In the spririt of the off season I have decided that it is time to get a new bike- maybe- so I was at my favorite bike shop in Madison and talking to a guy there and realized that this is the wrong time of year for me to be bike shopping as there are very few “small” bikes available to get on. By little we are talking 47-49 range.
Upon further discussion, he mentioned that maybe it would be more worthwhile for me to upgrade my bike as my bike geometry is similar to the tri bike geometry in terms of seat post angles. I have never heard of that? Is this true? Would a new seat post work out better- this is one of the adaptations that he mentioned. I am on a Cannondale R800 (48). Also are there any articles that I could look at further with this issue?
Being a poor college student it is definetly a money issue as well, I like my bike a lot and have had it fitted and love the ride. It is about 5 years old, but has had impecable care taken of it along with a lot of miles.
What the guy is probably refering to is that most small frames have a steeper seat tube angle compared to similar models in larger sizes.
The main reason for this is to lengthen the front center of the frame without lengthening the toptube so that it is too long. Increasing the seat tube angle and decreasing the headtube angle moves the front wheel forward just enough that in theory it increases stability and allows for more clearance between the front wheel and your foot when turning.
According to Cannondales website the R800 has a 74.5 degree seattube angle which is a lot less than some of the steeper angled tri frames but close to many other frame designs that use 75-76 degree seatube angles.
A seatpost with either neutral or forward offset will increase the effective seattube angle making your bike like a steeper angled bike. It can howver effect the way the bike handles.
I’d argue that this is very likely the BEST time of year to be shopping for a new bike, especially if money is tight. Bike shops tend to be pretty quiet sales wise from November through February, and will likely be in the mood to cut you a deal so that they can offload some older inventory. The owner of my LBS told me that he actually loses money during these months, but that’s just the nature of the business. I got a smokin’ deal on my new roadie just last month, largely in part to the season. The shop owner had tonnes of time to go over equipment selection with me, and a completely unexpected bonus was that the mechanic who built it had a lot of free time, so he really took his time with the build.
If your existing bike has steep geometry and you’re looking for a road bike, then what he told you makes no sense to me - but if you’re already on a roadie with either a forward seatpost or riding in the “slam” position, then it makes a lot of sense. I can’t say that I agree with the notion that smaller bikes have “tri geometry” though… Perhaps this is my misunderstanding of what he told you, but it sounds funny to me.
yes i think that it is the best time of the year if you were normal sized, but i am not, i am 5’2", not too many bikes left over in my size for me to ride, but yes everyone is very helpful and ready to help out cause they gots nothing else to do- my friend said that it helped that i was a ‘cute young girl too’…
and
i have a road bike and am looking to ‘upgrade’ to a tri bike. that’s what i’m confused about-
how different will the new tribike be from my already tri-specific fitted road bike?
thanks- merry christmas!
cleveland is far, but they have snow- not a bad thought.
I get it - finding stock at the extreme ends of the spectrum can be a challenge at the best of (delivery) times, much less now. Being a tower at 5’4, I really lucked out. But your friend is very right - being a cute girl ALWAYS helps! Need a “private fitting”?
Regarding your new tri bike, it sounds to me like either the bike shop dude simply doesn’t believe in steep angles, or that he just doesn’t have anything to sell you but wants the sale regardless. Upgrading your current already-tri-fitted roadie with new parts won’t very likely have a huge impact on your position, power output, or comfort unless your position isn’t great right now. My advice would be to look elsewhere.
I have to kind of agree with you on the smaller road frame works sorta like a steep bike idea. My friend rides a 48cm and is 5’2". She’s on a Kestrel road geometry bike and we can throw aerobars on there and with a simple seat scoot on the rails whe’s steepened the bike up more than enough to be comfortable in the aero position. The tighter geometry on the smaller bike means scooting the saddle foward a little on the rails gives more of an increase in seat tube angle than on a steep bike.
One very important thing to remember is there is more to tri-bike geometry than seat angle. Good tri geometry will make the bike handle better when on the areo bars and allow you to get into a better positon by having a shorter head tube (in most cases). CST
My road bike is a 50 and it has a 76 degree seat tube with 700C wheels. I think it needs to be steeper to get the rear wheel to fit in the right way. The fit is very similar to my tri-bike which is a 48cm 650C Felt. The handling is very different.
Little road bikes and small road bikes have no more in common than apples and oranges. Front centre is different, the rear wheel is out a lot further, and your weight is supposed to be correct for where you sit, even though on the surface the seat angles are the same. A road bike is designed for drop bars, tri bike for aerobars. The only correct tri bar for your road bike would be a pair of shorties.
