I have a Caad10 road bike as my secondary. Great for group rides, off-season fitness, joy rides, etc.But I also have a Cannondale F-si mountain bike because I like mountain biking. Then I also have a vintage Trek 970 I restored for fun. And a shitty 1x1 26" for riding to bars. n+1

But seriously, if you have no real intention of doing mountain biking or otherwise off road riding, I would go with a road bike. Its versatile and fun to ride.

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Robert Dao
ATC Racing - Austin, TX
Gold's Gym Triathlon Coach
@speedao1
@daotraining

You're right there are so many options out there. Its really about what piques your interest or what color you like ;)

I have an Felt IA and a Trek Emonda , because who doesnt love climbing?

I may be a wee bit overboard, but in NoCo we have loads of different terrain to train/ride

#1 bike: Cervelo P2 (Tri) -- self explanatory
#2 bike: Trek Madone 9.2 (Road) -- great for off-season rides and group rides
#3 bike: Cervelo S3 (Gran Fondo) -- self explanatory
#4 bike: Specialized Fatboy (MTB/Snow/Anything) -- cuz hell yeah... fat bikes rule!

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In search of the righteous life... we all fall down

Cervelo Soloist circa 2007 or 2008, Ultegra, and bombproof Mavic wheels. Because it is safer to ride a road bike in the city. My tri bike is the Shiv. I don't have any other bikes. I occasionally commute on the soloist. I do lock it. If it gets stolen there is my excuse to buy a new road bike! Otherwise I'm happy keeping it a long while yet.

Bike 1: Scott scale 29er hardtail MTB
Bike 2: Blue AC1 SL (aero road bike)
Bike 3: BH Aerolight (tri bike)
Bike 4: YT Jeffsy CF 29er dual suspension MTb
Bike 5: unicycle.

Would like a gravel enduro or CX bike...

Bike 1: Premier Tactical
Bike 2: Specialized Roubaix (purchased before bike one)

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80/20 Endurance Ambassador

CAAD 12! I have a Felt IA 10 and Allied cycle works Alfa (both Di2) and have no need for my CAAD 12, but I just can’t get rid of it. I love it too much. Ultegra mechanical shifting and Thomson parts make it bullet proof. Use it for travel, bad weather, and just as a change up. It’s amazing.

2nd bike? Pfffttt....

What about my third, fourth, fifth, and sixth bike?

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Favorite Gear: Dimond | Cadex | Desoto Sport | Hoka One One

 trek checkpoint gravel bike. I don't road race or do group rides so this fits the commute, social ride, and everyday get around boxes for me. Sounds like your usage is different. Fun, comfy, no worry sort of ride regardless of road type or quality and I don't feel bad locking it up or if it gets dinged a little. I don't feel the need to baby it which is nice, and therefore it gets a lot of use.

2000 Giant TCR Advance Limited Edition. This is the Team ONCE version from back in the day. The limited team version has an anodized rear half instead of paint to keep the weight down. Seems to flex a lot compared to my Cervelo S2 and the ride is pretty harsh b/c it's aluminum. But I really wanted this bike at the time as one of the first compact road frames, so I have to deal with it.

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Great things never come from comfort zones.

6 Bikes currently.

1. Cervelo P2 tri bike
2. Serotta HSG Titanium Road bike (very comfortable and stable bike, great for long rides_
3. Raleigh Militis Carbon Road bike (go fast stiff and light, 15.2 lbs.)
4 Cannondale CX 9 Cross Bike (gravel, bad weather, spring riding bike when there is salt on roads after winter)
5. Scott Scale Mtn Bike (hardtail, good for gravel and some MTB trails, racing)
6 Scott Spark Mtn Bike (120mm F+R suspension, all around versatile MTB)

With my wife and 2 daughters who also ride and race road, mtb and cross we have 16 bikes in our household currently. The number has finally exceeded my mental abiltiy to keep any of the supporting gear straight.

I guess my Tri bike (P2) is technically my second bike now. My primary bike is a 2019 Salsa Warbird. I recently upgraded from a 7 year old CX bike for riding gravel and it's a huge leap forward. I have a few hundred miles on it now, including a race last weekend and am absolutely loving it. I like the flexibility of being able to ride gravel (pretty much all I do now), light single track (sometimes gravel exploring leads to unexpected trails), and even toss a set of road tires on and hold my own with my roadie friends.

I used to only own a TT bike cuz I did triathlon.
Started road racing, bought a nice aero road bike.
Realized that Cyclocross was the greatest sport ever, so bought a cheap CX bike.
That CX bike became my commuter when I bought a new fancy 1x gravel/CX ride.

#1 Shiv <- the bike I am referring to when I say "my bike". Spend 80+% of my ride time on the Shiv.
#2 Venge Vias <- for days I want to go out on group rides with friends or too lazy to pull the Shiv off the trainer.
#3 2018 Diverge 1x <- Crappy weather, go anywhere do anything bike, gravel, single track, road rides in the fall leaves with my wife, or for those days when I am not sure what type of ride I am headed out on... leaves all the options open.

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______________________________________________
Team Zoot

There's always someone who doesn't know how to reply to the right post.

#1 Trek Speed Concept - The race bike
#2 Cervelo S5 - For Group rides, long rides outside tri season and the odd road race
#3 Ridley X-trail - Gravel bike for commuting, gravel rides, winter and bad weather riding

The X-trail is my new love, replacing a 29'er and a commuter road bike. I'm getting a second wheelset to have one for road riding and one for gravel and winter studs. These days I am doing most of my outdoor riding on this bike and may race a gravel race/MTB Marathon on it next year.

If you know you are not doing any competitive road races I would higly recommend the X-trail as a versatile second bike.

gravel bike. raleigh tamland 1. steel frame. great tire clearance. I like gravel biking so that's why I have it. I can also put size 28 tires on it if I feel like riding on the road with it but I have a road bike for that.

So, let's define 'first bike' as the one with the most miles per year. For me, that is an ancient Cannondale on my trainer. It fits and having other, outdoor bikes is convenient. Bike #2 is a CAAD3. Outdoor rides, some training, some group. Bike #3 is a QR Cd 0.1 for racing, limited outdoor training. Don't tell Mrs. giorgitd about the Specialized Allez steel frame that is my 1st road bike as an adult. Did a mountain tour in France with it in 1999 and have no plan to get rid of it. It's also my ace in the hole. Mrs. giorgitd often threatens to run over my bikes with her SUV. But the Allez is in a box, hidden from view...

I've got a Felt IA for tri, and that's my primary bike on the trainer and on the lead up to a priority race, the Felt becomes primary bike on the road too for a short while. However, most of the year my road bike, a Canyon Ultimate, is my primary bike when I'm not on the trainer.
Road bikes are just more enjoyable! And they're safer in most outdoor conditions, especially group rides. In fact tri bikes would not be acceptable for most group rides I'd do. I love the tri bike when I'd riding solo on fairly non-technical roads and I just want to go fast. But the road bike is so much more fun when there's climbs, descents, corners and sprints! Variety is good.

I've also got a Specialized Tricross which preceded the other two bikes. I originally used it as a road bike and later set it up as a tri bike of sorts with clip-ons and a forward seatpost before switching to purpose built tri bike. I've hung onto that and fitted cross tyres so I can use it for the occasional adventure off-road.

If you just want a road bike for general riding and group rides, I wouldn't worry too much about which one so long as you like it and it fits. There are lots of excellent road bikes. Aero is nice but certainly not essential. I'd prioritise, your personal aesthetic preferences, a good fit without resorting to excessive spacers or extreme stems, ability to handle a good range of tyre widths, spec, and value for money. It sounds like you won't be racing it or anything, so if the idea appeals to you, it might be worth considering a gravel bike or cross bike for the extra flexibility. With good road tyres, they won't be much of a compromise on the road compared to a road bike but they give you options to try some other stuff too.

Sounding like a broke record here. I have a seven year old CAAD 10-4 that I've since updated with a combo of SRAM Red/Force 22 and a P2M power meter. It's around 16 pounds - not super light, but pretty easy to get to a decent weight. I ride it maybe 5% of the time, but whenever I do I always ask myself why I don't ride it more.

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Primary: Giant Propel utilized for road race and TT duty

Second: Trek Crockett

Why the second? It's a "do it all bike" outside of true singletrack. You can toss on a road tire and ride in the group ride or train on the road. Toss on knobbies and do CX or gravel, or a bigger knobbie and do some very mild and flow-y singletrack.

I've actually been swapping a wheelset with Gators and a wheelset with CX/gravel tires on the Crockett and riding that more often than the race bike.

More comfortable, marginally slower on the road (can still drop the group on the hammer ride), and is overall a cheaper bike to fart around with training and riding.

I think for a triathlon person, a perfect second bike to a tri/TT bike would be a CX bike.

I ride a full Campy Tommaso that I bought in the early 90's.
It is hot pink and white. Shifters on the the down tube.
Very original. Only changed out the brake levers to an aero style around '93-'94.

I don't ride it often but I love it. I've had it since I was 15.
I worked at a bike shop assembling bikes as my first job.
Started when I was 12. Got paid $5 a bike cash under the table.
I bought it for cost. Could've bought a car but settled on the bike.
I've never had a reason to get rid of it.

My Stable includes - Speed Concept / Cannondale CAAD 10 / Trek Cross Point Gravel / Jamis MTB.

Cannondale - Winter / Night Rides

Trek Crosspoint - Gravel Rides. - Night Rides.

Jamis - Cold Winter Bike in the woods.

Go with a road bike of the "stage racing" variety. It's a great way to improve your bike handling skills. If I could only have one bike in addition to my TT race rig, it would be custom titanium, such as a Baum Corretto. It will last a lifetime and is a thing of beauty.

If I had an interest in gravel, I'd also consider a 3T Exploro with a 2x drivetrain. Kind of a cool way to get both an aero endurance-geo road bike and an unstoppable gravel grinder (2.1" tires on 650b wheels) in one. It's an unusual beast.

2015 Cannondale CAAD10 105 for all my weekend/group rides. I love my P2, but it stays on my Tacx Flux unless its race day!