I am considering racing my first TT at the end of June, do those of you who race TT race on your tri bike or road bike? Am I going to get bad roadie vibes if I ride my tri bike with a disc wheel?
You’ll fit right in with the roady TT geeks…a tri bike is a TT bike!
Tri Nic,
You’ve got to be kidding and just trying to troll.
Juit show up with a P3C (has to have a custom paint job that has been approved by ST with aero-paint) with a Zipp 999 set (but ride with a disk in front and back) with every possible componant on the bike being carbon (cranks, pedals, bars, seat post, skewers, bottle cages, hydration rack, etc.) in fulll Assos clothing (bibs only please) and a Rudy TT helmet with the face mask and Sidi Special Edition Shoes, carbon sun-glasses and full Record 10 Carbon Special Edition group-set, along with a Power Tap Wireless, Garmin 305 Edge CAD, Polar 725i and ask “I heard some dudes ride TT around here”. Tell them that you would have brought your track bike but it’s getting a custom paint job. Then ride hard dude, you earned it!
Peace out.
Dude,
I’ve been on ST for 3 years. I’m not trying to troll. I’ve never been to a TT, although I’ve seen them on the Olympics, on internet coverage from TdF and other major races.
After 6 years of exclusively racing triathlons I’ve been thinking about trying my hand at road racing, and there is a women’s regional qualifyer TT event coming up next month. Thought I’d give it a try as TT’ing would probably be technically easier for me than road racing since I have never done it or been around it before. I have no idea of what local level TTers ride, and whether it would be gauche to show up on a tri bike.
Thanks for your help.
Nicole
Of course you are almost right. A TT bike isn’t QUITE a tri bike and vice versa.
TT bikes have the 5cm behind the BB rule for the nose of the saddle (and some aerobar rules) that don’t apply to Tri bikes.
In essence however, they are the same thing, and unless you are TT’ing in a UCI sanctioned race (unlikely), then you have nothing to worry about, except the roadies will by eyeing your cool stuff!
Take what ever bike you want and you will ride harder than you ever have,
Have fun with it!
tfun~
More power to you…I think you will do fine nicole…I am sure a lot of people are using tri bikes for TT. I have been thinking of doing the same thing so tell me how it goes. What did he mean about tt bikes and the 5cm rule??
I know my local association does not follow the rules to the law unless you racing cat 1 and or it is some kind of qualifier. So you may want to inquire a bit before hand but you should be fine on the TT bike.
tfun~
Can you help me understand what that 5cm rule means b/c I am thinking about doing some road racing and wondering if I need to buy a road bike soon instead of using my Quintana tri bike.
Thanks
You can not use a bike with aerobars for a mass start road race (only a TT)
.
I’m not an expert, but here’s what I THINK the rules actually mean.
In UCI (roadie) rules, the nose of the saddle must be at least 5cm (2") behind the centreline of the bottom bracket. This is to stop the bike effectively becoming a forward recumbant bike. (the UCI banned recumbants way back in about 1927 because they were too fast and provided an unfair advantage to the recumbant rider! the UCI has been stifling technology ever since!)
There are also rules about aero bar length (I forget the length) to prevent use of Graeme Obree’s “superman” position. With any normally commecially available aero bar, you will be fine however.
IF you are going to road race, a road bike would be a wise purchase, unless of course you plan on going off the front, or expect to be dropped, leaving you to do all your own work. IF either of those, a tri bike would be ideal 
Oh…I think I understand now…I guess that explains why my hometown had a road race and said you cannot have aero bars and you have to wear short sleeve rather than sleeveless shirts…she said that b/c of shoulder injuries they wouldn’t let the riders wear sleeveless. She also explained the danger of the aero bars…thanks!!
Oh…I think I understand now…I guess that explains why my hometown had a road race and said you cannot have aero bars and you have to wear short sleeve rather than sleeveless shirts…she said that b/c of shoulder injuries they wouldn’t let the riders wear sleeveless.
Dumb question, but what does wearing a sleeveless jersey have to do with shoulder injury?
That’s exactly what I thought when I was talking to this roadie on the phone. This psychotic lady went on to tell me that in a crash the shoulders are the first to hit…so if you have a short sleeve shirt on, the road rash will be masked by the sleeves…Well…ok…but I do not like to ride with short sleeves that make your shoulders all white and albino looking…I would rather ride with no sleeves or shirtless for tan…but I guess if I do some road races, I’ll eventually have to conform to their rules, right?
The saddle to bb rule is for UCI, not necessarily USACycling (I’m just assuming you’re american.) A while ago there was a photo on either Pez or Velonews of a ProTour rider who cut the nose off his saddle to make it compliant. Nobody measures at local events. So feel free to race a TT w/ a tri, tt bike, or even a road bike.
As for “thinking about doing some road racing and wondering if I need to buy a road bike soon instead of using my Quintana tri bike” the answer is ultimately -yes you need a road bike. A road race won’t let you start with your tri bike. Different beast entirely.
A good resource is just to check out the rulebooks at usacycling.org . Local events may have their own rules, but this is a good guide.
Tri Nic (Dudette),
If you’ve been on ST for 3 years, how does one tell the difference between a tri bike and a TT bike?
Bento box? Behind the seat bottle rack?
For the record I don’t tri but I do TT and organize TTs. I generally can’t tell the serious triathlete and bike from a serious TTer and bike unless I know the rider. The entire CSC cycling team rides on P3Cs for TTs. If they were seen at a TT event would they be recognized as triathletes because of their bikes (triathlete bikes)?
Anyway, lose all that stuff for your TT. Just creates more drag for the short duration. If you can stand and sprint at the end you didn’t put enough effort into your ride.
One advantage to TTs over road races or mass start events is that there is almost no chance of getting tangled in a crash and injuring yourself or your bike.
Good luck and have a good time. Just remember, many get hooked after their first TT. The pattern is: “I know I could have done that part better” or “next time I’m going to do…instead of what I did the first time.”
Actually, there is a difference. Triathlon bikes from triathlon bike manufacturers have a more aggressive seat tube angle. The Quintana Roo has a 77 degree angle. Time trial bikes from traditional road bike manufacturers tend to have a more relax seat tube angle. An example of them would be Pinarello has 74.5 degree angle and so does Ridley which is even more relaxed. Cervelo lets you play both ways, either the traditional triathlon seat tube angle or the traditional TT roadie angle.
So is there a difference, yes there is. Can you use a triathlon bike in a TT, yes you can.
There are some people who will race a tri bike in road races (obviously subbing in a drop bar and STI/Ergopower levers). I was stuck behind someone riding a converted Trek in a crit a few weeks back, and the guy nearly crashed me about 6 times and got me dropped a few times, but I fought back in, went to the front and escalated the pace to drop him for good. Road racing is great fun, and great to improve your bike handling, but if you do it for any appreciable length, you will be involved with crashes. The sleeve rule is intended to cover up a bit of skin to prevent some road rash, it’s also there to give you a killer roadie farmer tan. But that’s a UCI rule, there was 1 guy sleeveless at our crit last night, they didn’t pull him, but I have seen people yanked in road races for racing sleeveless.
Unless the TT course is very hilly or particularly technical, there is no problem riding your tri-bike, but if you care what the roadies think, follow the advice to remove any tri-specific accessories that you have attached to your bike. And show up dressed like a cyclist rather than in a tri-suit. Many of the serious roadies will be there with TT bikes, and the ones that don’t have one wish they did. Good luck.