I am getting into triathlons but only have a road bike and limited funds so a tri specific is out of the question. I am currently riding a Trek 1200 (~2005) and its a 52cm. I have it currently set up with my seat all the way forward and my bars pretty low. About a 12 cm height difference. I am looking into a pair of clip on aerobars, a good basebar, brakes and bar end shifters. My main question is how much forward will the aerobar set up put me compared to the hoods of my road bike. The hoods are a comfortable stretch. Should i invest in a tri specific saddle and a forward seat post to benefit my aero position? I can rest my elbows on the tops of my drop bars simulating an aero position and have issues with sliding forward off my seat and an increase pressure from the saddle. Any help is appreciated and any tips for converting to a tri bike would be helpful.
Also should I attempt to hookup the new shifters and brakes myself or take it to my LBS?
This seems like an awful lot of work and money to invest in an older road bike. I personally do shorter Tris and Dus. I bought some Profile Clip on aeorbars, moved my seat forward a bit and found a comfortable spot. No shifters, no fancy bar or seat post. I can hold that aero position very easily for 20-40 kms and get some decent speed at the same time, faster than without.
I would save that money towards getting a Tri bike if you want to get really aero. A P1 or P2 used can be had for a good deal and they will always be around. I would just save up until I could afford one.
I’d vote for clip-ons and look for a good deal on a used tri bike. I have found that I am only about 1 minute faster (20k) when comparing my TT frame and my road bike frame (with clip-ons).
Right now I am doing some sprints and looking to move up to an Oly next season. I have found a really good deal on a basebar, clip ons, shifters and brake levers for roughly 100 bucks. I plan on saving up for a tri bike but with school costs and rent its looking like it will be atleast a year before I can afford to drop a grand on one. Thanks for the advice
I wouldn’t spend one penny of money on the conversion. I would use it to save for a used tri bike.
Most likely, the conversion will yield poor results in terms of fit, comfort, and handling. Plus, every dollar you spend on the conversion will not be recovered because no one will want to buy your bastardized bike on the used market.
I would just get better on the road bike as a road bike and save for a proper fitting used tri bike, which could be had for under $1000.
x2. Especially for Sprints. There is a guy who rides fixed gear locally in Sprints with no clip ons or anything and frequently has great bike times. Sure they could be better with a proper bike, but he is a few thousand richer.
If you can borrow someone’s older clip ons for the short term. I did that my first season.
I had an early model aluminium Giant TCR road bike years ago. I got a neutral position seat post and clip on aero bars. Basically I was set up the same way as on a Cervelo Soloist or Kestrel Talon road bikes in the forward seat position. It worked not bad for the time. In fact after a couple of years I purchased my first tri bike - one of the earlier big round tube QR Kilos and was shocked to find my bike splits were faster on the Giant. Personally I’d keep the drops and STI and just go with the clip ons and neutral seat post. Then you can easily convert back to road bike configuration.
Its quite doable - The secret is not to go too far forward or you’ll screw up the handling characteristics of the bike.