Hello-I have a 1997 Litespeed Tachyon(650)that I have puts lots of miles on. I have upgraded it some w/ 9 speed, etc. I am preparing for IM Lake Placid at end of July and last night I asked guys at bike shop what else I could do to get it more up to speed. My IM times are about 5 1/2 hours. Last night they told me again that I really needed a new bike as I have put so many miles(a lot of which are on a trainer) on the Tachyon that it is flexing too much and when I apply power to the pedal I am losing a lot of speed and effeciency. They weren’t trying to sell me a bike but were just offering their thoughts since I asked.
I don’t know much about this kind of stuff-does the titanium flex like that after a while?? Also, if I do decide to go with a new bike is 9 weeks(until my A race) enough adaption time.
Thanks-also, I already have good race wheels and a powertap as I know some will suggest to keeping this bike and getting those.
I’m a very nice person-I am indeed a fan of ska.
The Blade’s a nice frame, but I doubt the flex in your frame is meaningful. How many kilo races are you doing? Bunch sprints? 
The sort of forces a typical triathlete puts into the pedals is probably close to ten times less, on average, than a sprinter. In other words, for Mark Gorski, the flex in your frame (assuming he would use it) might be meaningful, but I doubt it.
If you want a new frame, that’s another deal. Just buy one and sell the old one on Ebay. Everyone likes a new toy now and then.
-Robert
I don’t necessarily want a new frame, I wasn’t sure if the flex was meaningful. As a IM triathlete, almost all my training is steady state type stuff. Rarely if ever sprint. I just didn’t know how important this was.
This isn’t meant to sound smarta_ss but I can help you get more speed for much cheaper. Train more or harder. I would bet that you could tweek your training on the bike and make big improvements. Do you have a local road team ?Ride with them it will push your limit. Do some speed play on your long rides. Add some bricks. Whats your longest ride? How many? Have you tried using the training bible to plan your season? Before I would get a new bike I would consider hiring a coach. Your bike sounds like it should be ok. I don’t know about the flex thing , I’ve never heard about this happening to Ti after a few years ???
To say that your frame is flexing too much is a bit bizarre - provided it hasn’t deformed from a crash and gone beyond it’s elastic limit your frame is flexing as much as it did 7 years ago.
I know as TT’ers we like to hope that all our frames are transferring 100% power to the wheel, but no frame can do that. A portion is always lost - whether the difference between your bike and a super-stiff frame is significant or not, I don’t know. More is lost however in resistance to wind, in the drivetrain, hubs, tyres than ever in the frame. Plus your frame is hopefully absorbing a greater proportion of road shock than most I would hazard.
Keep the bike, buy a tt bike in the end of season sales and spend the winter indoors fine tuning and getting used to it, rather than jumping on one now and hoping it’ll work for the best, cos it probably won’t.
Andy
I agree with Trigeek 13. I have a Blade and a P3. The Blade is much more comfortable. Of course maybe that is because of the frame flex you talk about. I have rode both of them 100 mile rides and the Blade leaves me feeling better after the ride. I have them both set up the same as far as measurements and saddle.
Aloha,
Larry
The Blade and the Tachyon are very different bikes. If you like the tachyon now, switching to the Blade would be a big shock for your system (and you wallet.) I’d say if the Tachyon wroks keep it. Maybe look into another bike for actaully competing with. Personally I wouldn’t drop that amount of money the blade unless it’s the only bike I was riding.
P.S. Ska rocks
AArgh,
Your bike shop is laboring under two misconceptions. One is that flex is bad and two is that as a (metal) frame ages it flexes more.
As for the first you want some degree of flex. Flex (and fit) is what makes one bike frame more comfortable that another. Two much flex is a personal matter but if your bike doesn’t shift gear when you push hard, feel uncontrollable at high speeds or on rough pavement, or rub the chain on the front derailleur when you stand and pedal, then you don’t have too much flex. Softrides, slingshots, zipps, etc all have inches more flex than your bike and they’ve been ridden plenty fast.
The second misconception comes from years ago when racer used to tell their significant others that they needed a new frame every year or two because they “wear out and become flexible”. This was a scam to get a new bike. It got repeated so much we started to believe it. Bikes have been tested many times in labs, they dont get more flexible. If anything they would get stiffer from repeated flexing due to work hardening, but this is so miniscule on a bike frame that it couldn’t be noticed either.