Do you use a “race bike” for your normal training or do you do your training on a road bike/cheaper tri-bike and race on a different bike or do you only have a entry/mid bike and that is the bike that you train and race on?
(by “race bike”, I am talking about the sleek, fast, light, etc. bikes, like the P3C, Kueen-K, Felt B2, etc.)
I was talking to a bike shop owner and he told me that he did a triathlon on a certain bike (sleek, carbon frame, light, etc.) but had only ridden the bike for 100 miles prior to the race and that he trained on another bike.
I was thinking about getting a tri-bike (I currently ride a Cannondale CAAD-9 road bike with clip-ons) but can’t see spending $5,000 on a tri-bike and never ride it except during a race.
Plus, when I am out riding/training, I rarely see the tri-bikes out there. I see a lot of road bikes, but don’t think I have ever seen a P3C or a Kueen-K or any other top end bike.
Depends where you live. I see P3Cs all the time out training.
I happen to have a training bike and a race bike but its because of my own preference. My training bike has a pump on it, three bottle holders, two front lights (I have had to ride in the dark a few times) and several rear lights (again because I had to ride in the dark on a busy highway). My training bike has accessories so that I am self sufficient for 100 mile bike rides.
I ride my race bike several time a month because either I am racing or I am time trialing. It only has two bottle holders and is light as possible. It would take several hours to go from training bike to race bike so I prefer it this way. Also, my training bike can take a lot more abuse.
a lot of people have both a road bike and a tri bike. I do. I use the road bike (Argon18 Gallium) for bigger group rides, easy rides and hilly pre-season rides. I use the tri (P2C) bike for flat, fast rides and of course, races. As I get closer to a key race, I will ride the tri bike more regardless of the terrain.
the mix probably ends up being 60-70% on my road bike and 30-40% on my tri bike over the course of a year.
If you’re not seeing any high-end tri bikes (p3c, kweenk, felt da, specialized transition, argon18 e-114)…you should move to San Diego they are a dime a dozen on any popular cycling route. Kinda like BMW’s or Benz’s in Orange County.
I am not sure why some people may not race their tri bike. I agree with you, if you are going to put a lot of dough in the bike, then I would want to race it.
I bought a pricey tri bike, and I ride it all the time. In fact, I like riding it more than my road bike.
I also had a shock when i bought my tri bike. I was slower for a bit. I had a hard time adjusting to the different angles and leg muscles. Some people might disagree, but that is what happened for me. If you are thinking about getting a tri bike-do it, but do it sooner than later, so you can get the fit dialed in. It takes quite a while.
I recommend you keep the C-dale going and get the slice (I like the 08 more than the 09).
I have 2 tri bikes and a road bike but ride the bike I race on 80+ percent of the time (the old tri bike stays on the trainer indoors and I hate the trainer, on occasion it gets on the road if I am traveling somewhere to train and don’t feel like breaking down my main ride) i ride the road bike in the off season for fun, right now a neighbor has been borrowing it for the last year…the only thing I would suggest would be to have s separate wheelset for training as many of the higher end bikes come with nice race wheels and they may get beat up riding everyday…
I find myself doing a lot of training on my road bike in the off season, I have only had my tri bike out once since last September when the race season ended for me. I also have a single speed/fixed gear that I ride as well to switch things up.
In season I ride probably close to 50/50 on my road bike and tri bike, road bike for all the group rides. The positioning is slightly different in terms of seat angle and thus it recruits the muscles differently so riding the bike you race on in season while training is important, especially if you have a road and a tri bike.
If you are going to train in the rain and salt covered streets it would be advisable to have another bike. For the training bike there are lots of great deals on very nice used bikes out there, just find yourself something that is a year or two old and you’ll save a fortune.
I was slower for a bit. I had a hard time adjusting to the different angles and leg muscles. Some people might disagree, but that is what happened for me. If you are thinking about getting a tri bike-do it, but do it sooner than later, so you can get the fit dialed in. It takes quite a while.
I think your statement needs a little bit of clarification here. I just switched from a road bike with clip ons to a tri specific bike. Though my power is down slightly (per my Powertap maybe 10 watts tops despite being in a much steeper position using totally different muscle groups) my speed is WAY up. A tri bike will put you in a much more aerodynamic position assuming you are able to get in that position and are fit in a tri position rather than a road position. Though the tri position may temporarily put you in a less powerful position, if you are fitted correctly the aerodynamic benefit will outweigh the lost power. To put it another way, you will be able to ride much faster or just as fast at the very least while putting out less power. So even if a new bike will take a little while to get accustomed to you will still likely be faster due to aerodynamic gains. Of course, everyone is different and you might take longer to adapt. I do agree that if you think you want to get a tri bike and have a race within the next 4-5 months you might as well go ahead and spring for it and give yourself as much time to adapt as possible.
To answer the OP’s question… I train on my tri bike pretty much all of the time unless I’m riding in the city. I don’t really get having one bike to train on and one bike to race on. Tri bikes aren’t that fragile and you might as well ride it. I would be more concerned about racing on a bike I hadn’t ridden much because you will likely get surprised by some mechanical issue that pops up unexpectadly on race day.
Yeah thanks for posting that. My concise response was going to be:
The angles should be pretty close to the same, as should your power. Hence your speed should go up immediately.
As to getting dialed in, it can take awhile. I usually book an entire 120 minutes for an average fit but I will take as much time as needed. So yeah… awhile.
*I was slower for a bit. I had a hard time adjusting to the different angles and leg muscles. Some people might disagree, but that is what happened for me. If you are thinking about getting a tri bike-do it, but do it sooner than later, so you can get the fit dialed in. It takes quite a while. *
I think your statement needs a little bit of clarification here. I just switched from a road bike with clip ons to a tri specific bike. Though my power is down slightly (per my Powertap maybe 10 watts tops despite being in a much steeper position using totally different muscle groups) my speed is WAY up. A tri bike will put you in a much more aerodynamic position assuming you are able to get in that position and are fit in a tri position rather than a road position. Though the tri position may temporarily put you in a less powerful position, if you are fitted correctly the aerodynamic benefit will outweigh the lost power. To put it another way, you will be able to ride much faster or just as fast at the very least while putting out less power. So even if a new bike will take a little while to get accustomed to you will still likely be faster due to aerodynamic gains. Of course, everyone is different and you might take longer to adapt. I do agree that if you think you want to get a tri bike and have a race within the next 4-5 months you might as well go ahead and spring for it and give yourself as much time to adapt as possible.
To answer the OP’s question… I train on my tri bike pretty much all of the time unless I’m riding in the city. I don’t really get having one bike to train on and one bike to race on. Tri bikes aren’t that fragile and you might as well ride it. I would be more concerned about racing on a bike I hadn’t ridden much because you will likely get surprised by some mechanical issue that pops up unexpectadly on race day.
Bizarre, as it may seem I know for a fact, that their are people on this board who have a training P3C and a racing P3C!! I think that collectively, it’s folks like this that are keeping the bike business going despite the economic turmoil out there!!
or do you only have a entry/mid bike and that is the bike that you train and race on?
Pretty much sums up my situation. My alloy P2 serves me pretty well in training, goes ok in racing, and doubles as a converted road bike for about 5 months in the off-season. Can’t see myself changing anytime soon…
I have a mid-level tri-bike that does everything. I’ve had multiple bikes in use for almost 15 years - until last year. It always seemed that there was always a bike that “needed” something - brake pads, der. adjustment, a tube replaced, etc. Now I just have one steed to take care of. I have 3 kids, I need the time to fix their bikes.
I have a ‘workhorse’ race bike (p2sl) and a ‘nice’ everyday training (road) bike (spec. tarmac). The way I see it, if I can only have one expensive carbon bike, it should be the one I ride every day, not the one I ride occasionally on weekends and at races. I certainly don’t believe that I’m at any sort of disadvantage because I’m on an aluminum bike on race day. I firmly believe that if you’re after a faster bike split, your best strategy is to pedal harder.
I’ve been at tris for just under a year and skipped the whole road bike thing and went straight to a tri bike (Felt b12). It took a bit to get used to the aero bars, but as it’s all I know, I don’t have the same issues (for the most part) as people who switch bikes and then can’t get comfortbale. The downside is when I do group rides (very infrequent), I have to ride out of the aero bars and to me that’s very uncomfortable.
I don’t like that view at all and I’ll tell you why.
Core strength - the article insinuates that core strength requirements are greater in a tri-bike, when in fact they are not. The only place you will likely have more stress is the neck. Lower back stress is somewhat relieved when supporting your torso skeletally and the actual core strength and endurance demands of steady state triathlon riding compared to road racing are much less. Power is lower and more constant.
Specific leg strength - the results of the author’s thought experiments are way overblown as in “Think what would happen if you train on 170mm cranks (road racing standard), then switch to 175 (TT standard) before a race” Well I thought about and I think very little would happen. Most people won’t even notice a 2.5mm change, so 5mm would be minimal at best. The author concludes this thought experiment with “it takes months to adjust that, you will lose the feel for the bike which is related to performance.”
And comparing 73 degrees to 78 degrees “you are using totally different muscles” Really? Totally different? I think that closer to reality might be I am using my quads and my hamstrings in both positions with the balance changing slightly in moving between seat angles. But totally different muscles? It’s not like I pedal with my arms when I move forward. We are still using our legs here right?
Handling - the author says…well he says more stuff I don’t really feel the need to dispute but this is not an article you want to found your bike knowledge upon.
So yeah road bike and tri bikes may recruit muscles differently, I never said they didn’t. Just not very differently and it doesn’t really matter.
I do almost all my outdoor riding on my tri bike. At the moment (and for the last two season), I don’t have race wheels so I train on exactly what I race on. It’s an old 650c titanium Mongoose frame that I bought off ebay in 2007. I built it up on the cheap (old nine speed, etc.), but it’s a pretty solid bike. I’m looking at some used HED3s in the very near future and I’ll keep them in the closet until race day. However, I recently bought a used Trek U.S. Postal 5200 off ebay that’s at the LBS right now getting tuned up. When I get it going, I’ll probably do a lot of riding on it. I also have an old Cannondale road bike that I bought for $120 six years ago that I keep mated to the trainer. With all that being said, I would have no qualms at all about training every day on a super duper race bike. If I had a P4, I’d ride it every day. I’d leave the race wheels (assuming I could afford them after buying such a fancy bike) at home and ride on some bombproof training wheels. The only reason I bought the Trek is like having a road bike around and I didn’t want to break the bank on a new one. Picked it up for less than $500.
