shifter. This is also reviewed by Dan on this sight. Much faster to move your seat than with a post since you don't need an Allen key and it can even be shifted on the fly. If you set it up at 75/76 go with a size smaller tri aero bars. Syntace C2 Ultralites are a good choice.

Your other option is the big slam. Read the articles carefully and also read the article on "Dave's Page" regarding this.http://www.bicyclesports.com/

Tried both these on a road bike. It's 50/50 for me. You'll have to determine what works for you.

Try the forward position on your bike. I've no handling problems at all on my Scott road racer - seat forwarded to 78 - safe and stabile up and downhill, turns etc. But road-bikes are different, other bikes might be terrible. It's often a problem that you can't lower the bars enough - check that the aerobar you buy don't add to much extra height. A change in stem (angle and length) is another possible adjustment.

I've been riding my Trek A1000 road bike with a forward set post, clip on aerobars and the azoto tri gel saddle for almost a year. The races I do are almost all windy and fairly to extremely flat. The handling is not as good as a regular road bike but it has never been a problem.

One more thing, I had to get a shorter stem to relieve lower back pain when I switched to the farward position. I have been able to achieve a fit very close to what is described on this web site for a 78deg. bike.

It sounds like the 'missus' and budget will allow you to purchase a little something. In all cases, you'll need aerobars for sure! If you want to switch your road bike out for the duration of the season, then go for a slightly forward seat position (either a straight post like the thomson or a reversed regular post like an older control tech post) and slightly lower bar position and then switch back for winter training.

If your races are spaced far enough apart where you might want to ride a road bike for a lot of the training or ride with roadies quite a bit, maybe try the following. Purchase a new seatpost that will give you a slightly forward position and a new seat to go with it. Also get a stem that will let you get the lower position with the proper extension. Mark each seatpost with the height for each position, and note how many spacers below your stem for each position. Then you could switch back and forth.

I rode the slam position with some success last year, but this year I'll go back to a forward (76 degree or so) position as I think that there is a little more speed there for me. My first 'race' with little training seems to indicate that's correct--more speed slightly forward. Until I get my new frame, I'll be switching seatposts/seats and stems a week to 10 days before the races.

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