I know most on here are riding and racing some better bikes, but I can’t afford them. They are insanely expensive for me right now. I am really new to triathlon with only one race under my belt last year. I have 2 in the works for this year coming up. My question is regarding my bike selection. Currently I have two, one of my own and one borrowed from a friend who knows I can’t afford a better bike.
My bike is a 2000 Trek 1200 with all Sora components (8 speed triple), the borrowed bike is a Torelli Corsa Strada with a 105 groupset (10 speed). The torelli is steel with a carbon fork (approx 20 pounds) while the Trek is all aluminum (approx. 22 pounds). I can’t do much to these bikes as one is not mine and I can’t afford much. I do need new tires and was planning on putting GP4000s with latex tubes potentially on whichever I chose to race with. My question is this, with these being your only options, which would you use to race on? The Torelli has nothing aero about it except the fork, is a 60cm bike. The trek is I dont really know; I guess its aero or at least was in 2000 standards, and is a 58cm bike. I am 6’1". Also, based on your selection, what additional things would you do to it with pretty much no money :-/ Both have new chains and the Trek just got a new cassette.
All I can think of outside putting some better tires on these is to try to fit myself as best as possible to the bikes. I was last fit for the Trek in 2002 when I was in highschool. Thanks for any suggestions and just in case anyone says it, I can’t get a new bike - these bad boys are it.
Without knowing your measurements and the specific bike dimensions, I will guess that a 60 is way too big for you at 6’1". So I’d say set up the Trek and do some riding to see how it feels.
I think you’re on the right track. I wouldn’t worry too much about the bike though. With decent tires (like you mentioned) and latex tubes at a reasonable pressure, you have taken care of quite a bit. Pick the bike you’re most comfortable riding and the gear range matches what you need for your courses. Make sure the drive-train is ultra clean. If you have a little more in your budget other than the 125-150 for tires and latex tubes, spending it on clothing or clip on aero bars makes the most sense. Find something that fits tight and covers a lot of skin. Size down if you’re not sure. Clip on aero bars are all kind of the same beast. As long as you can get comfortable on them, they are pretty much all going to do the same thing for what you need. You will get a lot of aero benefit doing that vs. upgrading components other than tires/tubes.
What sort of race? Normally you’d say one of the biggest gains you can get is by using clip on aero bars. Hopefully both bikes have the same size handle bars, in which case you’d be able to try the aero bars on both and see which seems better. You can then experiment with flipping the stem and/or reducing spacers to get lowish. You can get aero bars pretty cheap.
Clip-on aerobars and a good fit up front will save you a lot more time than an aero frame and carbon wheels. A LOT MORE. Your own body position on the bike accounts for most of the aero drag.
You are on the right track for rolling resistance. GP4000 and latex tubes is the way to go.
Thanks everyone, I ride each regularly. I do think you’re right about the torelli being just a bit to big (feels like I have to reach further to get to the bars). This was probably a silly question with limited information, but being newer to racing I thought it was worth a shot. I raced on the Trek last year and it has been my primary ride. The race distances in question are Olympic. This should go without saying that I don’t have a powermeter so I have to gauge these bikes riding the same circuit in training. My average speed was faster on the Trek last year, but the Torelli isn’t far off. I took time of training on the bike to train for a marathon in July.
Define “almost no money”? Can you afford clip-ons, and maybe a forward seat-post? With some careful searching you can probably get both off ebay or CL for $100 combined.
A decent effort at improving your position on the bike will trump pretty much anything else for speed ROI.
I know you’re right. I was thinking about some cheap bars I saw on Nashbar for about 30 bucks. Outside of that, I was going to try to get a better fit on the bikes recording myself on my trainer. Far from a professional fit, but I imagine would be better than no adjustments. The trek was fitted to me but that was almost 15 years ago! I feel like I am pretty similar to my highschool years but I’m sure that is way off now!
I know you’re right. I was thinking about some cheap bars I saw on Nashbar for about 30 bucks. Outside of that, I was going to try to get a better fit on the bikes recording myself on my trainer. Far from a professional fit, but I imagine would be better than no adjustments. The trek was fitted to me but that was almost 15 years ago! I feel like I am pretty similar to my highschool years but I’m sure that is way off now!
I think if you post pictures of yourself on the trainer here, you will get some professional level Fitters commenting on what you could do to improve it. Definitely get some clip-on Aero bars, and a forward seatpost would probably be a good thing too.
Just keep racing on your trek! I have way more respect for those that kick ass on older bikes than those that are all tech’ed out. Yea, a lot of us have blingy bikes, but a lot of times it is literally just for the bling. If your fit is good just make sure your drivetrain is in order, you have have fresh rubber on your wheels, and if you feel like spending the money then get some clip on aero bars. This past weekend at Ironman Santa Rosa I passed a guy in some super old school bianchi road bike with caged flat pedals trucking a long. Fitness will always overpower bike tech and when the time comes that you can get a new bike, well its going to be glorious. lol
This is what I’m doing this year, too. Getting the seat forward is key to making the aero bars work well (comfortable to apply power in for an hour). I used this article as a target for my road conversion:
You won’t get the drop from seat to elbow pads that is described in the article…stems that support that are pretty rare. I dropped my stem as far as it would go, and then set everything else accordingly (I’m still searching for a more aggressive stem). But, it will get you in the ball-park, and then you can post pix here for criticism.
Besides, road geometry and aggressive tri-positions don’t mix too well. I have about half of the static drop described in the article, and I can already see the front axel well in front of my base-bar—so, my weight is pretty far forward. It took a few weeks to get used to the handling in that position.
I can say with almost certainty the 60cm bike is too big for you. We are the same height and on some bikes even a 58 is too big for me.
I used to race on an old Raleigh Supercourse and I would turn the seatpost backward and put some shorty clip on aerobars on. Turning the seatpost around got me a little closer to the bars where I was able to comfortably ride in the aero position. Not sure what type of seatpost you have but worth a try and may negate having to buy a forward seatpost.
Ride whichever one you fit better and is more comfortable to ride. Not sure of our bar sizes but it could end up being easier to fit clip on aero bars on one over the other, especially if you are bumming a set from someone (which you should try to do). Aero bars will make a huge difference so that might trump comfort and fit a bit if you can make one work but not the other. Finally, my guess is one of the two is working better and particularly, less likely to give you shifting issues. So, if both can fit and be comfortable, use the one that shifts better and/or is less likely to crap out on you.
You may consider selling the two bikes and finding something a bit more modern. There were a lot of advancements in the mid-late 2000s…weight, wider wheels, etc. I would bet if you sold both, you’d have enough for a later model road bike with a compact 2x9 or 2x10 drivetrain. I just sold a 2011 Specialized Allez 2x9 for $350–and with some clip ons, that bike was not slow…and before that, I sold a Trek 2006 1000SL (3x8) for $300. So…maybe your Trek is worth 200…the other bike 1-150? You could find a decent Allez/whatever your preference that’s a little newer and ride that into the ground.
This didn’t take long to take it’s usual ST downward turn…
Sell both and buy a bike? One of those bikes doesn’t even belong to the guy asking the question.
Have you noticed how experienced fitters don’t blindly make frame size recommendations here but a handful of amateurs have no problem tossing out fit numbers based off height alone. I’m 6’ even on a good day and would need a 25mm setback post and a 130-140mm stem to fit on most 58’s.
Yeah, the torelli isn’t mine and hell, if I sold my trek I couldn’t even buy the tires I’m about to put on it
I think what I’ll do is try to get some pictures up so perhaps you guys can see what I’m working with. It may amuse you to some degree. At the very least, if getting aero-bars doesn’t work well with these frames, maybe getting a better/more aggressive road position will help.
That’s cool–my apologies for misreading your post.
I did my first Tri on Trek Navigator “comfort” bike. If people laughed at me…I didn’t care. Have fun!
I’m 6’1" and both of my bikes (road and tri) are 58" framesize. A 60" sounds too big. I’d stick with the Trek. Take it to the shop for a tune up or simply do what you can yourself. A clean drivetrain and clean, lightly oiled chain is key. Get high quality tubes & tires. Can’t go wrong with Conti GP 4000’s. I did my first two tris on a mountain bike with slick tires, so be proud of your old beatup ride and have fun!
That’s cool–my apologies for misreading your post.
I did my first Tri on Trek Navigator “comfort” bike. If people laughed at me…I didn’t care. Have fun!
I get a perverse sense of pleasure bombing past people in full tri rigs, deep carbon wheels, fancy helmets etc. on my road bike wearing a MTB helmet and a sleeveless trisuit. It’s all about the powaaaaa baby.
