I have $1200 to spend. I have one bike, a 2015 Cervelo P3 w/ power meter.
I am racing a 70.3 in April and IM LOU in October. A handful of sprints/olympics in between. 6 hours on a 70.3, first timer to 140.6, looking sub 14 hrs.
Two options:
Race wheels to replace my stock mavic cosmics.
1a) zipp 404s or similar?
Road bike - look for a used 105 groupo level
2b) wheel cover for tri bike rear wheel.
Can ride most group rides around here on tri bike, but would also allow me to leave a bike set up on the trainer. live on the coast, so no climbing to speak of.
Was in the same situation than you 2 years ago (IM Lou w/ a 2012 P3 and square wheels)…
Went for the FLOs (Disc + 90 front) - which I’d definitely recommend (60 front would have been better with hindsight). But again, this is completely subjective. Someone else might recommend you to go to AC and gamble that $1,200 for a chance to buy both a road bike and wheels
Definitely, without question the race wheels. If you are focused on triathlon, the race wheels will help your bike more, and road bike will recruit different musculature, which will not help your tri training.
only for aerobic training. I don’t know about you, but my road bike is very much different that my tri bike, recruiting completely different muscle groups. Those ‘very good triathletes’ usually have many more miles on the legs in aero, so their application is different. You will notice that as the races get closer, they gravitate much more to tri geometry.
What?!
lots of very good triathletes use their road bike as their primary bike for training. Rappstar is one for sure.
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I actually think riding a road bike slack is important if you are going to ride your TT bike steep, because it works on gluteal engagement, which I think riding steep does not. ESPECIALLY riding steep in the pursuits (i.e., not down in the aerobars). So I ride my road bike or my mountain bike for most rides, and then I get on my TT bike once or twice a week to do a hard session with the vast majority of time in the aerobars. " Rapp
Muscle engagement has more to do with hip angle than seat angle. Maybe your road bike is setup poorly.The really good triathletes I have known couldn’t possibly ride their tri bike only as races got closer, as their race seaons were 6-7 months. Sure their quality work is on their tri bike but the same principles apply.
Assuming the powermeter is crank based, or not on your wheels already, I say get race wheels. well worth it. if you have some coin to spend you can prob find a solid pair of race wheels with a PT in them already…lots goin on in the classifieds with race wheels ive noticed.
Your stock cosmics are actually quite fast. Just make sure you have good tyres on for race day and you will be sorted. Race wheels would be very inefficient from a speed/$ perspective.
Having a bike that can either be left on the trainer (thus easier to train) or you might find the road bike more enjoyable to ride on wet/windy days will probably have a more significant impact on your cycling. At this stage of your development you want to make it as easy as possible to ride lots/often.
For those that think they’re using different muscle groups - one of your bikes is not set up properly.
specificity. one does not get faster for open water tris by doing breaststroke.Curious what % of time you think Cancellara or any other TT specialist is on their TT bike?
My lbs rents wheels for about $75. I did that my first 2 seasons
I bought a dengfu fm098… fully built up, wheels, seat, lights, SRM Force. … everything, for under $1800. You should be able to put on 105 for your budget and have a bike lighter than most within your budget
Even if you go for an older model roadie from the LBS you should be able to make it work. Depends what kind of road bike you’re after.
This is what I’d do. But it also depends if you’re actually going to ride the road bike. Lots of triathletes love theirs and a lot never end of riding it. So regardless, a cheaper, used option is probably best (then you can resell and upgrade if that’s your jam). Steel or Al frame and 105 is perfectly capable for training, no need for fancy carbon aero shapes here.
Even if you go for an older model roadie from the LBS you should be able to make it work. Depends what kind of road bike you’re after.
I’d do this as long as you use the road bike; even as a trainer bike. Anything that gets you riding more is going to improve your performance long term.