Just moved to an area that has primairly gravel roads, and rough pavement, so in my opinion it is not advisable to use my tri-bike with those conditions.
There is some good road where I can use the tri-bike, but that would become boring after a time being restricted to the same route. And with good weather approaching, I’d like to be outside more rather than on a stationary bike.
One idea is to ride the gravel roads with my wide-tire bike (old steel frame cross bike) which would get me out, and going through the motions of cycling. Which is likely better than nothing, but, to go a step further, has anyone ever tried putting aero-bars on such a bike?? it would look silly as all heck, but it would get me in the tri-position and get me peddaling and serve the purpose for training, wouldn’t it? anyone with any ideas?? the geometry would be off a tad of course, though for a mid-pack age-grouper it’s not crucial.
Hopefully, you’re not all blessed with smooth asphalt roads for training!
Dude, sounds like you got it made. Gravel roads, so likely there is little traffic and you’ll be far safer than most folks in the suburbs. Ride your tri-bike once or twice a week on the good road and do the rest on your cross bike. Don’t try aero bars on gravel unless gravel is something you like to eat. If you are riding your tri bike once or twice a week that is plenty. I’d venture to say there have been pros who have spend quite a bit of their weekly bike time on bikes other than tri-bike.
I do a lot of off-season training on gravel roads. Much more enjoyable than dealing w/ traffic & road spray when it’s wet out. Don’t worry about trying to replicate your Tri ride, the general bike fitness will carry over fine. I probably only get out on my Tri bike 1/3 to 1/2 the time even during the summer since it’s a waste trying to use it around town with all the stopping & starting, which means I have to drive it out of the city before I can get in a decent ride.
You can use an mtb also, it’s the time on the bike, not necessarily the miles…5 hours on an mtb is tough on those back roads. I ride my 29’er on similar roads and get some serious mileage with minimal traffic and lots of great scenery.
I’d venture to say there have been pros who have spend quite a bit of their weekly bike time on bikes other than tri-bike.
Peter Reid put in a lot of miles on his Cross Bike in the off and pre season.
I agree with others either retro-fit your old road bike with some bigger tires( 28mm) and just ride the road bike on the gravel and lousy roads. We do a lot of that around here in our area.
Some people are funny about this and I think that a lot of triathletes are paranoid about it. I was once on a large group ride that wanted to turn around and retrace 40Km when we could have just ridden about 1k or less, along a gravel road( and a good gravel road at that) to make it a nice and scenic loop. Seemed silly to me.
That’s funny. I was actually thinking of Peter Reid. i remember an article where he said he each week he rode at least once on tri-bike, road bike, and fixed gear. (Oh, yeah, Fleck, you gotta experience fixed gear. At once total connection to bike and road, but if you overdo it, an evil mistress of pain and punishment.)
I know a fair number of roadies in the mountain west that ride just as you say. Lots of time on mountain/gravel roads on road bike or cross bikes. Then one or two road rides a week. Then there are plenty of mtb pros that do half their training on the pavement for mtb racing. Riding is riding and if you get a couple of road rides on your tribike a week in, I don’t think you will be missing a thing. You may even find yourself “fresher” from riding more on the gravel roads than you would only on the paved road.
I alway get flamed with my attitude, but if you are planning a 20-30 year cycling experience. Riding different bikes on different roads and having lots of experiences has to be a better picture than pounding out on the same pave road every day on your tri bike.
I smell the need to get a CX bike… Seriously, you can always throw 28s on most road bikes. I usually prefer my CX bike with Ritchey Speedmax tires for gravel roads with lots of loose…gravel.
Sounds great, and I am encouraged that I can train in an effective manner by riding on the gravel roads. Between country roads and logging roads there will be a lot of touring.
Should I assume that it would be wise to use pedals similar to my tri-bike, and have a cadence monitor on this “gravel” bike? and just use the gearing to maintain the desired cadence range and not be concerned about speed.
Seriously, you can always throw 28s on most road bikes. I usually prefer my CX bike with Ritchey Speedmax tires for gravel roads with lots of loose…gravel.