Hold the phone!!! Your daughter just got back from a USAT camp and she wants a TRI bike? If she wants to race with the juniors in draft-legal racing, like she was trained for at the camp, then she needs a ROAD bike, not a "tri" bike. A bike like the Cannondale Ironman is great if she wants to do non-drafting age-group races, but the junior draft legal circuit requires a road bicycle (although certain small clip-on aerobars can be used).

My recommendation would be to spend the money on getting a professional fit, preferably a Serotta certified fitter who works with racing cyclists, and a bike that is specific to the style of racing that she wants to do. Let me know if you have other questions.

Scott Schnitzspahn
USAT National Athlete Development Coordinator

Let me start by saying i've been in the same boat as your daughter. I never went to a junior development camp but when i started racing i was lured into some draft legal U23 racing.

Your daughter was probably just like me with a somewhat heavy road bike at this camp, what you as her parent need to do is to actually sit down and if she's mature enough to, talk about what her goals in triathlon would be. If they are to someday win ironman and not even think about pursuing ITU/Olympic triathlon then you might as well get her the tri bike. But if she's not decided on this, and i would assume this is your situation because she went to development camp, i would recommend a bike like the cervelo soloist and buy her some clip on aerobars for non-drafting races, and jammers for the junior/u23 races that she'll probably/maybe do.

I can tell you that i went out and dropped some good cash for a great bike (P2K) but that baby was not meant for ITU racing and last year when i began my quest to gain some ITU points, i decided i needed another bike, and now I have 2 bikes and a lot less money.

good luck, wish your daughter luck....are you guys going to junior/u23 nats in a few weekends?

The US is never going to be dominate in the ITU if they keep encouraging their juniors to ride tri bikes and race none-drafting races.

I'd suggest a good road bike + clip ons. Cannondale R1000 is nice =P

Also, how old is your daughter?

Yes, even though it was a draft-legal racing camp, there are virtually no draft legal races available for her to race without a significant amout of travel, so she will be racing age group along with the other juniors at her camp. She has a very nice road bike with clip-on bars for draft-legal racing, but since she will race as a 13 year old, the closest race to us with a 13-15 age group is in Arkansas after school starts and not easily accessable. There is a race in Clermont in March, but it is a 16 and older race. If that changes for 2005, we will make every effort to race there. This is a very expensive sport to get into for a kid. We simply cannot afford to travel all over the country to race draft-legal. So for now, she is racing age group and would like a tri bike because that is what the kids she races with are riding.

Hmmm. Well, even though she won't be doing more than a handful of ITU style races a year and mostly doing age-group racing, I still think a road bike with clip on aerobars is the best for a young athlete. The bikes handle better and are safer when riding with a group. With a good set of aero wheels (another fun place to spend money) her bike will be lighter and faster than a "tri-bike" with standard wheels.

From a fit standpoint, the forward "tri" position is not great on developing knees as they often end up forward of the pedal during the downstroke. Another reason to stick with her current bike.

However, marce made a great suggestion of a Cervelo Soloist. With the seat forward it is a "tri" bike and the aero tubing will help it look and perform like a true time trial / triathlon bike, yet with the seat back, she can still ride and train on what is truely a great road bike in a position that will be safe as she develops as a cyclist and legal for ITU style races.

Scott

swimbike,

Is the Cannondale Ironman that your daughter is lusting for the $5,000.00 one? That's a lot of bike to buy now and have her outgrow in the next few years. In that price range there are many other options available.

I happen to strongly endorse trischnitz's advice to get properly fit first, and then choose a bike, or at least be willing to accept that the bike your daughter is lusting for, may not be the best choice for her.

Although I am a very happy Serotta owner, more than one, I was amazed at the value one obtains with Felt's entry level tri bike. Personally, I think it smokes the Cannondale Ironman 5000 and it is about $3,200.00 less at full list price! A close friend got a "deal" on one for about $1,300.00. Like I said, I was amazed at the value. You should take a look at one if you get the chance. It's even much "sexier" than the Cannondale. Then invest the difference in dollars saved in the "engine". That will produce far greater benefits in terms of improved performance than the difference between bike A vs bike B will.

Best wishes for your daughter's racing success.

---

Ben Cline


Better to aspire to Greatness and fail, than to not challenge one's self at all, and succeed.

"I still think a road bike with clip on aerobars is the best for a young athlete. The bikes handle better and are safer when riding with a group."

It's surprising that her coaches aren't realizing this.

Learn how to ride a bike before racing one.

although that this is a reply to trischnitz (in order to give him credit for bringing up an important detail). When pedaiing with your knees so far back, you can get yourself into some trouble, and i'd imagine at a young age that she's quite limber, but you don't want a youth athlete to overdevlope certain muscles (i.e. quads over hamstrings). Also you need to also take into consideration that running off the bike when your seat angle is steep is much different than when riding a road bike (i.e. with a set-back seat, you recruit a lot more hamstring muscle than with a steep set up).

Because of this, one more recommendation that i would make is that the areodymanic advantage of having the tubes on the soloist don't really make much of a difference until around 25mph. Because she's very young and is probably just settling on triathlon, i'd say stick with the road bike she has now and show her pictures of lance's bike with a downtube shifter, or a row of bikes at lake placid which included lessing's cervelo dual (instead of a fancier p3 or even p2k). If she really shows a great commitment to the sport then setting up setparate tri/road bikes would be something for the future.

I don't know how tall your daughter is, but if she's smaller and rides a 50cm or less bike take a look at the mfg.'s geometry chart because you'll probably find that her bike already has a 76 degree seattube.

Regarding draft-legal vs. age-group racing, most of my friends' kids who are 14 to 18 race primarily age-group because they can race locally, and if they're good enough (i.e. competitive v. recreational) they travel to the handful of draft-legal junior races around the country. All the ones who race draft-legal races have two bikes: shallow road w/ jammers or slam bars (for draft-legal) and steep tri (for local races).

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http://irondad06.blogspot.com/

http://irondad.blogspot.com/

I am not really sure I have ever really understand the degree thing. Isn't the real issue where you (or your knee) are positioned relative to the bike. You can have a 76 degree set tube and (assuming seat in same position on post) whether your seat extends 80 cm or 60 makes a huge difference relative to bottom bracket and/or peddles. I have alway been kind of anal about my seat but admit that I pretty much just slapped my son's in the middle of his post. He is 10 years old and has a 43 cc Trek frame. He did his first 10 mile tt this week and for the first time I noticed that the nose of his seat is clearly in front of the bottom bracket. I have not, yet, examined it more closely, but I think if I pushed the seat all of the way back, he is still going to be way forward with the short height.

Im gonna have to agree with most of the posters here and say there is no reason for you to buy your daughter a tri bike. It is much more beneficial to upgrade her current bike with better components for a few hundred dollars and save thousands.

If money is not an issue, then use the 3000 dollars you saved to send her around the country to USAT Junior 13-15 races. The experience she will gain in racing will be huge. I know the first draft-legal race I did was when I was 18, and I got smoked. If she has 10 or 15 of those races under her belt by the time she is 18, she may be the most experienced US Junior there has ever been.

Argon 18 and Louis Garneau both have kids lines. Tom just introduced a new kid sized Titan-Flex, too.

I agree that a roadie is likely a better choice for a 13yr old, but you should also consider whether she's truly got her heart set on a tri bike (in which case even a new Colnago might be disappointing), or if she'd be happy with any new bike.

Man... I wish I had parental support like this when I was a kid!

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<If you're gonna be dumb, you gotta be tough>
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Thank you for your replys. Marce, you raise an excellent point about what her goals are. I asked her about her long-term goals in triathlon and I quote, "To race in the Olympics and represent my Country in the sport that I love". I was somewhat surprised by her answer because I thought she still considered swimming to be her main sport. So, based on her answer, she should concentrate on draft-legal racing. But in reality, she will maybe do her first draft-legal race next August and will probably only do one a year until she turns 16 and can do the Clermont race. Until then she will be racing non-draft age group races. And she wants a tri bike because all her friends ride tri bikes, mainly QR and Cannondale. Right now she is riding a 48 cm Specialized Dolce Elite w/Ultegra and clip-ons, so she is on a decent road bike. Because of her growth rate, we will have to replace this bike in a year or so anyway. I will take a look at the Soloist and also the Felt. And when we are ready to buy, I will have her professionally fit, as I did with her current bike.

As far as Junior ITU racing goes, unless you are financially able to travel across the Country to race, these races are inaccessable to the vast majority of kids out there. The closest 3 races that my daughter could do are in Arkansas, New England and Central Florida. The expense involved in traveling to these races would conservatively be around $2000.00. Only a handful of the kids that race in our region have ever done an ITU race and they seem to be only marginally interested in doing them. So, if the future of triathlon is ITU racing, than USAT has its work cut out for them.