Starting to really get doing this sport and considering to upgrade my bike that I bought last year.
I mainly do sprints with an occasional oympic distance. The longest I plan to go anytime soon would be a half IM within the next year or two.
In looking into it, my first thought was buying a tri bike (currently have a road bike that has had offset seatpost and aerobars added) and keeping my road bike.
But after watching some races on TV and seeing in several magazines, it seems that there are still many elites that tend to ride road bikes instead of tri specific bikes.
Am i missing something here? I know can be a comfort issue with a tri bike, but members of our local multisport club seem to love their respective tri bikes.
Any thoughts on dropping the cash on a tri bike or should one put it towards a really nice road bike and modify it?
If you only train solo and race tris and have no other use for a bike then get a tri bike. But do realize a fair number of top pros do a lot of their training on a road bikes.
If you use a bike for any other purpose besides the two above then get a road bike. Road bikes are more versatile. They handle better, you can road race, climb hills, group ride or cruise down to get a six back much better on a road bike than a tri bike.
Personally I viewed my tri bike as my second bike. Others my differ.
If you already have a road bike and plan on keeping it, I’d get a tri bike. You may be confused with ITU draft legal triathlon when you mention about elites/pros on road bikes.
In looking into it, my first thought was buying a tri bike (currently have a road bike that has had offset seatpost and aerobars added) and keeping my road bike. \\
There are no pros riding traditional road bikes in triathlons. The ITU guys use road bikes with clip ons, but you don’t sound like you are in that category. Some people use road bikes with aftermarket stuff on it(foreward posts, aero bars, clip-ons), but you would be hard pressed to find a good athlete on a straight road bike, in a non drafting race…
Mark, I have been giving this same question some thought. Since the bike is now my weakest event, I am starting to brainstorm
what different training approachs I may take for next season. So, I could just use my steep tri bike for more miles.
But, I keep reading these type of posts that folks do a lot of training on straight road bikes. But, you then make some good
points about some of these are not straight road bikes.
That depends. If you do very little mileage, it is best to stay on your race bike position, and ride it hard most the time. If you have the time and energy to do lots of miles, and you often ride in groups, then a straight road bike comes in handy for those winter base miles, and the ocasional roadie weekend ride. I’ve known lots of guys over the years, and it is all over the map. I use my race bike exclusively all year long. I just never like to go slow, and my bike is really comfortable in the aero position. I also don;t have to deal with cities, traffic, and stop lights. Others like to use their road bikes for a few months in the winter, but get off them when the season approaches. A small few will ride road during the season, for a day or two here and there, but that is the exception…
Your legs shouldn’t be able to tell too much if you are on a road bike or tri bike, if you are getting your tri position correct. Thats the whole point of moving your seat forward relative to the BB.
You still need to train enough on a tri bike to be comfortable in the position for the time you need to hold it in a race, and be comfortable with how it handles, but your leg power should transfer across bikes almost completely.
What I want to do it put more miles on the bike, mostly by myself. I would also like to maybe ride some century rides, to force
me to go the distance. I also want to move my lockable power cranks off my trainer bike to one I can ride outside.
Choices.
There are no pros riding traditional road bikes in triathlons. The ITU guys use road bikes with clip ons, but you don’t sound like you are in that category. Some people use road bikes with aftermarket stuff on it(foreward posts, aero bars, clip-ons), but you would be hard pressed to find a good athlete on a straight road bike, in a non drafting race…
No problem… I figured you must have missed my meaning, or I just plain missed her race there… Lots of people ride road bikes, but as I said they are all modified is some way. I would guess that almost none of them are in the standard 73 degree seat position either, and all of them have some aero bar set up. At one time, all of us were using that exact same set up, no tri bikes invented yet. It was a real cottage industry to retro fit road bikes there for about 3 or 4 years, then Dan had to come into the market and ruin the party…
Tri bikes are freaking cool as hell looking, an they are a little faster and handle a little better than a converted road bike if you get a good one. So go get a cervelo
A tri bike will help the average rider get lower without needing as much flexibility and core strength as a pro. I can get a helluva lot lower on my tri bike than my road bike. I’m not a pro.
I think Dan mentions in his tri-bike fit article that tri bikes are made to go under effort. I’ll have to agree with that. Its comfortable under speed but once I get up to relax after a hard set I shift around a lot to try and get comfortable. In the end its just more comfortable in the aerobars or off the saddle.
I’m a fairly good rider in the city (I happily switch lanes/ride in between cars) but riding that tri bike ain’t fun in the city. Nowhere near as nimble (but maybe its also because its a 650 so I’m really low to the ground; which feels very odd in comparison to my 700 road bike) and the brakes SUCK. I can’t imagine riding/training on a tri bike in a city environment. (I have easy access to trails and closed roads.)
I think tri bikes are better values since bar-end shifters are significantly cheaper than STIs/brifters.
One last thing, I think modifying a road bike with aerobars and forward seatpost is not recommended by Dan and Tom if you look up other posts/articles on the main page…
