I recently upgraded to a SC 7.5. I had the original model, but got the new one a couple months ago. In the past, I would ride primarily my POS road bike (seriously, ebay beater bike) through the winter, and only ride the tri bike in the weeks leading up to races. Now, with the nicer bike, I am even more hesitant to ride it. I am curious to know what your breakdown is between bikes, and your reasoning.
I have two tri/race bikes and ride them most of the time. I like to ride and train on what I’m going to race.
If you have a nice bike, ride it. Also you want to be used to riding in your race position. This is more of an issue for some than others. When I see people unable to stay on the aero bars in races, I always wonder how much time they trained on them. But mostly just ride your nice bike. It will be beater bike season soon enough.
Use it, enjoy it, put miles on it… Take care of it. If you break it, buy another one. What’s the point of owning a bike like that if you only ride it a few times a year? Unless triathlon is your bread and butter… Why not train on your race bike?
I find I am able to ride 95% road bike and perform the same on my TT bike.
I obviously ramp up that percentage to 50% to 75% TT in the weeks leading up to a TT bike events.
The most important thing is to ride a bike. Which bike matters way, way way less.
I ride my TT bike almost all my training rides. Geez it’s not like it’s only has a few hundred miles till it breaks. The thing depreciates fast enough just sitting there. If your going to race it then ride it. Nothing beats as much time on your race bike as possible. I even ride my race wheels all the time because the deep rims catch sideways gusts bigtime you need to be used to that scenario.
Yes!
I love riding my road bike but am very appreciative of the extra speed on my TT. However, my roadie is so much more enjoyable that I ride the shit out of it–just a little bit slower. For me, it’s not all about the race–I ride 8000-10,000 miles a year and I want to enjoy the ride–and I find I can get more out of it when I’m on a more favorable steed. Like Jackmott, I change and end up riding my TT bike a lot before key races. I’m doing so now as Kona draws near.
I’m blessed to be able to afford two great bikes (Cervelo S5 and a BMC TM01). I love them both but when in doubt train on my S5 and always race on my TM01. I try to have them set up close to each other but no question my Cervelo is easier to ride.
A few years ago I rode my TT bike all the time and I found my training suffered and at the end of the day so did my racing…but that’s just me…
That said, the TT bike is always faster on race day even if hurts more…
so many bike, so little time… Although my QR CD0.1 is pretty comfy, it is not as comfy, and perhaps more importantly as safe as riding my Scott Foil in road position. Any folks out there ride road position on the computrainer for part of the indoor season?
Sign up for more races!!
Seriously though I have a road bike and TT/Tri bike that I bought new almost a year ago. I only really rode on actual roads with the TT at races and 1 training ride this year (but did ride it on the Fluid trainer all winter). I signed up for a bi-weekly TT series (made 7 out of the 8 that were scheduled) to ride my TT more in race situations (plus it was the only speedwork I did consistently on the bike). I did sign up for more Tri’s this year than the previous year…but due to injury and life getting in the way I ended up donating to 2 of races and was not able to participate.
The most important thing is to ride a bike. Which bike matters way, way way less.
This. Also, try to replicate your tri bike fit as best as you can on your beater bike. It will make the transition between the two much easier.
Which can be counter-intuitive. If you have a pinched hip angle on the TT bike and want to replicate that, you need to move your road bike seat back (unless you ride your road bike with your face on the stem all day)
It also might not be a good idea to do that if you have a REALLY aggressive TT position as your hips will just be angry.
This. Also, try to replicate your tri bike fit as best as you can on your beater bike. It will make the transition between the two much easier.