The Last Gift My Uncle Will Ever Give Me (Tri-Bike)

Triathlon Forum
1

I’ll make this as brief as I can in order to hopefully find more input from other forum members. I’ve been racing for two years on a heavily modified road-bike. It isn’t anything great but it’s gotten me from Washington, DC to IM Philippines 70.3, and finally at rest here in California. Just recently my uncle passed. He left me a sum of money which after paying off all outstanding debts, still had some left over. I could save it, sure. But I used to tell him about all my races (he was a quadriplegic - and part of me doing Tri was to keep giving him stories about my physical acomplishments) and I knew he loved that I loved racing.

I’m signed up for some fairly serious elevation races for the rest of the year - IMLT being one of them. The team I am on right now can get me a 25% discount with Trek through our local retailer.

I live in the Northern California area and am thinking of paying to get a stack and reach/proper fitting to see if maybe the Speed Concept 7.5 will be the bike for me - but can anyone think of anything different? I’m not too knowledgable about differences in cassette sizes or gears, cranks, etc.

A teammate left this advice:

In my experience, iron-distance athletes very rarely need “big gears” for going fast, but very OFTEN need small gears for climbing. For a hilly course like IM Wisconsin, it’s even more important to have those nice low climbing gears to save the legs for the run. For a course like that, I’d run a 50/34 in front, and get the biggest cassette her rear derailleur can accommodate (12/27? 12/28? 12/30?). It just gives you more options that way.

FWIW, I run a 50/34 in front and 11/27 in back for both my road and TT bikes. I almost never feel the need for a bigger gear; I don’t spin out until maybe 34-ish mph, at which point I’m just going to tuck and get aero. I will, occasionally, wish I had a slightly easier gear (e.g., the top of Mt. Diablo, sections of the Death Ride, etc.).

I would really not want to spend more than $4,500 if I can help it - but really want to make sure that I do my uncle proud (I already have a vinyl sticker of his name to put on whatever I end up getting).

Would wiser and more experienced triathletes please chime in? It would mean the world to me.

(and if any Trek Gods/Engineers see this; are you by any chance releasing a new tri-bike in the next 3 months or so? Should I wait until then?)

2

I would advise going to a shop that stocks multiple brands and try out a few different bikes. If you haven’t had a TT bike before and don’t know your stack/reach numbers for your ‘ideal’ TT position then you’d benefit from the learning experience. From the spending stand point, don’t get hung up on brands/models. If you’re putting down 4k+ the marginal difference between the bikes performance will be very small. However the marginal difference of the position and power you can generate on each bike could vary much more.

Hope that helps. I personally like Cervelo P-series bikes but because the geometry fits me well and I feel very comfortable on them.

3

(and if any Trek Gods/Engineers see this; are you by any chance releasing a new tri-bike in the next 3 months or so? Should I wait until then?)

You’re as safe as you can get on this. Trek just released the updated Speed Concept for model year 2014. There are a number of meaningful upgrades, but the easy way for a novice to differentiate the new from the old is that the new seat tube top joins the top tube in an aerodynamic triangular shape.

The Trek is a great bike (especially the 7s with the 2014 upgrade) and that 25% discount is substantial. Unless you ride a very aggressive position, I don’t see how you can go wrong here.

You’ve been racing long enough, it might be time to splurge the ~$400 or so for a pro fitting. It’ll inform a lot of stuff that it’ll make you more comfortable on the new bike, like crank arm length, that is useful whether you go with Trek or another bike. The Trek is likely to fit you (the frame is designed to fit most people without an extreme stem) but this will confirm it, as well as tell you what stem/spacers/etc., to use with it and its stock aerobar.

One thing to note is coming from a road bike (with aerobars I assume), you’re probably now in a less than aggressive aero position. Pick a bike that will give you room to go up or down as you get used to riding a more aggressive position on a TT bike and dial the position in.

Will the bike store allow for swapping the crank/cassette from the ones that come stock? The 7.5 comes with a 52/36 crank, which is midway between the compact crank (50/34) your teammate recommends for climbing and a standard 54/39 crank. The 52/36 get you up Mt. Diablo and the like, but I’d want the compact for longer rides/races to sit back and spin. But I’m slow up climbs. (But then again, who isn’t on a ride like Death Ride).

It comes with a 11-25 cassette and depending on the crank you have you likely will want to put on a bigger cassette down the line for the climbs, e.g., a 12-28. But the stock 11-25 will work for you out of the box and cassettes are relatively cheap and easy to swap.

This is a great site, with a slight learning curve, but will help you quickly educate yourself on this topic. I like the mph at 90 RPM metric, as it tells me how slow I can be climbing while still spinning fast.

http://sheldonbrown.com/gears/

Good luck! Enjoy being out here. Lots of great local races. Escape from Alcatraz.

4

I’m not sure I’m wiser or more experienced but I’ll chime in nonetheless.

Some very good points made already. If I were in the market for the exact bike (one can dream!) here’s what I’d be looking at:

As mentioned previously; fitting first. I fit ok, on my Trek medium tri bike now, but geometries have changed since and with a size small I’d likely be able to ride more aggressively with additional aerobar pad drop. Ideally, I’d also want to move to compact, 165mm cranks (with Stages) which would also change my fit coordinates. The SC 7.5 features webpage doesn’t mention crank arm lengths. I assume that depends on the frame size? This also might be time to try a tri-specific saddle. A bunch of new ones came out in the last two years and unless you’re really happy with the one you have you might as well have the fitter show you some options (Specialized Sitero, Bontrager RXL Hilo (stock on the SC 7.5), Fi’zik Tritone, or of course the venerable saddles by ISM and Cobb).

Second cassette and race wheels. You didn’t mention whether you already have race wheels. I have an 11/25 cassette for my rear training wheel which (seasonally) has a trainer tire on it. I use this wheel when transporting with my car so that my disc wheel doesn’t essentially rip my trunk off at 75 mph. Then I have an 11/28 cassette which can be swapped depending on the course. An 11/32 might be the cassette for the climbs you plan to do, I’m not sure.

The 7.5 comes with a 52/36 crank, which is midway between the compact crank (50/34) your teammate recommends for climbing and a standard 54/39 crank.
I learned something new. I didn’t know those came stock, nor did I know that gearing existed. I would think that would more than adequate.

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What your uncle gave you was a chance to have some security in your life. So put the money away for your future. It will benefit you for years or decades. That is way more valuable than any bike you can spend it on.

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What your uncle gave you was a chance to have some security in your life. So put the money away for your future. It will benefit you for years or decades. That is way more valuable than any bike you can spend it on.

This can be said about EVERY dollar you spend on recreation. If the OP feels like he doesn’t need the extra money for his financial security (and considering he already paid off his debts), I don’t see the need for your condescending advice.

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What your uncle gave you was a chance to have some security in your life. So put the money away for your future. It will benefit you for years or decades. That is way more valuable than any bike you can spend it on.

He left me a sum of money which after paying off all outstanding debts, still had some left over. I could save it, sure. But I used to tell him about all my races (he was a quadriplegic - and part of me doing Tri was to keep giving him stories about my physical acomplishments) and I knew he loved that I loved racing.

He’s basically debt free. He took care of responsibilities before looking at luxuries. Don’t be such a sanctimonious prick.

John

8

If I were to buy a bike with money from an Uncle as a gift to me. I would probably buy a Firefly Ti, an Anderson Stainless, a Hampsten Ti, a Spectrum (steel or Ti), or possibly a local builder that had some connection to you or your uncle. Those listed bikes are timeless and just pop off the page. You can get a race bike and in 10 years or less you will want another bigger,better, faster, more racer bike. Where a timeless classic frame you can give to your grandkids in your uncles honor. And ride the hell out of it till then.
Nice of your uncle, wish you the best.

9

Thank you for your nice words.

To everyone, I have an appointment tomorrow to take the Trek out for a test ride. If everything fits and looks great we will be professionally fitting it and making some parts tweaks.

Also, to whomever recommended Flo Wheels - they will most definitely be on my radar later this month.

I’ll be sure to post more information when I can!

10

Sorry to here about your uncle’s passing. It is cool that you had a sincere connection with him.

If you want the best bag for the buck, consider a used bike. You will spend 1/2 as much on a good used bike that is 2-4 years old and was the top of the line a couple of years ago. Look here on ST Classified or CraigsList. There are some excellent bikes for sale by guys getting out of the sport or who can’t resist the allure of the latest and greatest model.

After you make your purchase…ride it like hell and make your uncle proud!!

11

I have a 2014 7.5 and love it. Just as a heads up, I would expect Trek to release the 2015 SC in the next month or two which means new paint and graphics (nothing major as the whole bike was overhauled for 2014 as mentioned above).

Another option for wheels could be the Aura’s if you can use your 25% off on those as well in combination with the deal Trek throws at you for wheels when you buy a new bike (assuming that is still going on).

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I would ride a few different brands. You are excited and the first bike you try is going to feel great. You might fit better on another manufacturer. My friend bought a Plasma and sold me his P2. To this day he says he regrets selling the P2 (but not sure he wants to trade the plasma to me!).

I’d look at a 3000 bike, a pro fitting, and then picking up some FLO wheels or used Zipps.

As far as the gearing, it will depend on what races you will typically do. Almost every race around me is pretty flat. I run a 54/42 and 12/25. I made it through TTT. I would of liked a 28 or 30 in the back but I made it through OK. It wasn’t worth buying another cassette for that one race. With that said, one day I’ll pick one up used and have it around.

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I have a 2014 7.5 and love it. Just as a heads up, I would expect Trek to release the 2015 SC in the next month or two which means new paint and graphics (nothing major as the whole bike was overhauled for 2014 as mentioned above).

Another option for wheels could be the Aura’s if you can use your 25% off on those as well in combination with the deal Trek throws at you for wheels when you buy a new bike (assuming that is still going on).

Has anyone found anything about the 2015s yet? If there is no spec change, I doubt I’ll care about the paint change - my kit is Black, Red, and White so the bike will actually match me perfectly.

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trek world going on this week see if anything new comes out. Doing P1 build now with Trek looks like no major changes with 2015.

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If you want to save some real cash, WAIT to buy your bike until February, or so, when LBS’ are looking to get rid of 2014 stock for the 2015 models. I saved almost a grand on my Speed Concept last year doing that.