I’m pretty new to triathlons, coming from a running background. I don’t love cycling outdoors due to the risks- someone gets killed by a vehicle too often even when they are doing things right. So, I plan to keep doing limited outdoor rides to keep adequate bike handling skills, and otherwise do most of my rides on the trainer. I currently have 1 tri-bike as my race bike, and 1 road bike that I have on my trainer with clip on aerobars.
My only cycling is done for the purpose of triathlon. Is a road bike with clip ons adequate, or would there be any benefit to find an older model tri bike to use on my trainer instead? Are the differences in geometry and positioning important knowing it will be used for the bulk of my training?
I can’t answer from the technical side… but I ride my race tri bike on the trainer full time. It is the only way to me to make sure I am adapted to the position. My road bike most never sees the trainer.
I had my tri bike on the trainer this winter and really liked that, but when spring rolled around and I needed to get in some outdoor rides and started racing, it was too much of a pain to swap it on and off the trainer. And I was afraid doing that frequently might affect something like the shifting.
I do the road bike on trainer, tri bike outdoors, and I haven’t noticed a negative impact to my tri bike performance. My ideal would be like you mentioned get an older tri bike to put on the trainer. But as long as you’re using those aero bars to keep your back flexible / stay comfortable in the aero position, I think you’re ok as is.
Cameron Wurf said he only rides his TT bike every 10 days or so. It’s definitely not necessary to ride it all the time and if you’re using the clip on aero bars on your road bike, you’ll probably get a close enough position to be using the same muscles.
I use my road bike for most rides indoors and out. I take my tri bike outside occasionally to keep myself used to it. Then the weeks leading up to a triathlon I start riding it more and more.
Same here. Usually FFOP bike split and rarely train on my TT-bike except in final build to races.
Actually think I’ve done 5 rides on the TT-bike in total since sept 2019 (and all outside) and have ZERO reason to believe that this will have any negative impact on 70.3 in 2 weeks…
If anything I would be more concerned with the TT bike handling part if you never ride outside
I only ride my tri bike on the trainer. And I ride almost exclusively on my road bike outdoors since it’s just more fun, and it’s the only option for most group rides. I do take the tri bike out on the roads well in advance of events to get re-aquainted with handling and position (while I ride indoors on the same bike in the same configuration, there are additional changes when I go outside, due to different relative movement of the bike and also the actual need to look where you’re going… I take it easier on my neck indoor, swapping between extensions, bullhorns and sitting upright, and also looking down or around more than I would in reality.
If you intend to ditch most outdoor riding, don’t do group rides, and only ride for the purpose of doing triathlons, then don’t see much reason to own a road bike. It’s a depressing view of cycling though…
ETA: If I was you I’d be dropping down to one bike, not increasing to 3.
I find the road bike more comfortable on the trainer. I’ll usually put the tri bike on the trainer for a couple of sessions before I start riding outside again to get myself used to the change in position.
I find the road bike more comfortable on the trainer. I’ll usually put the tri bike on the trainer for a couple of sessions before I start riding outside again to get myself used to the change in position.
I find the exact opposite.
Indoors I prefer the tri bike, and outdoors I far prefer the road bike, though I do enjoy the speed of the tri bike from time to time…
I had my tri bike on the trainer this winter and really liked that, but when spring rolled around and I needed to get in some outdoor rides and started racing, it was too much of a pain to swap it on and off the trainer. And I was afraid doing that frequently might affect something like the shifting.
Since you don’t ride outside much, I’d put the TT bike on the trainer and ride the road bike outside, maybe take the TT bike off the trainer for a ride or two prior to a race just to make sure everything is working well.
Shifting is very easy to fix once you understand how it all works. It’s well worth your time to learn how to replace cables and index your shifting.
Thanks to all for the feedback so far. The range of replies is interesting- from barely use the Tri bike other than for races to nearly exclusively train on the tri bike, all outside rides to nearly all inside. It seems there are probably a lot of ways to do things right, not a ‘correct’ setup.
Thanks to all for the feedback so far. The range of replies is interesting- from barely use the Tri bike other than for races to nearly exclusively train on the tri bike, all outside rides to nearly all inside. It seems there are probably a lot of ways to do things right, not a ‘correct’ setup.
For sure, there is no ‘correct’ setup.
And for sure, riding more/harder (without burning yourself out) is generally consistently better than less, regardless of setup. 4 hrs/wk on the roads on a road bike on no aerobars >> 2 hrs/wk on a TT bike in race position on a trainer.
It’s def best I’ve found to mix it up as much as possible, and gradually increase specificity as the race approaches. I actually intentionally ride my road bike a lot early season outdoors, and ride my TT bike mainly on trainers. Then as the race approaches, the TT bike starts taking over indoor/outdoor, and within 5-6 weeks of race day, I’m adding the full race setup on outdoor rides.
And for me it’s not also a matter of indoor always better or outdoors always better. I def have more fun AND put out slightly more power in all conditions outdoors, likely due to better cooling (I do have blower fans indoors.) Indoors on Zwift though, I get the benefits of a totally continuous ride with zero stops and even zero downhill coasting if I choose, and I’ve found that I definitely do bike intervals way better on Zwift since you can dial into the painful power levels and hold it, without rolling hills or stops or even traffic getting in your way.
A mix is best, none in itself is superior. You only need to increase TT bike specificity in the weeks before the race.