I just want to join the same question?.. My goal as 43 yr old is 12 to 12.5 finish in CDA next year. I will nevr make the podium so by having something that can save me 10 min means nothing. For that, diet and transition will do. I love my Klein, but as I get into tri more I am caught up in improvement by going Tri specific,however money is limited for me. I understand for "Pros" and "Top Age groupers"there is quite a market here,but what is so wrong for road bikes for us MOP. We are only talking about 4.5 to 5 hr runs after the bike here.Living in Mt means many rides in the wind and mtns,and quite frankly just not comfortable with bar end shifters except in training and race. I would love to train Tri specific but feel the best way to improve my biking is to spend more overall miles in the saddle in enjoyment then hit 3 months hard training... What are the thoughts out there... Thanks Kenney

If you haven't yet, you should hunt around this site for some of the articles on doing just this. Your best bet may be to set up your bike in what's known as the "Big Slam" position. John Cobb has some articles on this on his website www.bicyclesports.com as well. You can certainly set up a roadbike adequately for use in tris. Many people do it, including pros. But because you want your bike to do double duty, you're going to have to compromise your fit a bit for each type of riding.

The main thing is going to be your front end setup. I'd keep the standard drop road bars with STI shifters and brake levers. Add a shortie aerobar like the Profile Jammer GT (http://www.profile-design.com), Oval Slam bar (http:\\http://www.ovalconcapts.com) , or maybe even a Syntace bar in a small. (The Syntace might be a bit too long) These bars aren't going to be as comfortable as a full length bar (the pads will be far up on your forearms), but a full length bar will probably have you way too stretched out in this application. The problem with all of the bars I mentioned is that they remove the "tops" position on your road bars. You could go with a Profile Design Jammet SL to get that position back, but then you don't have any real armrest pads and the aero position would be much less comfortable.

I'd also consider moving your seat forward just a bit if you're going to be in the aerobars a lot. I wouldn't use one of those forward seatposts as that's going to mess up the feel of the bike when you're not using the aerobars. Because your seat is still going to be fairly back (in the low to mid 70s in terms of degrees) you will have to have your handlebars up pretty high so that you don't have a really small hip angle. But that's the big trade off here, you're going to be less aero than on a tri-geometry bike, but you'll have a lot more cash in your pockets for the post-ride lattes.

I hope this helps.

Three ways:

1) Big Slam. Sort of the anti-christ to the steep seat advocates but obviously works extremely well for some. You jam your seat back as far as possible to get a 71/72 seat angle and lower it to compensate. Get shorty aero bars such as Profile GT's and maybe a slightly shorter stem. Described best on John Cobb's site. http://www.bicyclesports.com/home.aspx

2) Multi-Sport position. You run about a 75/76 effective degree. Road bikes run 73/74 usually. Works best IMO with a compact style frame such as Cervelo Soloist, Giant TCR, etc. In fact the Soloist is marketed this way. On the Soloist you have a variable seat post but for others get a neutral seat post and put the seat just a bit forward of center. Get aero bars one size smaller than you might use on a tri bike (ie. small Syntace C2's if you would normally use medium). A good compromise IMO and probably better than steep on hilly courses.

3) Forward seat post. Profile and others make these. It then puts your road bike at 78 degrees or so like a tri bike. Problem is that the road bike geometry is different and makes your road bike handle like sh*t. Works OK on a flat strait course but if you have to climb and negotiate corners on fast downhill decents forget it unless you have a death wish.

There are definately some things you can do to a road bike to make it Tri-ready.

It's really going to be dependant on how you fit the bike while in the aero-position. I have always raced tri's on a road bike, but I have a very long torso and reasonably flexible hips, so for me it works.

1. The short clip-on aero bars that others have mentioned are the way to go - the limiter on these is that you do loose the hand position on the top part of the road bar. I ride a modified set of Profile Air-Strykes. I have cut them down so they are Jammer length and they have the flip-up elbow pads so the top bar is still accessable. I like that hand position for long steady climbs. This may void the warrenty, but they work beautifully for me.

2. Invest in some aero race wheels. These can be transfered to a tri-bike at some point ( assuming you get a 700c tribike) should you decide to go that route in the future.

3. You can move the saddle forward on the rails to get a slightly steeper seat angle - about 75 degrees. Stay away from the forward seatposts - they can really comprimise bike handling.

4. Know that for the longer events comfort and power transfer are key and that your position should be reasonably aero.

---

---

Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

This may sort of fly in the face of what has been said so far, but I ride a road bike for tris without any aerobars. I've tried full length aerobars on a road bike, as well as shorty bars (I used the 3T mini sub 8's). I found I was too stretched out on the full length bars, and too uncomfortable in the aero position with the shorty bars. I fiddled with my position, made some changes here and there and never found the right fit. I couldn't stay aero very long. So I just took the shorty bars off and now ride a standard road bike with drops, STI's and no aerobars. Works fine for me right now. That being said, I would like to get another steep angled tri bike in the future, but the fit will have to be right and I'll have to choose my bike wisely (I am tall, but with a long torso and short legs). Until I get that steep bike, I'll just ride the standard road position sans aerobars.

RP

I agree with fleck on his ideas, I use that set up but without cutting down the airstrykes as I have knuckle dragging arms and a long torso. Its reasonably aero very comfortable and I can generate a lot of power with it. Got me on the podium at my last race.

---

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


"on your Left"

After watching Ullrich TT in 'LeTour', I'm wondering if we'll start seeing simple light, stubby little bar ends similar to MTB bar ends (no armrests) to offer improved aerodynamics with better control for relatively short periods of time when conditions allow a more aerodynamic position during a road ride.

They already exist. They are call 'Spinacchis' and the UCI, in it's infinite wisdom, has deemed them illegal.

I faced the same problem after buying a Kestrel road bike. I got the

Profile Aerolite bars, which are extremely adjustable. Before each ride I

adjusted the seat and the bars until I found a comfortable, efficient medium.

Very low cost and very effecient.

Some insight on retrofitting your bike: once you set it up like a TT bike you

must ride it like one. That means staying in the forward position throughout

the ride, and maintaining a higher tempo than you would on a road setup.

Consider getting a second seatpost with zero setback (eg Thomson) and saddle, so that you don't need to change your regular road position, but can still have a slightly forward position for tris.

The deda clipons (clip ones or clip blacks) go on and off in a flash, as there is only one clamp to worry about and are very adjustable. The armrests can be clamped over your bar tape as well, so you won't need to worry about losing the hands on top position for regular road rides.

I don't see any problem riding a road frame for tri's, if your comfortable. You'll see some of the guys with the fastest bike splits riding Trek Carbon ,Litespeed road bikes, etc. with the jammer/slam bars, because they find it to be more comfortable for them. The only problem I see it's if you change the set up for aero/time trialing, then you have to go and change it back for group riding aal the time. Of course there are a lot of riders that ride in the group rides that just ride their tri bike or road bike in the aero set up all the time anyway, even though the roadies usually don't prefer this because of the handling/braking issues.

Sorry, this was just too much:

"definitely", not "definately"
"dependent", not "dependant"
"tris", not "tri's" (although some may argue)
"lose", not "loose"
"accessible", not "accessable"
"warranty", not "warrenty"
"transferred", not "transfered"
"compromise", not "comprimise"

---

----------------------------------
"Go yell at an M&M"

Thanks for being my "Spell-Checker"( Dan can you get one for the forum) I will admit that I am one of the worlds worst spellers - but that's what copy editors and spell-checkers are for. I don't have time to go over every post with a fine tooth comb. However, that last one of mine was a hum-dinger!!

I whill tri two speel bedder.

---

---

Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog