So I know the ST aero/fit mafia might come down on me for this…
I’m considering buying my first TT bike. The only problem is I can really only afford/have room for one bike in my life right now, so the roadie will have to go. The problem is I do a fair amount of group riding and I like the idea of being able to shift quickly and safely from drop bars with STI shifting while with my group. I don’t want to be “that guy” bringing his TT bike to the group ride and causing a horrific crash. Also, my solo local rides generally consist of either constantly undulating winding rollers in light-med traffic, which I would probably feel better about riding with drop bars, and long, reasonably flat straight rides along the highway, which I would obviously like to ride in a comfortable aero position. Is fitting a TT bike with drops and clip on bars a reasonable compromise for my situation? Would it greatly negate the benefits of having a TT bike in the first place and should I just slap some clip on bars on to my road bike? For what it’s worth, I am considering a P2 to replace my 2005-6 Trek 5000d.
Road bike with clip ons would be way cheaper if thats a consideration. Roadbike with clip ons, you compromise fit when riding the clip ons, Tri bike with STis you compromise fit when riding on the cowhorns. Both can work, neither will be ideal.
That’s kind of what I was wondering. Ideally I’d like to have a bike I could do double duty with. It would be nice to be able to do my races in a nice aero position on a dedicated tri bike, but still be able to ride on the bullhorns and shift, brake, and generally react quickly for group rides or rides in traffic. I guess like you said I should see first if there’s any way to get a better tri position with the bike I have now before spending the cash to upgrade.
you can spend all day trying to get a bike that is good at both and fail or you can just fill up your apartment with a good race bike and a cheap road bike and do it properly. tell the ladies if they don’t like the clutter to get the hell out
That’s kind of what I was wondering. Ideally I’d like to have a bike I could do double duty with. It would be nice to be able to do my races in a nice aero position on a dedicated tri bike, but still be able to ride on the bullhorns and shift, brake, and generally react quickly for group rides or rides in traffic. I guess like you said I should see first if there’s any way to get a better tri position with the bike I have now before spending the cash to upgrade.
It depends on what you mean by tribike position. You can pretty easily get your body in a tri bike position on a road bike. When you do your center of gravity will be farther forward than it would be on a tri bike. This tends to compromise handling. Its not going to be huge, but its not ideal. When aerobars first got popular thats how everybody rode. Then tri bikes were invented and got popular for good reason.
Yes only road for now, my bad. I use DA Di2 so not an issue, however Shimano are planning to release a TT upgrade kit in the near future which doesn’t help you in the short term.
Di2 and Ui2 are TERRIBLE recommendations. He says he can only afford one bike. He obviously can’t afford to spend more on his components than most people spend on a whole bike.
OP:
Regarding the “don’t have room” thing–the vertical space above one bike is pretty much guaranteed to go unused, so a cheap gravity stand (I think I got one at walmart for like $20 or $30) will let you use that space that was more than likely otherwise unused. Obviously, the grav stand is much cheaper than the second bike, but if you already have a road bike, then a nice used road bike could be a good buy. I looked at the possibility of installing drop bars on my tri bike so that I could use it in some ITU races, but ultimately it’s not that much cheaper. You’re looking at the cost of handlebars, clip ons, and brifters. I suppose you could pick all the above up for cheap, but I guess my point is that by the time you look at getting those 3 items you’re getting close to the point at which you get a better value out of buying a whole new bike. I decided it wasn’t worth it to me to put drops and clip-ons on my P2, so I ended up buying a road bike used (but to save money I didn’t buy a set of wheels for the second one).
P2 is an awesome machine. If you are planning to focus on Tri’s I would go with the P2. I have tri and road, and while I still use road bike for group rides it is mostly 2 times a month or so.
Yeah x2 on the P2. I love mine. I’ve had it for about 3 1/2 years now, and it still looks and rides really well. I got a Blue rc8 road bike (used, from Matt Chrabot!), and the fit is very similar, so the adjustment from one to the other wasn’t too difficult.
Jack has it right in this regard. Remember that the vast majority of savings/speed on a TT bike come from fit, not fancy aero carbon widgets. TT bikes don’t have to be expensive. Last winter I built up a Cervelo Dual with Rival, using only used parts from friends and the ST classifieds. Only things I bought in store were bar tape, a bottle cage, and a replacement BB installed by a buddy of mine. Shared pedals and a couple of other parts from other bikes and my own spares, no need to buy another set of wheels. Laid out maybe $500 when it was all said and done. If you take your time and get the right deals (and they are definitely out there thanks to the very very good people of ST) you can probably get that second frame for less than you would lay out after getting a new bike and selling your roadie.
I never recommended DA Di2 due to price and uDi2 not having TT components until 2012 sometime makes it a moot point. However based on UDi2 pricing bring comparable to its Ultegra mechanical cousin as a groupset, definately worth considering in road format if you are scoping for a new bike. Again not a consideration for OPs TT requirements.
Also, my solo local rides generally consist of either constantly undulating winding rollers in light-med traffic, which I would probably feel better about riding with drop bars, and long, reasonably flat straight rides along the highway, which I would obviously like to ride in a comfortable aero position. Is fitting a TT bike with drops and clip on bars a reasonable compromise for my situation?
my answer to this has been a cervelo soloist - my only road/tri bike since ~2004. push the seat forward and slap on aerobars when i need 'em, and otherwise i’ve got a lovely road bike. bam, problem solved.
