GCN started a cheap TT bike project few weeks ago. I decided to do the same few month ago, but wanted a modern TT bike with enough clearance to fit wide rims with 25mm tubeless and an accurate left/right powermeter crankset.I have taking time to choose each part because i wanted second hand lightly used or in very good conditions. I just have completed my TT superbike on a budget yesterday. Maybe it will give you some ideas so i share you my build and you could post your project if you have done the same.
Felt AR5 frameset 550$
Bontrager Aeolus 7 TLR wheelset 750$
Wheelcover aerojacket 100$
Captain america wheel decal (friend, gratis
Verve infocrank powermeter 250$
Etap TT (rear der. + blipbox + clic + blips 500$
Sram TT brake 30$
Shimano 105 direct mount caliper 50$
Profile design aeria ultimate stem 40$
Zipp vuka bull slope base bar 100$
Zipp vuka clip on 80$
Time Xpro 12 pedals 80$
Elite crono cx bottle set 20$
Fizik arione tri k5 40$
Chain catcher 20$
Conti GP5000 TL 25mm 80$
Total 2690$
Last upgrade will be to buy an aero chainring, a tririg omega X or TRP T860 front brake, and the profile design aeria hydration system to match the stem
Very stealthy and the an Omega X will clean up the front end. I have been a fan of those brake levers for a number of years as they work fine and aesthetically I prefer them over modern levers which tend to be much larger.
How do you find the handling? I’ve gone the route of building a TT bike using an undersized road frame as well (this was way back before good TT bikes were as common as they are now), and I found the handling to be OK, but a bit sketchy on fast descents and the toe overlap made 180 turnarounds a little more eventful than they should be.
To answer the handling : it was a choice to undersize the frame. With the vuka bull slope, and the undersize frame, i have exactly the same position when i corner that i do on crits with my road bike. I wanted to replicate the “hand in the drop” position, because i was a roadie before being a triathlete. So i feel very confident. The other reason is that i have a short torso and long legs. But today, with all hardware available, you can achieve a very “handling friendly” position with different frame size, just playing with base bar slope, stem lengh, armpad raisers. I don’t do long distance tri, but i do some M, S (no draft events) and road time trial, so i wanted a nervous and agressive bike.
Eric, you’re right, so nice the Fizik arione tri is !! You can move forward when needed, go back on climb, and extra padding is really nice on the nose.
I bought separate. I have found rear derailleur for 200, blipbox for 180 and clic and blips for 120. I don’t have front derailleur yet, want to try 1x chainring.
Well done. Similar in price to my “budget superbike” build a few years ago though I certainly didn’t have etap. Nice work on piecing that together at that cost. The OmegaX and the PD Hydration kit will make that front end 10x better as well. I really feel like that’s the true superbike conversion part.
A lot of triathlete are saying very good things about the OmegaX. Here in europe it’s hard to find so we have to order directly on tririg website and pay for import taxes. Maybe wattshop in the UK has the OmegaX.
For the aeria hydration, i have seen in april (facebook video "How much fast is the aeria HSF) a test in velodrome with a women on a Cervelo P3 or P5, don’t remember exactly, but it was (they said) 7 watts saved. They just didn’t said the speed and power test protocole.
ok for the $ before next time !