I just purchased a used 2010 Trek Madone 4.5 to upgrade from my old 1981 Raleigh Criterium. My Madone will see a couple forms of road riding (group rides, races, and ultra distance racing), but it’s also going to be used this summer in my first Half Ironman distance triathlon.
I am curious what the most efficient placement of water bottles, nutrition, and repair equipment. Some information indicates that keeping the frame clean and placing gear behind the rider on the seat (and a bottle on the aero bars, if applicable), is the best solution. Thoughts?
Looking into additional storage options, what are people’s opinions, experience, and suggestions for top tube mounted and down tube mounted bags (Specialized Fuel Cell, Topeak Fuel Tank Bag, XLab Stealth Pocket 500, Profile design ATTK Unit, etc.)?
Thanks for the help!
Quick edit For the triathlon I will use a pair of Profile Design T2 Aero Bars.
Yea put a bottle between your arms and behind your saddle using zip ties. See if you can squeeze your spare tire and stuff under your saddle like between the rails. Get a bento on your top tube for nutrition. Sleeved tri suits are faster cheapest is virklon. Latex tubes with turbo cotton or supersonic tires. Get a used aero helmet and a disc cover. Low & long position. Behind the seat repair and bta bottle is good too. That’s pretty much everything you need to know
I just purchased a used 2010 Trek Madone 4.5 to upgrade from my old 1981 Raleigh Criterium. My Madone will see a couple forms of road riding (group rides, races, and ultra distance racing), but it’s also going to be used this summer in my first Half Ironman distance triathlon.
I am curious what the most efficient placement of water bottles, nutrition, and repair equipment. Some information indicates that keeping the frame clean and placing gear behind the rider on the seat (and a bottle on the aero bars, if applicable), is the best solution. Thoughts?
Looking into additional storage options, what are people’s opinions, experience, and suggestions for top tube mounted and down tube mounted bags (Specialized Fuel Cell, Topeak Fuel Tank Bag, XLab Stealth Pocket 500, Profile design ATTK Unit, etc.)?
Thanks for the help!
Typical round bottles mounted on seat tube and down tube cages are not good for keeping aerodynamic drag low. That said, the Madone downtube is pretty substantial in width as far as I remember so the impact will be lower than on a slimmer frame. A more aerodynamic option would be to mount your bottles behind the seat or in a BTA mount as you mentioned. That’s what I did with my converted road bike prior to getting a full on tri bike. Another drink storage option is an “aero” bottle to go on the seat tube/down tube mounts. I’d go with a bento box/bag. There are plenty of options that all do a similar job. No need to go overboard with on-bike storage for a HIM. For my HIM last August I carried 4 or 5 gels in my bento box, and I used a refillable front hydration unit (Profile FC25) with 2 bottles plus repair kit behind the seat. That’s more than enough. That was enough liquid and food to get me through the bike and onto the run in good shape. I could have left a couple of gels in my pockets if I needed more space and I could have picked up liquid on course in which case I could have eliminated one or even both of the bottles from the back.
Yea put a bottle between your arms and behind your saddle using zip ties. See if you can squeeze your spare tire and stuff under your saddle like between the rails. Get a bento on your top tube for nutrition. Sleeved tri suits are faster cheapest is virklon. Latex tubes with turbo cotton or supersonic tires. Get a used aero helmet and a disc cover. Low & long position. Behind the seat repair and bta bottle is good too. That’s pretty much everything you need to know
The Madone is an aero road bike not a TT/triathlon bike. He will not have the option to run a BTA set up.
Really your options on this are a bit more limited then someone with a triathlon bike. You absolutely could run your bottles behind your saddle but with the Madone I don’t think I would.
If my goal was to race tri’s with a Madone as it would be my all around bike I would set it up more like a Crit bike. Deep section wheels, bottles on the frame and work on my position in the drops.
*Edit: I seem to have forgotten about the fact you can add aero bars to a drop bar set up and run a BTA. I wouldn’t but yea you could.
You don’t seem to mention aerobars or getting your seat into a TT position. I ride a road bike for tris (two Olympics the past months, first 70.3 coming up shortly) and have a Redshift Switch moveable seatpost and quick-release aerobars on it. I’m a huge fan, exceptionally well designed and built stuff, and the ability to switch from road to tri back to road position on the fly is fantastic. Carbon seatpost should be available soon, I think they’ve had some production delays with that, currently only aluminum available, though aerobars are available in both carbon and aluminum. A little pricey, occasionally seems to go on sale, but if it fits your needs, can recommend it with no reservations whatsoever. http://www.redshiftsports.com/