Bike types



tortoise

New Member
Aug 2, 2004
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2 hopefully not too dumb questions.....

1. What is the difference between bikes advertised as "triathlon" bikes, road bikes and criterion bikes???

2. Why do only triathletes generally use tri-bars? Are they not allowed in road races, or is there another reason??

Thanks
 
tortoise wrote:
> 2 hopefully not too dumb questions.....
>
> 1. What is the difference between bikes advertised as "triathlon"
> bikes, road bikes and criterion bikes???
>
> 2. Why do only triathletes generally use tri-bars? Are they not allowed
> in road races, or is there another reason??
>
> Thanks
>
>

Oh **** here comes the triathlete bagging. Hippy/Dutch begone from this
thread.

1, A cheap triathlon bike is basically any roadie with a set of aero
bars bolted on. A good one will have the aero bars with gear-levers
inside so you can change gears while in the aero position.

2, Here's where the cyclists love to bag the triathletes. From the aero
bars you have minimal control for steering and no access to brakes. So
they're no good for riding in a pack. And really, unless you're the lead
rider they wouldn't make much difference anyway. But if you're on your
own in a non-draft tri they can make a difference, I found about a
2-3kph difference depending on the wind.

DaveB
 
DaveB said:
tortoise wrote:
> 2 hopefully not too dumb questions.....
>
> 1. What is the difference between bikes advertised as "triathlon"
> bikes, road bikes and criterion bikes???
>
> 2. Why do only triathletes generally use tri-bars? Are they not allowed
> in road races, or is there another reason??
>
> Thanks
>
>

Oh **** here comes the triathlete bagging. Hippy/Dutch begone from this
thread.

1, A cheap triathlon bike is basically any roadie with a set of aero
bars bolted on. A good one will have the aero bars with gear-levers
inside so you can change gears while in the aero position.

2, Here's where the cyclists love to bag the triathletes. From the aero
bars you have minimal control for steering and no access to brakes. So
they're no good for riding in a pack. And really, unless you're the lead
rider they wouldn't make much difference anyway. But if you're on your
own in a non-draft tri they can make a difference, I found about a
2-3kph difference depending on the wind.

DaveB

... plus, a tri/time-trial bike has a steeper seat tube.
 
tortoise said:
2 hopefully not too dumb questions.....

To paraphrase Mr Garrison "There are no dumb questions, only dumb people".


tortoise said:
1. What is the difference between bikes advertised as "triathlon" bikes, road bikes and criterion bikes???

Triathlon bikes are optimised for aerodynamics like a time trial bike. It’s you & the bike against the wind.
Road bikes - A hundred years of tradition, and the UCI regulations :)
Criterion bikes - As for a road bike but optimised for getting around the typical sharp corners on a Crit course, ie maybe a higher bottom bracket & shorter wheelbase?


tortoise said:
2. Why do only triathletes generally use tri-bars? Are they not allowed in road races, or is there another reason??

Thanks

UCI rules don’t allow Tri bars in multi start race stages.
 
"ritcho" <[email protected]
> DaveB Wrote:
> > tortoise wrote:
> > > 2 hopefully not too dumb questions.....


There are no dumb questions.. only dumb replies! ;-)

> > > 1. What is the difference between bikes advertised as "triathlon"
> > > bikes, road bikes and criterion bikes???
> > >

> > Oh **** here comes the triathlete bagging. Hippy/Dutch begone from
> > this thread.


Ooh.. looky and open invitation from Dave.. :)
I did actually let this thread go.. for a whole two replies.. but I
have useful info to add (maybe)..

> > 1, A cheap triathlon bike is basically any roadie with a set of aero
> > bars bolted on. A good one will have the aero bars with gear-levers
> > inside so you can change gears while in the aero position.


If you are just starting aerobars are totally optional. I've
never raced (sprint tri's) with 'em. That being said, they
would make a huge difference for long, flat-ish time trials.
Even roadies use 'em for TT's.. and the pro's were on
them for the Alpe D'Huez uphill TT stage of last year's
Tour de France..

> > they're no good for riding in a pack. And really, unless you're the
> > lead rider they wouldn't make much difference anyway. But if you're on

your
> > own in a non-draft tri they can make a difference, I found about a
> > 2-3kph difference depending on the wind.


I thought all tri's were non-draft with the exception of the Elites?

> .. plus, a tri/time-trial bike has a steeper seat tube.


and is designed to be as aero as possible - hence the 'bladed'
style "tubes" rather than more traditional cylinder tubing of
road bikes. Tri-spoke and disc wheels abound. Bigger gears
because TT's are generally done at a lower cadence (pedal
rpm) than road racing.

Google has plenty, given the right input:
http://www.bikeforums.net/archive/index.php/t-62514
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&c2coff=1&q=triathlon+aerodynamics

hippy
 
A purpose built criterium bike should have a higher bottom bracket as
already mentioned so you don't clip your pedal on the ground during tight
cornering. If you want to go & check a standard road bikes is in the region
of 10 1/2" (bottom bracket axle to ground) , a good crit bike closer to 11".
Steve @ IDEAL
http://au.store.yahoo.com/idealcycles/
 
<[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> A purpose built criterium bike should have a higher bottom bracket as
> already mentioned so you don't clip your pedal on the ground during tight
> cornering. If you want to go & check a standard road bikes is in the

region
> of 10 1/2" (bottom bracket axle to ground) , a good crit bike closer to

11".
> Steve @ IDEAL
> http://au.store.yahoo.com/idealcycles/
>
>
>


And a track bike has a higher bottom bracket on the right side than on the
left side so you scrape the right pedal on the steep banking.

Marty
 
"Marty Wallace" <[email protected]
> <[email protected]> wrote in message

news:[email protected]...
> > A purpose built criterium bike should have a higher bottom bracket as
> > already mentioned so you don't clip your pedal on the ground during

tight
> > cornering. If you want to go & check a standard road bikes is in the

> region
> > of 10 1/2" (bottom bracket axle to ground) , a good crit bike closer to

> 11".
> > Steve @ IDEAL
> > http://au.store.yahoo.com/idealcycles/
> >

>
> And a track bike has a higher bottom bracket on the right side than on the
> left side so you scrape the right pedal on the steep banking.


Put the bottle down Marty and back away from the keyboard.. :-D

hippy
now listening to: Iva Davies - The Ghost of Time
ah ****! should be sleeping!
 
ritcho wrote:
>
> DaveB Wrote:
> > tortoise wrote:
> > > 2 hopefully not too dumb questions.....
> > >
> > > 1. What is the difference between bikes advertised as "triathlon"
> > > bikes, road bikes and criterion bikes???
> > >
> > > 2. Why do only triathletes generally use tri-bars? Are they not

> > allowed
> > > in road races, or is there another reason??
> > >
> > > Thanks
> > >
> > >

> > Oh **** here comes the triathlete bagging. Hippy/Dutch begone from
> > this
> > thread.
> >
> > 1, A cheap triathlon bike is basically any roadie with a set of aero
> > bars bolted on. A good one will have the aero bars with gear-levers
> > inside so you can change gears while in the aero position.
> >
> > 2, Here's where the cyclists love to bag the triathletes. From the
> > aero
> > bars you have minimal control for steering and no access to brakes. So
> > they're no good for riding in a pack. And really, unless you're the
> > lead
> > rider they wouldn't make much difference anyway. But if you're on your
> > own in a non-draft tri they can make a difference, I found about a
> > 2-3kph difference depending on the wind.
> >
> > DaveB

>
> .. plus, a tri/time-trial bike has a steeper seat tube.


Yep, it's true, triathlon bikes have different geometry. So you can have
a tri-bike with no tri-bars, but why would you want to?

T
 

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