Road bike v Tri bike

As best I can see, the only difference in a Tri bike over a conventional Road bike is the aero bars. Am I correct?

Are there road riders out there with aero bars who don't do triathalons who just prefer the aero bars?

Why are aero bars used so extensively in Tris and Time Trials, but not in usual Road riding?

I think there's also a gearing issue - I think tri bikes come with "corncob" cassettes, whereas most road bikes have a larger spread of gears.

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2004 Trek 1000
2005 Giant Elwood
ACE Folding Bicycle

Aero bars are illegal in road racing and many group rides won't let people with aero bars ride. Frame geometry and design also differs. They often times have more surface area on the sides and an airfoil-type shape. Once again, not legal in road racing because a cross wind can make you lose control easier. Disc and tri-spoke wheels cut down wind resistance in the front to make you faster, but cross wind is the issue that keeps them illegal in road racing, again.

Generaly there is a difference in frame geometry and stiffness. They are meant to be fast.

Ride on.

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"Aut inveniam viam aut faciam." (I will either find a way or make one.)

The following link has a pretty good explanation of the principle differences between a road bike and a triathlon specific one; as well as a discussion of some of the more common misconceptions and the limitations of tri-geometry:

http://www.bikesportmichigan.com/bikes/difference.shtml

And so the pupil continues to learn...

Thanks all...

My LBS had a special on the Felt S32 and it looks magic. Good price for a bike with ultegra rd, 105 fd and dura-ace shifters on the aero bars.

The main disadvantage for me would be hills... I will be tackling a few short hills no matter if its riding to work n back or a pleasure ride as the short steep hills are near my house...

If you want a Road Bike with Aero bars look at the Felt T23, the Olympic Distance Tri Bike, it is designed for drafting; http://www.feltbicycles.com/felt2006...ATHLON/t23.php

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Cheers,
George.

Also, if I am not mistaken there are even differences in the geometry between TT bikes and Tri bikes as tri's are made with the fact that you have to get off of the bike and run in mind?


plus what ToffoIsMe said - you won't be welcome in too many groups if you are using aerobars- too dangerous

The geometry thing is usually a steeper seat tube angle (76-78 degrees) compared to a road bike that's around 72-74. also a shallow head tube. These changes allow you to get into a aero position. On my road bike with clip ons and a 0 setback seatpost i still can not get my back flat enough. I would need to move my seat more forward, a little higher, and drop my handlebars more (but they are already no spacers), so i would need a fast forward seatpost and a downward sloping stem. I'm thinking i'll just get a TT frame and build it up so i can get in the right position for TT's.

If you primarily do road riding and want to do an occasional tri or TT a road bike is the way to go. A dedicated Tri/TT bike is for the cyclist that races those types of races frequently and thus also needs to train in that body position. For general riding (especially in groups), the disadvantages of the Tri/TT geometry (worse handling, brakes not as accessible, less comfortable) are not likely offset by the slight increase in speed when riding in the full aero tuck. The Tri/TT geometry is also a disadvantage on steep hills.

I also think a Tri bike is the way to go for someone who does all of their rides alone, and might want to do a Tri or TT every once in a while, but has no visions of doing a RR or Crit. When you ride alone it doesn't matter much how fast you can take a corner. The reason a Tri bike has the steeper geometry is so that you can get into the aero position more comfortably than a road bike with clip-ons, it opens up the hip angle.

I'm turning 40 in Sept and certainly have no aspirations of any cycling future other than fitness. I certainly ride alone...

I got the idea to put a pair of Aero Bars on my Flat Bar road Bike. With the barends and the Aero's it kinda looks like a TT bike, but is actually totally different. I've had mixed results..

The thing with Aero bars is their handling is crap..they are so close together, and the brakes are so far away, that if something suddenly jumps out at you, more likely then not you will lose control and crash. That happened to me yesterday; I was riding along at about 25mph on the aeros through a bend along side a road. Traffic forced me about as far up against the curb as possible..and then I hit a sand pit on the side of the road that I didn't see. The tire digs in, shoots off to the right, next thing I know I'm zig zaging wildly and forced to run myself into the curb so I could land on the sand and not get hit by a car.

BUT, there is nothing like being able to rest on those pads on a straight away and relieve some of that nasty hand stress. It also feels good to just cut into the wind and really go fast. I've learned, though, to stay off the Aeros on roads that may have irregularities, debris, sand, ect..

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Gameing, Anime and Bicycling...what more do you need from life?

So why is there a feltracing.com site and a feltbicycles.com site with different bikes?

One is for the European market, the other the USA market.

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Cheers,
George.