I own a tri shop in New York that does not sell bikes, so a lot of people turn to us for advice about what bike to buy because our recommendations are 100% neutral.
Remember that after you buy your bike there’s a lot more equipment you’ll need or want. (See the list at the end of this post). All that’s going to run at least an extra $400-$600, probably more. You also need running and swimming gear which might include a wetsuit. That’s money you need to subtract from your total triathlon budget before you buy the bike. Bike shops don’t tell you about all those extras until after you’ve spent your entire budget on the bike.
Competing at your level, getting a triathlon specific bike makes sense. However, and this is very important, a Tri bike is your second bike. Every triathlete needs a road bike, not every triathlete needs a tri bike. You’ll end up doing a lot of your training on your road bike, and your Tri or TT specific training on your Tri bike. You’ll also use your road bike for group rides and more casual riding.
So you need to figure out how much money you have available to invest in the sport. Then figure out what equipment you need that you don’t have yet and subtract that out. Then figure out what you’ll have to spend to get your road bike in decent shape and to learn how to take good care of it. After all that, you’ll have your budget for a Tri bike. If you’ve got at least $1500 available, it’s worth getting a tri specific bike.
If you are going to get a tri specific bike, the measurements are VERY important. Don’t just get a bike that’t the right size for you, because frame size is just teh seat tuve length. You care about more than that one dimension – you need the seat tube angle, the top tube length, and the height of the headset crown to all be correct for your optimal position. Don’t just buy the Cervelo or the Felt or whatever else your LBS has in stock.
First, the seat tube length + seatpost length controls how far your pelvis is from the pedals. The ideal is mostly a function of the length of your bones, although stronger cyclists can tolerate more leg extention, which translates to a higher saddle.
Then you have to worry about finding your most powerful hip angle. Here’s what I mean: sit on your bike totally upright riding with no hands and you’ll output a certain amount of power. Now lean forward absolutely as far as you can go with your hands in the drops and you’ll output a different amount of power. Those are the extremes of your hip angle. Somewhere inbetween is your maximum power and comfort, and it’ll take you a while to find it. Professional bike fitters will put you on a fitting bike and a computrainer, and will vary the hip angle as you ride and graph your power output. But as your muscles develop and your recruitment patterns change, your ideal hip angle will change. Likewise, in longer races some of your muscles will fatigue before others, so your ideal angle will be different for long vs short rides. That’s what makes bike positioning an art.
Once you know the hip angle you want to aim for, you can look at the combination of effective seat tube angle and handlebar height. If your hip angle stays the same and you move the saddle forward, the handlebars need to be lower and further forward. The further forward your bike will let you move the saddle, the more aggressive and aerodynamic your position will be. But you have to be careful to keep your power output the same by keeping your hip angle the same – you literally want to rotate your whole body in space around your feet without changing your hip angle. Many triathletes will ride right on the nose of a very long saddle like the Arionne, but for long races you may find that uncomfortable to say the least. You also have to be worried about the clearance between the tops of your knees and the bottoms of your elbows – the lower your front and the tighter your hip angle the more likely you’ll bang your elbows into your knees.
It’s only once you get the saddle in the right place and the handlebars in the right place that you can determine the right top tube length. The bike that offers a geometry that accomodates those dimensions is the right bike for you. A professional bike fitter, with a fitting bike that allows him/her to vary the geometry while you ride, is the best way to do this analysis. Once you’ve done that, you’ll know the seat tube length and top tube length to look for, and only then should you start shopping for a bike.
Hope that helps a little. Attached is a short list of other essentials for triathlon that you should think about as you do your budgeting.
“What else do I need for triathlons besides the bike?”
Here’s a partial list:
Must haves: Helmet Tri shorts Sports Bra(s) Sunglasses (shatter resistant) Multitool Tire levers Spare tubes Saddle bag Pump that mounts on your bike frame or CO2 cartridge systemWater bottle cages Running shoes Wristwatch with stopwatchVery nice to also have Cycling Shorts Tri specific top Clipless Pedals Cycling Shoes Aerobars Professional bike fitting Cycling computer Waterproof jacket Wetsuit Runner’s Cap Indoor bike trainer Gym membership
Lee Silverman
JackRabbit Sports
Park Slope, Brooklyn