This is my first post so I’m a little nervous. There has been much discussion on this forum on proper tri bike fit. In addition, many people have a separate training bike and racing bike with the training bike being a traditional road bike and racing bike being a dedicated tri-bike. From what I can gather the difference in fit between the two is pretty great (i.e. steep angle, shorter cockpit, lower handlebars, some even suggest slightly higher saddle height, etc.). I also have read that you don’t want to change anything on your bike on race day. So here’s my question, how do you train on your training bike and not have problems with the radically different positioning on your racing bike on race day? Do you ride once/twice a week on your race bike. What about the longer days in Ironman distance training?
Your tri bike is not a museum piece. It is meant to be ridden. So ride it regularly. Regularly means often enough to be used to the position.
Best compliments I ever got on my P3 were this year, after four years plus of riding it. " Great bike. That bike looks like it gets ridden." These comments have a lot to do with the scratched up black paint that I refuse to touch up.
I only have one bike but i changed the angle to a more aggressive position and carbonX aero bars when i did my first IM (rode normal drop bars and jammer gt for the whole season). The change was made about 6 weeks before the race so that i could get used to the new position. I guess that if you have been riding in a road bike and want to race in a tri bike you should ride the tri bike for the last 5-6 weeks before the race.
hope that helps
Sergio Marques
I came from a running then bike racing and then running background and didn’t know much about triathlon. I think that a person’s ability to switch back and forth between a road bike and tri bike with aero bars depends on two things.
First, how long your race is, and second, how forward and low your position is on the aero bike.
My race bike is very low in front and thus I have finally managed to achieve a flat back position. In theory this is the single biggest aerodynamic improvement you can make in cycling. As such, it is very uncomfortable for long periods of time. I always had problems last year at half-IM distances, because eventually my neck and hamstrings would protest.
Most people however, just don’t like to ride that way, so if your position is not very low in front (my armrests are probably a good 15-20 centimeters lower than my seat), then the change is not that great and you can switch back and forth with ease.
I always encourage people to go forward (seat position) and down (aerobars) to achieve the flat back. Most people could gain more from a low aero position than to spend thousands of dollars on aero wheels, frames, bars, ect. The frontal area of your body is huge when compared to your bike, so make your body aero first and then spend money when you have trained enough to have the dollars make a difference. To do that, you just have to ride your tri bike all the time. The closer I come to racing season, the more dust my road bike gathers.
It’s a good question.
I have two bikes, one stays on the trainer, the other I train and race on. Both are set-up the same…tri-bikes at 76. You will get a vareity of opinions and approaches. I like to train like the game.
Art, I’m with you, ride the “A” bike till u wear it out.
Most of my riding is on a road bike since most of my training involves riding with a roadie group three times per week. It’s the “drop the other guy” ride on Tues, “killer hill ride” on Thurs and then long ride on Sunday. In addition I’ll ride the tri bike a couple of times per week for about 1 1/2 -2 hrs. each time. Don’t have any problem switching back and forth. But then I just do sprints where you tend to go balls out for 20-30 kms rather than pace for IM length so I’m not spending long hours on the tri bike. In fact, some of the tris I prefer the road bike in a multi-sport position if they are hilly. I’ll also do a century or two every season but that is always on the road bike.
I’m a believer of the concept of ride the bike you race. I’m club racing this winter and we have a good mix of events. So we have a chance to use both my bikes. On weeks where I’ll be racing my tri bike, I’ll ride it all week, same when I’m gonna be racing my road bike. On weeks where we’re not racing, I try to split time on my bikes. Oddly enough, even though we have road bike events, I seem to be logging more miles on my tri bike. I guess its the breeze around here, who wants to fight the wind on a road bike when you have a nice bike with a nice tucked aero tuck.
What I’ve noticed something that is kinda strange, I dunno if anyone else feels the same way. I ride fairly steep on the tri bike 80 degrees, and around 73 degrees on the road bike. I don’t know why but it is easier to go from the road bike to tri bike. The legs feel really sluggish for the first few miles aftering being on the tri bike a few days in a row.
I’ll be one of the dissenting voices. I rarely ride my TT bike. In fact, the last 3 years the only time I ever rode it was in races. I never had a problem going back to it after not riding it for long periods of time. I had a new TT bike built based upon my old TT bike and will probably not ride it except once or twice on the trainer. Ironically the first time it hits the road (figuratively) will probably be my first race.
My tri bike position has similar body angles (and overall fit) to my road bike, except that my tri bike position is rotated forward to about a 79 degree seat tube angle versus the 73 degree seat angle on my road bike. (By rotating I mean that I shift my seat forward and up a little, and shift my bars forward and down a little while keeping my cranks in the same position.) When I rotate forward that far, my torso is essentially parallel to the ground so I am fast as crap but I cannot see my surroundings very well. It is comfortable to ride in, but I feel a little like a horse with blinders.
I train on a road bike because the riding position is more upright so I can look around more and talk to my friends more. Also, I do some road races in the Spring for fun. I also usually stick to my road bike for the entire winter because I do not like to subject my tri bike to the trainer and because it is easier to watch movies from the road bike.
I ride my tri bike once or twice a week during the season and I ride on it exclusively for a good 10 days leading up to any “A” priority race. That process works fine for me. I’d say whatever combination that lets you have more fun and ride more is the combination to shoot for.
-Marc