I think how long it takes is really dependent on the individual. There is a thread on this forum where women talk about not being able to get used to them.

I put clip-ons on the bike that I keep on the trainer before I got a tri bike. The first time on the road was a bit nerve wracking, and it took me a couple tries on that ride to settle in, but once I did, it was really comfortable. However, I will say that the first few times I rode my tri bike, I did it in a straight, flat, low traffic area. I felt vulnerable in the aero position, especially without brakes that I could feather, and it took me a couple rides to make friends with that. I have put about 200 miles on the bike (just got it this spring), and now I don't have too much of a problem, but if I am around much traffic or cornering, I come out of aero. I like my hands to be near the brakes in those situations. For the same reason, I have never broken 40 mph on the bike. One of the things that I find interesting is that I feel myself steering more with my hips while my arms just kind of hang out on the handlebars.

Recently, I had a conversation with a friend who has been doing triathlons forever and we were talking about getting used to the aero position and sore muscles. He said pushups and planks were good, and that he found lower back exercises to be the most useful thing. Actually, he advised long stretches of kick drills in the pool to strengthen the lower back for long rides.

Have fun. Take it easy and don't try to set any speed records until you get comfortable. Trust in your bike handling skills and you won't have any problems.

Thank you so much happyscientist. I'll stick with straight, flat, low traffic areas, keep up with my planks, and take it easy. I appreciate the feedback!

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(Formerly SoCalTricurious, now in the PNW).

A quick update for happyscientist. Saturday was a successful day of riding the new bike around a car park practicing, quick braking, slaloming through cones, passing, and cornering. Sunday I managed only 25 miles on the road at a very slow pace-- downhill and flats I felt okay in aero but I never got going very fast. I felt super wobbly and vulnerable on the uphills -- I think that will improve with time as I adjust to when to move in and out of position, shifting in time, and getting accustomed to the bigger crankset. It was humbling (and I likely won't be be racing on it this weekend) but I am ncouraged, especially after reading through some older threads. Thanks again!

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(Formerly SoCalTricurious, now in the PNW).

Good to hear. Yeah, that crankset takes a bit to get used to. I still have a few gears that I haven't touched on the bike.

I raced mine for the first time this weekend. It was a HIM. I did learn a couple things. First, I should have practiced eating and drinking more. Especially because it was raining, I really wasn't as comfortable as I should have been, and I had to stop to get food and water. This isn't an issue on my road bike.

The other thing was that my lower back wasn't strong enough. The swim ended up being long, and my sighting was poor which made it longer. (They said 2000 m, I swam 2300 m.) I was tense from the downpour, and I took off my soaking wet jacket at one point and stuck it in my jersey pocket, adding weight to the small of my back. I was really sore and sitting up by the time I got off the bike. Because of that, I will be adding some strength training for my lower back.

Congratulations happyscientist.

It's a struggle (read: currently impossible) to get my water bottles in and out while in aero so that's one of the big things I want to master before my HIM.

I'm a fan on deadbugs, bird dogs, and bridges for low back (and all three have the added benefit of core bracing).

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(Formerly SoCalTricurious, now in the PNW).

SoCalTricurious - I was wondering what you mean by a "bigger crankset". Do you mean your gear ratios are different than on your cross bike? Do you mean the crank length is longer? There should be no "getting used to" gears, that is why we have so many (but they need to be the correct combination for your speed/cadence).

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Two wheels good. Four wheels bad.

Good call out DrTriKat, "different" would have been a better choice of words.

My CX has a compact 50/34 and the new bike has a racing 53/39 -- on Sunday, I struggled finding gear ratios while remembering which lever to shift and when while adjusting to the new position. I didn't get the 53/39 because I thought I was a stud -- I'm relatively strong but it came with the (free!) bike and I haven't made any modifications to the bike other than replacing the chain and the seat.

I've had the CX for ten years and and got it because I had a road and dirt path commute not because I was racing CX. I'll sheepishly admit that I'm not a great shifter. I should be better because I've been a bike commuter for *cough* a long time but I really only used a few gears (what was to me "Hard/Medium/Easy"). Even when I took the bike on sporadic longer non-commute rides, I didn't ever leave the big ring.

Since starting triathlon in January, I spent a lot of time figuring out the gearing on my CX and had it figured it out enough to do well in my four races.. I'm taking the new bike out tomorrow and I think it'll just take some time to get used to. I'm also doing some reading just to have a better understanding of the mechanics of cycling generally and my new bike, specifically. Recommendations welcome.

Does that make more sense? I'll work on my precision of language.

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(Formerly SoCalTricurious, now in the PNW).

You may find the gear calculator below helpful in deciding what kind of chainring and cassette combination would work best for your speed/cadence/terrain. In general, you want to avoid riding in the extreme gears (large chainring - largest cog or small chainring - smallest cog), and use the middle of your cassette for the most part.

http://sheldonbrown.com/gear-calc.html

Swapping cassettes and chainrings is a relatively easy and cheap thing to do to maximize your performance by providing you with the optimal gears available at the speeds/cadences that you ride at.

I am curious, why did you swap out the chain?

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Two wheels good. Four wheels bad.

Thanks again DrTriKat. I've been looking at Sheldon Brown's site, Mike Sherman's helpful calculator (http://home.earthlink.net/~mike.sherman/shift.html), and some older forum threads. I have a lot of learn and am amazed at and grateful for the wealth of knowledge shared by cyclists and triathletes.

For now, I know to avoid the extreme gears while trying to get a feel of where I need to be to keep up my cadence -- it's just all a little clunky and not yet intuitive. I get away with * a lot * because I have a good power to weight ratio and natural athleticism (I was a two sport college athlete) but I'm certainly not maximizing efficiency -- I would like to learn more and get more efficient as my season progresses.

I replaced the chain because it was stretched and old (the bike is new to me and fancy but sat unused for the last several years). The bike is geared for speed and was given to me with the hope that I'll be leveraging its speed by the end of my rookie season.

If I make changes, I'll update you if you're interested.

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(Formerly SoCalTricurious, now in the PNW).

Sounds like you are making great progress!

If the chain was stretched, most likely the chainrings (and possibly the cassette) is worn as well. You should check the chainrings and see if they show sign of wear (the websites you have looked at are great resources to see pics of what this looks like).

It is generally recommended to replace the worn chainring(s) if you are replacing the chain for wear.

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Two wheels good. Four wheels bad.

Thanks DrTriKat, I am having a lot of fun and being on the AG podium in all four of my races hasn't hurt my enthusiasm for triathlon.

When I got the bike, I took it into my local shop to get it fit, checked out, and tuned up. They were surprised at the lack of wear on the chainring (it's a 2007) and they estimated the bike had less ~150 miles on it (which is slightly less than the original owner had guessed). The shop suggested replacing the chain more for age/rust an abundance of caution. I'll keep a close eye on the wear and again, I truly appreciate all your help and feedback!

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(Formerly SoCalTricurious, now in the PNW).

Hi DrTriKat and happyscientist! I wanted to give you (and the others who shared their knowledge) an update on my bike progress.

What's good:
I can comfortably stay in aero for most of the time on longer rides (2+ hours)
I can maintain what I think is a decent pace
I can retrieve/replace water bottles from the cages on the back of my seat
I haven't fallen off in weeks [grin]

What needs improvement:
I'm still only using some of my gearing -- I am riding mostly in the big ring unless I am climbing up some crazy hill and don't shift much more than easy/hard/medium
My cadence is not as high as it was on my CX (I have a sensor not a computer, so I can see this after the rides -- this is connected to the above, natch)
Hills are still a trouble spot -- going up I can grind on through but I know I'm not maximize efficiency and going down I am still intimidated by the perceived fragility of this light and tiny bike

The decision:
I'm going to race my first 70.3 on the bike! It's packed it up and ready to head east.

Thank you again for all your encouragement and knowledge.

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(Formerly SoCalTricurious, now in the PNW).