Having moved from an area with great gravel ride options (triangle area of NC) to an area with none has been an adjustment. I also learned “trail” to some people means entirely different to others. PSA- don’t call the paved “trail” system in Cincinnati area a greenway or those are fighting words apparently. In NC a “trail” = non paved so we call greenway the paved portion of it. Funny experience with that
Gravel bike + road wheels/tires + clip on aerobars is likely 95% as fast as a TT bike. The reality though is that aerobars are enough of a pain in the rear to take on/off (slipping is a major issue) that I’ve never seen anyone do it for more than like a year. I slapped on aerobars on my road bike for most of a year when my TT bike broke, and with 88/88 wheels it was very, very close to my PremierbikeTT which had optimized everything.
1 Like
There’s a strong argument one of the current crop of aero gravel or “all road” bikes with road wheels and clip ons is a better option than a current aero road bike with clip ons, provided you can fit big enough front gearing. The longer front centres and wheelbases and slacker head angles make them less twitchy on the aero bars.
Then just choose tri courses that have more climbing and corners where a TT bike has less of an advantage.
Welcome to the sport, and congratz on your first Oly!
I’d stick with the road bike for now; just add some clipon aero bars. I’d go with some highly adjustable ones like the Profile Sonic Ergos Amazon.com since you are still dialing in your position.
I probably do 80% of my training on my road bike. Road bikes just handle better, climb better, corner better, sprint better, and are generally more fun to ride unless you are going fast in a straight line. You have to spend time in aero to get comfortable/powerful in that position for the duration of a race, so I’ll up my time on the tri bike leading up to races.
There are lots of upgrades that you can do to your existing bike (ex. 60mm carbon wheels, better tires/tubes, chain waxing, etc.) that will make you faster, and will carry over to a tri bike when you make the leap. There are also things like aero helmets and tri suits that will add as much speed as upgrading your bike frame.
2 Likes
This is the greenway I was referring to - the one YOU brought up. I’d never train on such a path with all that ‘all over the trail’ as per your own words. Tt bike vs roadie has zero to do with this.
Op has to keep in mind that:
If he gets a road bike he has to get one with old school round handlebars. No flat aero ones.
Or else aerobars won’t fit.
It’s also a royal pain to install aerobars properly. They often slip at inopportune moments, and you can only tighten so much before they break on your handlebar cracks. Not as easy as it
Sounds to swap em in and out - nobody I knows does this as a result.
I still strongly recommend a tribike for a budding triathlete. If your unsure you’ll even continue in the sport, then road bike.
1 Like