Welcome. You will undoubtedly get a plethora of "get a fit first" comments on this thread. That is valid. But, it is highly likely that a typical 56 sized frame would fit you.

Since you want to use it for triathlons, I would recommend an aero road bike. That would eliminate a bunch of options and leave you with bikes like the Specialized Venge, Felt AR, Trek Madone, Cervelo S, BMC Timemachine Road, and Orbea Orca Aero. The numbers attached to most of the models are just equipment levels. With Cervelo, the S1 is the cheap entry and the S5 has the most expensive components. Felt is the opposite: the AR1 is the best and the AR5 is the least.

There's so many variables, and those are all very nice bikes.

I'd focus most on the components...at the minimum Shimano 105, Ultegra, or Dura Ace; Sram Rival, Force, or Red, or Campy Chorus, Record, or Super Record (unlikely you'll find a SR equipped bike at a steep discount, but it happens). Also look at the other upgrades that might be expensive to get later on...wheels, saddle, bars, etc. Aero wheels, a good, quality saddle, even upgraded bars or a hydration system can save you some money...heck, even a new set of high end tires vs older, worn "they came with the bike" tires can save you $100 or more down the road.

We spend a LOT of time arguing over marginal upgrades on this forum, and there are no doubt many who will see the difference that a small amount of weight or drag can give, but for most of us, bike fit and "the engine" is 99.9% of the bottom line.

Some of those bikes I've owned, some I've ridden, and some I'm not super familiar with, but they're all probably way more than up to the task. Of the ones you list, the Cervelo P2 is probably the best for strictly triathlons, and will have the best resale value (it's more "familiar" of a brand to people "buying in" if you choose to upgrade), but might not be the best choice for an "all around" road bike.

And in my humble opinion, $1700 is more than plenty for a great used bike if you're patient. Seen plenty of beautiful used tri bikes for less than half of that, which gives you plenty of money for a proper fit, upgraded wheels/saddle/hydration system, coaching, spare tires, etc.

Very helpful in narrowing down the list I provided which will make it easier when going to a shop.

So you say that the Cervelo S series would be good for what I'm looking for but dpd3672 says P series. What is the difference between the two?

Cervelo's S series is their aero road bike. The P series is a dedicated triathlon bike.

Gotcha. Thank you. Feels like now I'm making a little bit of progress now in this process rather than just staring at a bunch of pretty bikes.

So eliminate:

All Specialized models except Venge Expert
Pinarello
Bianchi
Eddy Merckx

?

Here is a bit more explanation to help. First is the broad choice: road bike versus dedicated triathlon bike. You indicated a road bike in your initial post. That is probably a good decision if you are also wanting to use the bike for group rides and other activities.

So, within that category of road bikes, there is a subclass of aero road bikes that share typical road bike geometry, but have aero upgrades in the tube shapes and handlebar design. Those are the bikes I recommended.

• Cervelo R series - (not mentioned) this is a great bike, but it is a traditional road bike.
• Specialized Tarmac - This is a fantastic traditional road race bike.
• Specialized Roubaix - This is optimized for light off road
• Felt FR - A great traditional road race bike
• Orbea Orca M - A great traditional road race bike
• Pinarello Gan - This is a traditional road race bike, but I walk it back. Pinarellos are also known to be aero
• Bianchi Aria - never mind my initial comment, this one is their aero road bike
• BMC Teammachine SLR - A great traditional road race bike
• Eddy Merckx EMX - Traditional road bike

If your main goal is triathlon, there a lot of good reasons to get a triathlon bike.

However, if you are more comfortable on a road bike, then this might be worth looking at before you make the decision to pull the trigger on a bike. A short read:

https://darkspeedworks.com/blog-whatbike.htm

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DarkSpeedWorks.com.....Reviews.....Insta.....Facebook
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If you want to race triathlons, why would you buy a road bike?

x2. If you want a bike to do triathlons, I'd highly recommend a bike made for triathlons. I'm biased owning Cervelo P4 and P5 but there is a reason why they dominate the bike count at the vast majority of races (see Kona). My recommendation in your price range would be the Cervelo P2. Do some research and you should be able to find a good used one in your range. Save some $ for a good wheel set as well.

From what I've read so far it seems that it would be much more versatile and I won't lose much in terms of time when doing triathlons.

I'm just looking to do well in triathlons, I have no aspirations to win them.

I figure I would get a good aero road bike and add aero clips ons as a lot of people do.

Even if you like road bike set ups, there is a way better option for you, see my post above.

Greg @ dsw

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Advanced Aero TopTube Storage for Road, Gravel, & Tri...ZeroSlip & Direct-mount, made in the USA.
DarkSpeedWorks.com.....Reviews.....Insta.....Facebook
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Understand. I did my first race on a Felt F5 used road bike I bought for $900 and bought some clip on bars....finished 5th overall at a 500 person event race at the Jersey shore. Realized I could probably do well in the sport so went looking fo a tri bike. If you just want to compete and enjoy the sport, a road bike should be fine. If you want stick with the sport and get on the podium, you'll probably need a tri bike. Have fun and good luck.

Because riding a triathlon bike in training on the road sucks (at least compared to a road bike) and races constitute probably less than 1% of your total time in the saddle. Best decision I ever made was buying a road bike. I have two bikes, of course, but if I only one one it would not be a tri bike. The guys I ride with who ride a triathlon bike in a training ride might spend 10% of the ride in aerobars. The rest of the ride they are in the drops for an aerobar which isn’t particularly comfortable or efficient.

I do training rides almost 100% in aero.

Well then you are blessed to live in an area with no stop signs/lights, crappy roads, poor drivers etc. and either ride alone or with a very tolerant group of riders. I’m jealous. But the vast majority of us are probably not so lucky.

If the Giant Trinity fits you I recommend you take a look at it. You can get a ton of bike for $1,800 on a Giant Trinity. The fit is a bit limited but if it fits you there's a lot of bang for the buck there.

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http://dontletitdefeatyou.blogspot.com

What other brand/model bikes offer something like that that I could look into?

Good luck 👍

First off go for the bike you like the look of. Make sure it's close to the right size.

11 speed 105 groupset is all you need.

Get used to clip less pedals and decent comfortable shoes.

Once you are happy riding the thing and have a few races under your belt then maybe get some aero clip on bars. They will make the biggest difference to your speed. Anything else is utterly irrelevant until you can qualify for Kona. 👍🏻

"What other brand/model bikes offer something like that that I could look into?"


All time trial bikes can be set up like that.

These will be versatile enough for regular road rides as well as triathlons?

A time trial bike typically has a seat tube angle around 78 degrees.

A road bike typically has a seat tube angle around 73 degrees.

Would you recommend any of these over the other? I guess the Roubaixs would fall to the bottom since those are for light off road? But between the others are they are pretty much the same in terms of quality and fit for what I'm looking for?

Huh. I'm 100% comfortable on my TT bike on the basebar for 50+ miles, including in the mountains. I have a road bike (sorta...its in pieces), but haven't ridden it since I built the TT bike. Don't get me wrong, I love my road bike (I've had it since 1995). I keep meaning to rebuild it. But, in 2 years of riding my TT exclusively, I haven't once wished I didn't have to ride the TT bike today. To me a TT bike makes a better road bike, than vice versa.

So, my feeling is the opposite of yours: As a triathlete, if I could only have ONE bike...it would be (IS) a TT bike.

If you can afford only one bike, road is way to go, so you can ride with groups and participate bike rallies and whatnot. After that, you can get a tri bike down the road. That's what I did and I highly recommend that route.