Last Saturday, I was walking through the bike racks at a local sprint when - there it is! The Walmart road special posted right here on the forum last week! I almost fell over. Just walking by it looks like any other road bike, it actually looked pretty good. I didn’t see it in action, nor did I see the proud owner. OTH, here’s a person motivated to get out and ride and compete, so more power to him/her.
that’s great.
i rode a Raleigh Record (true 10 speed) the first few years. didn’t bother me a bit.
let’s hope the owner had enough fun to come back again.
Honestly … I’m resolved (and content) to get the Wal-Mart bike or something similar. It’s not a big deal to me.
When we sat down and figured out the budget/schedule, the one thing that stuck out to me was that I spend more time and money and triathlon stuff than I do helping others, church, etc. That’s not okay with me.
I don’t need a $2K bike. I can deal without one. As someone else said, I’ll focus on the engine, and see where that gets me.
So, next year, there will be at least one Wal-mart (or similar) bike in a 1/2IM and IM-distance race.
As I said in another thread, the WM bike is likely a step up form the 20yo Raleigh I am using now. Worst case scenario, I train all year on a heavier bike (Wal-mart) bike and use my Raliegh (slightly lighter) for race prep and racing … and gain some speed with the switch.
hey, until this spring, my road bike was a 15 year old 25 pound Trek with an Arione saddle. I’d love to know how this Walmart thing rides, for $149 (?), maybe we are all idiots!!!
shhhh, don’t tell Tom…
it still always comes down to the engine
.
Dave Scott was going sub 9 without aerobars and a clunker bike decades ago.
My very first tri was done on my trusty fixed gear commuter. Yes, a new bike has brought my time down by a fair bit, but I still passed a heck of a lot of people on much more expensive bikes with my green snot rocket (as I affectionately refer to it as). Still, would easily drop $5000 on a high zoot tri bike if I had the coin! I just love bikes.
Chris
You’re really getting a lot of bike for the price if you look at it in terms of $$ per pound.
I think any bike that gets you from T1 to T2 safely is what you need. You can spend $10 at a garage sale or $10,000 for a total custom rig. I do think that people get way too hung up on the bike. I will also say that since I have been old enough to own my own bikes (8 years old with money from Christmas) I have been tricking them out. I love bikes and if I was not doing triathlons I would just have one less bike. I am working on my 5th one now. I do like to have a bike that is made specifically for the event that you are doing. Tri-bike, road bike, cross bike, mountain bike, bmx.
I remember doing some bike races in high school. A guy name Lee shows up on a POS that was almost falling apart. I think he only had 6 working gears. No top end or bottom end. Anyways this guy kicked ass in the last race of the year. It is all about the engine.
hey, until this spring, my road bike was a 15 year old 25 pound Trek with an Arione saddle. I’d love to know how this Walmart thing rides, for $149 (?), maybe we are all idiots!!!
shhhh, don’t tell Tom…
Wait till I show up next year with my '89 Puch I got at the Berlin Flea Market for $10!!! With her clip-on bars and clipless pedals, I equate her to a Bucket-T roadster … it’s not what she was - it’s what she is now …
