Say you do most of your bike miles on a road bike, but then race on your 78 deg. tri bike with aero bars etc etc.
How long does it take for your body to adapt to your tri/race bike?
I have done a few miles on a road bike and then hopped on a tri bike and the muscles used, position and handling are VERY different. Has there been any studies on this or mostly anecdotal findings?
Wouldnt there be some detriment to doing 80+% of your bike miles on a roadie then hopping on a tri bike for the 20% and the race in a 70.3 or Ironman?
Most folks I know train most of the time on a road bike. Takes me all of oh…five seconds to get used to the tri bike - presuming of course that it is well fit and you are able to get into position and are flexible enough to ride the bike the way you have it set. Most folks I see are not even able to ride their own bikes (due to poor fit)…but, that is another story.
At the end of the day, if the bike fits you - get on and ride, be it a road bike or a tri/TT bike.
Those are probably close to the percentages I use… winter time my Tri/TT bike doesn’t have clearance for fat tires & fenders (and I’d be a wuss about thrashing a $3K bike int he rain anyway), and in the summer time most of the longer rides are with larger groups or event rides where tri-bikes are discouraged if not verboten due to the potential liability of trying to ride aerobars in a crowd with traffic and all.
I have to believe you need to put in hours on the TT bike. If this is not the case I would sure like to hear it because the truth is I really have no desire to ride my TT bike on the open roads where I live-I feel much safer and in control on the road bike ( I don’t understand how folks ride in the aero position on secondary roads going past parked cars, through towns, lights etc)…
I ride an old mountain bike in the snow and salt, a nice one on the trails , a cyclocross bike in the fall, a road bike for about 60% of my training, race tt bike. I think the more bikes you ride the easier the transition is both physically and mentally.
Tour de france riders ride a thousand miles on a road bike and then hop on a time trial bike and do just fine.
I have never heard coaches or riders talk about different muscle fibers being engaged in different positions.
I would ride a few 80-100 milers BY YOURSELF on your tt bike to get your back used to it. also only ride the tt bike 2-3 weeks before your ironman/A race
As the other guy said do not ride your tri-bike in a pack of riders. We have had a few accidents with injuries here because of this.