A friend is planning on doing IM France 2006. He wants to buy a new bike. Money is no problem. Road or tri bike given the course profile? As a relative newbie how can he determine comfort and fit. I assume all top of the range bikes are comfortable
He needs to pay a guy like me to help him, money is no problem for me either.
Heard it is a hilly and tough course. But I’d still stick w/ a tri bike, fully aero, loaded up w/ an SRM and some deep carbon wheels. Perhaps a more conservative position as well, maybe only 1 cm or so forward of his road position. And since he’ll spend more time off the aero bars than “normal” I would pay extra attention to ensuring that the base bar is a good fit (i.e., the reach isn’t too short and/or high, like SO MANY tri bikes are).
Fit usually = comfort. To find fit, send him to a fitter.
Find the best fitter and coach possible.