road bike vs. tri/time trial

SaintAndrew

hey cooldudes i'm at a point now where i'd like a bike for long road rides and i'm weighing out whether to get a road bike or a trial bike. i don't plan to race at all- just fitness. i see a lot of guys riding tri bikes around me, and i always thought they were homo's, but now i'm not so sure. i mean they are the fastest bikes, and i'd be riding mostly solo.

what do you guys get more use out of?

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sunnysang

What type of riding do you plan on doing? Dont expect to paceline with a tri bike and i can see it being a very lonely endeavor when riding the tri bike. I hate riding my roadbike by my self and always ride with groups any chance i get, i cant imagine the boredom of only having a tri bike (sorry to all you tri freaks out there). And just cause you buy a road bike doesnt make you obligated to do races. Luckily in my town there are 4 different road clubs and a tri club soo there is something for everyone. I'd see what your town has and decide accordingly.

daveryanwyoming

I do three to four rides per week on the road bike and one or two on the time trial bike. If I had to chose only one it would be the road bike hands down.

But unlike the previous poster I do most of my training solo and enjoy solo rides. Yeah the TT bike is very fast and it's fun to hold those kind of speeds but it's a lot less comfortable, a lot less versatile, and definitely a specialty bike.

You can always clip aero bars on your road bike if you want to do some time trials or just train in that position, that's a lot easier than limiting yourself to a single tt specific bike.

Good luck,
-Dave

POGATA

Do you ride on flat/hilly roads?

doggatas

If you are riding for fitness and dont plan to race a time trial, i would suggest a road bike as speed/time doesn't really matter....

SaintAndrew

the area i live is pretty flat. i can pick some rides with rolling hills, but nothing crazy (se michigan).

i actually prefer to ride solo though. i just like being able to ride as much or as little as i want and at whatever pace i want.

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kdelong

I do the same kind of riding that you want to do and I could not imagine being restricted to a TT bike. I tend to do longer rides, 50+ miles and the thought of riding only in the ultra-aero position of a tri-bike makes me cringe and send my back into spasms. Definitely get a road bike so that you can vary your position a little.

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toegnix

TT bikes are TT bikes because they're for TTs. They're typically more expensive and in some cases weigh MORE than a similar size road bike because they trade some weight for aero-ness.

Unlesss you're racing against the clock in a TT, you want a road bike.