Need Advice Re: Tri Bike...Brands, Dos, Donts, etc..



I 2 was in the same predicament not long ago, and I ended up going for a road bike after much discusion with various people who are invovled in the sport of triathlon. I chose a Cannondale R1000, very sweet bike, anyway back to the point, for raceing purposes, I purchased another set of bars with the end shifters and just change them over when I want to race, might seem like a pain in the **** but it only takes about 20 mins to do after you've done it the first time and have the cable lengths correct. I havn't had any dramas with this yet. Also you could backwards face your seatpost to get a more aerodynamic stance if need be.

If you plan on training on your bike in a group of people I know that on some of the group rides around here they dont like people joining in if they have tri specific bikes as they are more dangerous. ( With respect to the position of the brakes in relation to where your hands are when in rideing position )
 
My $.02 is this: I have a good tri bike (Cervelo P3) it's great for races, but it's my only bike, and tri bikes have comfort issues. If I had to buy only one bike again, it would be a road bike. Why, comfort means you will ride more miles, and race better as a result. Besides, there is very little aero difference between the TT position and the bottom of the handlebars of a road bike IMHO.
 
hashde said:
My $.02 is this: I have a good tri bike (Cervelo P3) it's great for races, but it's my only bike, and tri bikes have comfort issues. If I had to buy only one bike again, it would be a road bike. Why, comfort means you will ride more miles, and race better as a result. Besides, there is very little aero difference between the TT position and the bottom of the handlebars of a road bike IMHO.
I have a road bike that I outfitted for use as both a road racer and tt bike. I have a set of Aero bars on my bike that allow me to get into the tt position when I am in that mode, although I am probably going to keep my current handlebar setup and will never consider bar-end shifters. I also have a 700cc Renn 575 disc that I use when I am in TT mode.

For all those who have never seen a triathlete roadie, here's a good example....

http://rennmultisport.com/photos/IMG_0046.jpg

This isn't me! ;)
 
lohsnest said:
I have a road bike that I outfitted for use as both a road racer and tt bike. I have a set of Aero bars on my bike that allow me to get into the tt position when I am in that mode, although I am probably going to keep my current handlebar setup and will never consider bar-end shifters. I also have a 700cc Renn 575 disc that I use when I am in TT mode.

For all those who have never seen a triathlete roadie, here's a good example....

http://rennmultisport.com/photos/IMG_0046.jpg

This isn't me! ;)
That pic is exactly what I want to do with a Cervelo P3Carbon.

~A
 
hashde said:
My $.02 is this: I have a good tri bike (Cervelo P3) it's great for races, but it's my only bike, and tri bikes have comfort issues. If I had to buy only one bike again, it would be a road bike. Why, comfort means you will ride more miles, and race better as a result. Besides, there is very little aero difference between the TT position and the bottom of the handlebars of a road bike IMHO.
did you even get a professional fitting on that P3C? It might be $20-300 dollars for a good FIST fitting, but worth its weight over and over again.
 
OCRoadie said:
As far as Motobecane goes, they used to be a great manufacturer, I have a friend that recently bought one, and I don't think too highly of it.
It should be noted that the Motobecanes sold today have no connection whatsoever with the Motobecanes of former glory.

The original French manufacturer Motobecane went into bancrupcy in the 80's. The Motobecanes made since then are Chinese and Taiwanese bikes with the "Motobecane" name pasted on them by Motobecane USA, a company with no connection to the old French company. The even have the guts to print "since 1923" on their logo, which is definately misleading!