Road Bike or FLO60/Disc

Triathlon Forum
1

Coming to a close on my second season of racing. I currently have two bikes – a fixed gear commuter and a bone stock speed concept (7 series frame/2.5 series components). My question:

What would be the pros and cons be for buying a new road bike vs aero wheels for the tri bike?

I don’t ride in groups, but it’s due to my only bike being the sc. I feel like I would have a lot of fun on the road bike (and maybe even start getting involved with racing), but I don’t want to leave time during my bike split on the table. I know a lot of ST is pro-road bike, but at the expense of triathlon upgrades?

2

Go with the road bike.

You’ll get a lot more enjoyment and likely more training time if you’re able to ride with a group and do a variety of races.

3

See if you can get a road bike (ie get the shop to swap out) with Shimano RS31 wheels. Fit nice tyres to them for races and you’ll have 99% of the speed of the Flo set in most conditions. And you’ll have a road bike to go exploring on and maybe get the extra stimulus of racing.

RS31 are cheap aero, there are other options like Mavic Cosmic Elite and Flo30 if you wanted something lighter but I’m guessing you want to keep the price sensible.

4

Coming to a close on my second season of racing. I currently have two bikes – a fixed gear commuter and a bone stock speed concept (7 series frame/2.5 series components). My question:

What would be the pros and cons be for buying a new road bike vs aero wheels for the tri bike?

I don’t ride in groups, but it’s due to my only bike being the sc. I feel like I would have a lot of fun on the road bike (and maybe even start getting involved with racing), but I don’t want to leave time during my bike split on the table. I know a lot of ST is pro-road bike, but at the expense of triathlon upgrades?
My bike is a Felt B12 and I ride in groups all the time…just be smart.

Buy a Flo 60 or 90 front wheel and get a disk cover for the rear and the SC is set. Keep your eyes open, there were several FLO wheels on eBay in the past month (all gone now); a front 60, a front 90, a set of 30’s with a PowerTap, and a 60/90 wheelset (I picked up the 60/90 set for $650 shipped). That way you can get a RB too! You can look at BikesDirect to save $ on the RB, e.g. they’re listing some carbon frame models with 11-spd 105 for $800.

5

Go with the RB. Getting a RB completely changed my view of cycling and I bike way more now that I have one.

6

If you bought aero wheels AND a road bike, you would always want to ride the tri bike…

I vote wheels and then a road bike later unless you do a lot of group riding.

If that is the case, sell the tri bike, and buy a road bike with aero wheels!

7

Not sure what your helmet situation is… but assuming its a regular helmet… I would urge you to buy a road bike and an aero or semi aero helmet with the left over cash.