Here comes a long question, probably with no real answer, but I'm having trouble figuring things out on my own so I thought I'd ask the forum and get some general opinions (dangerous I know <grin>). Here's my situation:
I currently have a road bike (raleigh r700) that I've been riding for 2 years. I think it's a nice bike, especially for what I paid for it, and I've been using it for group and solo rides. In general, I tend to split my time during the week about 50/50 between group rides and solo training. I've also done the bike leg in several tri relays on it. For the 2004 season, I want to start doing some full tri's on my own. So, with that in mind, I've been thinking about a new bike. At first I was considering the cervelo soloist. It seems to be a pretty good fit for what I'm trying to do; road rides, training and conversion to a TT/Tri position. I was thinking about buying a frameset and moving my ultegra groupo from my current bike to it. However, the price difference between a soloist frameset and a complete dual is only $100. Therefore, I've started considering leaving the r700 alone and adding a Dual to my stable. So, here's my army of questions:
1. Would you rather have one machine that you do group rides, train on and race tris on, or would you rather have a bike dedicated to each purpose.
2. If you are one of those guys/gals that has a separate road and TT bike, which do you find that you use most?
3. Because I'm 5'7" w/ shorty legs, I'll probably be on a 48cm frame. In the Dual that means 650c wheels vs. the 700c that I'm currently on. That doesn't really concern me because I'm more worried about fit. Should the wheel size bother me for some reason?
4. General comments anyone?
Thanks so much!
I currently have a road bike (raleigh r700) that I've been riding for 2 years. I think it's a nice bike, especially for what I paid for it, and I've been using it for group and solo rides. In general, I tend to split my time during the week about 50/50 between group rides and solo training. I've also done the bike leg in several tri relays on it. For the 2004 season, I want to start doing some full tri's on my own. So, with that in mind, I've been thinking about a new bike. At first I was considering the cervelo soloist. It seems to be a pretty good fit for what I'm trying to do; road rides, training and conversion to a TT/Tri position. I was thinking about buying a frameset and moving my ultegra groupo from my current bike to it. However, the price difference between a soloist frameset and a complete dual is only $100. Therefore, I've started considering leaving the r700 alone and adding a Dual to my stable. So, here's my army of questions:
1. Would you rather have one machine that you do group rides, train on and race tris on, or would you rather have a bike dedicated to each purpose.
2. If you are one of those guys/gals that has a separate road and TT bike, which do you find that you use most?
3. Because I'm 5'7" w/ shorty legs, I'll probably be on a 48cm frame. In the Dual that means 650c wheels vs. the 700c that I'm currently on. That doesn't really concern me because I'm more worried about fit. Should the wheel size bother me for some reason?
4. General comments anyone?
Thanks so much!