Recommended bike

[Adrian]

Dear All,

I'm a total newcomer to Triathlon (but a keen runner and MTBer). I'm
looking for a road bike suitable for triathlon use and am considering a
Merida 903 - £650 from wiggle.co.uk.

Would this bike be a good choice, or has anyone got any better
suggestions (around this sort of price, give or take a bit)?

Thanks for any help.

Adrian

 

[trimark]

Adrian wrote:
> I'm a total newcomer to Triathlon (but a keen runner and MTBer). I'm
> looking for a road bike suitable for triathlon use and am considering a
> Merida 903 - £650 from wiggle.co.uk.

Adrian wiggle does good prices and good postal service. However,
depending on what your objectives are for triathlon and how much you
have to spend there are lots of other and possibly better options.

All the UK Tri shops/distributors do triathlon starter packs which
include bikes, helmets, shoes, swim trunks, etc. If you have one local
thsi would be a great option as you can take it back for service,
fitting advice etc. Wiggle won't give you any of this.

I you want to give more of an idea on what sort of money you are
prepared to spend, say between 500-1000, less than £500??? etc. we can
suggest some alternatives. For example, why wouldn't you buy the
Quintana Roo Trueno Bike - 04 for £599 ??

If you want to get more opinions and local advice you might want to
wander over to http://www.tritalk.co.uk/forums/viewforum.php?f=1

++Mark.

 

[Adrian]

Thanks for your comments Mark, I'd say my maximum bike budget is £1000
including shoes, pedals, clothing etc.

I don't know of any triathlon specialists in my area, but I'll do some
research, it would be great if there is one (I live near Stoke).

I'll visit the site you suggest.

Cheers again,

Adrian

 

[trimark]

Adrian wrote:
> Dear All,
>
> I'm a total newcomer to Triathlon (but a keen runner and MTBer). I'm
> looking for a road bike suitable for triathlon use and am considering a
> Merida 903 - £650 from wiggle.co.uk.
>
> Would this bike be a good choice, or has anyone got any better
> suggestions (around this sort of price, give or take a bit)?

As an example of a total triathlon package have a look at TotalFitness
Nottingham, a drive I know from Stoke, but it at least shows whats
available.
http://www.tfn.uk.com/acatalog/copy_of_Triathlon_packages.html

You can get a very reasonable starter package and then replace parts
over time. If you don't think you'll do any open water events a wetsuit
isn't really needed. But I bet after you've done a couple of pool tri's
you'll be convinced you need to go for an open water race especially
since these are the ones everyone talks about and the excitement is
around.

You can though rent a wetsuit for £25 per year+ postage(thats $40 for
our US Readers) from Tri-UK down in Yeovil they just have a pretty
rigorous set of T&CS. So buying one as part of a package is a good
option.

A good place to find shops etc. for the UK scene is to take a look at
the links page on Henry Budgetts Triathletes-uk website
http://www.triathletes-uk.org

Don't forget to try out Google local as well using your town or village
and increasing the distance to find places
http://local.google.co.uk/lochp

Enjoy!