Practically all of the events for my 12 year old son are non drafting, but the next event schedulled at the end of August will allow drafting using the ITU format. This is not usual in a kid’s triathlon event and I do not like the idea to allow triathlete kids to draft, but this is the format for this particular event and my son does not wants to loose his position in the national ranking. He wants to use the same bicycle, so I need to convert his Cervelo Dual to make it ITU legal. It is a size 48 frame with 650 wheels.
Has anyone done this conversion? I would appreciate your comments and advise particularly on fitting and on the particular components to be used.
i’ve seen it done before. the only things i notcied were that the seat was pushed forward and obviously, there were drop down bars with clip-on aerobars. other then that nothing else.
I know someone who road a P2K set up into a drafting bike, apparently it handles terribly (not a good idea if he’s new to the drafting game) is it not possible to borrow a bike for that race.
To do it is easy, all you have to do is put the seatpost into a 73-74 degree, drops, STI shifting and a pair of shorty aerobars that don’t extend past the hoods. (and the aerobars have to be bridged - i use electrical tape on my spinanci’s)
“This is not usual in a kid’s triathlon event and I do not like the idea to allow triathlete kids to draft”
Do you know the primary reason kids (as young as 7) are allowed to draft? So they don’t get accused of cheating! Can you imagine the parents yelling “your son is a wheel sucker and a cheater.” Just let the kids swim, bike and run, period. Do you have the heart to tell a kid he was DQ’d for drafting when he probably can’t even spell the word?
The other less talked about reason is so kids can learn to handle a bike properly. Nothing wrong with developing skills at a young age so they become second nature.
I do not like a drafting format in triathlons, but my comment had nothing to do with the ethical or the practical aspect of drafting regarding easier to follow rules for the kids. I was thinking particularly in the increased risk imposed by drafting when the riders are 9-13 year olds that normally do not ride together and that may reach 50 kph in some stretches of the course. Some have the skills and knowledge of cycle etiquette to avoid crashing when things go wrong and others don’t. I agree that one of the key skills in road riding is the pace line, but some of the best kids in the circuit train to race without drafting because as a general rule in México you do not draft in competition unless you are an Elite or Junior Elite athlete.
I think that it is very easy for smaller kids to understand what drafting is. On these events it is not common to catch a kid drafting when they were informed what drafting is and were also warned that they should not draft. There is also nothing wrong with developing respect for the rules at a young age so they become second nature.
Back to the topic, I will install a set of STI 105’s as a trial and I will try to adapt the other components to the geometry of the frame and see how my kid feels on the bike.
