Road Bike vs Tri Bike training

I'm relatively new to cycling. I bought a tri bike 8 months ago because I was a runner/swimmer and wanted to get into triathlon. However, I'm starting to dig riding more than the other skills. In my last duathlon, I did really well in the bike portion as only 8 other riders beat me whereas an average of 73 runners had better times in the run portions of the duathlon, and I thought running was my strength.

I want to start cyling more but want to know if I'd be at a disadvantage on a tri bike. I'm 220lbs and hammer the pedals pretty good but lose my power when I'm in aero. My longest tri this season will be Olympic and maybe 1/2 IM. I'm thinking of selling the tri bike and buying a road bike.

Any science behind the power and aero benefits? I tried a search but did not find anything.

Any advice would be appreciated.

thanks

If you race on a tri-bike in an aero position then train in that position. You'll gradually become more effecient in that tucked aero position the more you train in it.

You say that you lose power - but do you actually go slower? The key is the speed, not necessarily putting out more watts.

If you are only competing in triathlons and duathlons, keep your aero bike. You will be most efficient in that position if you train in that position most or all of the time. If you want to do other sorts of riding, e.g., longer rides for fun, centuries, whatever, then get a road bike for those but still train on the aero bike. There is some training benefit crossover from one to the other for sure but you are best off training in the position that you are going to race in.

thanks folks. I'm thinking that I like cycling better than triathlon but after having invested into a tri bike will suck it up for the summer until the road bikes go on sale this fall/winter. Being a relative newbie and feeling the loss of power while in aero made me wonder but I guess there is lots of benefit in tri to being aero. Plus, if you saw what my "aero" position looked like being 5'11, 220 with size 48 shoulders, lack of flexibility you'd all laugh. I had to custom make my pads onto my aero bars since I could not get my forearms to rest comfortably on them. I'm a mess but trying to figure things out... thanks again.

If it helps, this is one of the best articles I've read on tri bike fit:

http://www.slowtwitch.com/mainheadin...r/bikefit.html

It's long and detailed, but worth a read if you'd like to make the most of your investment in the bike.

Berend

A couple of years ago I was at 220 and I'm also 5'11" - but I was more the skinny type with a huge gut and random fat elsewhere. I'm kinda 1/2 way to getting back to racing weight, which used to be in the 145 range. It'll take some time but if I get most of the way it'll be worth the effort.... But, I can understand your aero-endevour. Just get as comfy as you can with your elbows somewhere infront of your legs and find someway to tuck your head down within the profile of your body whilst maintaining sufficient forward visablility.

Part of problem you're having is that you're new to this position the other part is due to your size. You could kill two birds with one stone and find a position that acceptable for a couple of hours and then plenty of hours in at a good tempo pace. You get used to the bike and with careful eating you'll shed quite a few pounds too.

Good luck.