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I recently decided to purchase a road bike frame (seat tube angle is 73.5). I pretty much live on my aero bars. I'm not sure why but for some reason I feel like I get more power for my glutes if my seat position is sort of in between road and tri. I pretty much max out the saddle height, I mean it's as about as high as I can handle without my hips rocking back and forth. On a tri bike I like to push my saddle back pretty far, and on a road if I push the saddle as far forward as possible I feel very comfortable in the aero position. Point here is that I think the road frame will function perfectly well for me as a tri bike if I just push the saddle as far forward as possible on the rails.
So I'm thinking it will probably work well for me if I build it up with traditional road handlebars, the SRAM eTap shifter break levers, and then aero bars with blips. There's a few sections on my training courses where I love to get up out of the saddle and just rip up the hills. On my first tri bike this was horrible. The seat would hit my butt, and I still had a lot of weight on my hands and couldn't get my weight directly over the pedals. Also, I hate not being able to shift when up out of the saddle and taking on a steep incline. But I do 90% or more of my riding (even when training) on my aero bars, so shifting with bar end shifters is still the most important part.
The other option I can see is that I could build up the bike with more traditional tri bike set up, bull horns and aero bars. I could still have shifters on both the aero bars and bull horns.
I figured I'd ask you guys your thoughts, maybe you'd have some things I hadn't thought of that I should consider.
Thanks in advance,
Steve
I have both electronic variants: eTap on my road bike and Di2 on my TT bike. I love them both. But, I prefer Di2 for TT bike and eTap for road bike. This is why: For TT, I freakin' love Synchro shift, and it is easier to hide a Di2 install with almost nothing in the airflow but 1 wire. For road riding, the eTap brifters are the best on the planet, and I do not want any kind of synchro on the road bike. And the eTap install for a road bike has no wires.
Yours is kind of a hybrid, but I would still vote for Di2 since it is principally a TT bike. If you are using the road brifters, the big eTap TT disadvantage is obviated-- no humongous Blip Box hanging off the bars. The eTap shifting is still slick, but Synchro is better when you are mentally checked-out and riding in pure TT mode.
Also, if you went Di2, you could more easily set it up to be able to remove your extensions if you wanted to. With eTap, you would have to unwrap the handlebars to disconnect the Clicks from the brifters. With Di2, you could have the "temporary" extension shift buttons connected to a B Junction accessible without removing the handlebar tape.
I have a etap on my TT bike and all the other bikes are mechanical.
At some point i was thinking of doing something similar to what you did, but i opted for 2 specific bikes (better fit, especially if you want to do the longer race on TT friendly course)
I will say that SRAM is easier that Di2 to install (no internal cable / batteries), and much easier to travel with.
Also, if ever you run our of battery (stuff happen) only 1 of the 2 will die (first) and you will be able to make it home (may require some switching). But etap blip box is kind of large (need to find an external spot for it) and the Di2 battery last longer.
I have etap on both my road bike and tri bike. On both bikes I have two positions I can shift from. On my roadie I have brifters and a set of blips under the bar tape near the stem easily reachable from my climbing position. On the TT bike I have them on the bar ends as well as the hoods. On a TT bike it’s easy and clean to hide the blipbox in an aero bento box like the torhans.
In your case it would be very easy to install etap with a pair of brifters and then a pair of blips or clicks on your aerobars. Super clean and quick. Plus no wires to route through the frame. Just bolt on your deraillers and go. I’ve been very happy with etap on both my bikes, but I’ve only had it on them for six months or so. Being able to shift from multiple locations feels like a huge improvement to me. You won’t regret it.
Also... some great deals on the 11 speed etap stuff with AXS out now. The used market has some good deals too.
Hey thanks guys for taking the time to give me your thoughts! I really appreciate it.
I was pretty sure I'd go with SRAM because I like the idea of completely wireless, seems a lot more simple.
But I'm a little curious what people think synchro shift. I pretty much live in my large chain ring.
I think part of the reason I live in the front chain ring is because the rear shifts are so much quicker, front is so much slower and clunkier. But perhaps electronic shifting changes that. Do shifts in the chain ring seem really slow compared to rear cog?
Oh, another thing … I hate it when I have to shift and the next gear to go to is too large of a jump, like you're stuck in a spot where you have to pedal a little faster than you want or switch to gear that is a little too big. I'm thinking synchro shift might help here because by utilizing the small chainring provides a whole new set of gear ratios.
I suppose I've changed the discussion to the everything related to changing chainrings. Fast and crisp enough so as not to annoy? When I'm down in the aeros on a relatively flat road I'd normally never change chainrings, and with rear cog shifts expect super quick shifts. Does synchro shift change this? I mean, would it be kinda normal to change chainrings on a relative flat surface? I usually only change to the small chain ring as I approach a beastly incline.
Thanks bikers!
Steve
Electronic shifting will change everything. You will shift far more frequently than you do with mechanical, because a shift costs nothing. Both front and rear are very quick and crisp. What it does is allows you to effortlessly maintain a constant cadence and power. With mechanical, you are more likely to subconsciously adjust power or cadence to avoid a shift. Not with electronic.
Synchro lets you program which cog triggers a FD shift, and then how many rear cog shifts to make to compensate for the FD shift. So, shifting is basically linear. And, it all occurs perfectly, like a Met ballet, so sometimes you are not sure if the RD even did its compensating shift.
If you are riding flat courses, then it still will not shift the FD much. For example, I only did 6 FD shifts in Ironman Gulf Coast 70.3 this year, and that was high. There are exactly 3 places on that course that need a small CR. I have a rails-to-trails route I do frequently that is mostly flat. However, on a 60 mile ride there, I shifted my FD 46 times. Many of those you would have skipped with mechanical or maybe without Synchro.
If you use a Garmin, it connects to Di2 and will beep to alert you that a next shift will trigger a FD shift. That is a huge aid and keeps you from being surprised by a FD shift when you call for a regular shift.