Tri or Road bike

[Anonymous]

I am new to triathlons and would like to purchase a nice bike. I am considering a tri bike. For those that have a tri bike, are you happy riding your bike outside of triathlons?

[Anonymous]

I think it depends on how long you plan to stick with triathlons and how many you plan to compete in. Unless you will devote a lot of time to races, you should seriously consider buying a road bike. Assuming you are a person who likes riding, you will likely get a lot more enjoyment out of it because road bikes are configured for much broader usage -- i.e., group rides, long rides with hills, really any ride where you don't want/need to use aerobars. Also, generally speaking, you can get much more bang for your buck buying a road bike. At the very least, I would wait some time and do a few triathlons before you make the expensive commitment to buy a tri bike.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think it depends on how long you plan to stick with triathlons and how many you plan to compete in. Unless you will devote a lot of time to races, you should seriously consider buying a road bike. Assuming you are a person who likes riding, you will likely get a lot more enjoyment out of it because road bikes are configured for much broader usage -- i.e., group rides, long rides with hills, really any ride where you don't want/need to use aerobars. Also, generally speaking, you can get much more bang for your buck buying a road bike. At the very least, I would wait some time and do a few triathlons before you make the expensive commitment to buy a tri bike.

+1. This is good advice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it depends on how long you plan to stick with triathlons and how many you plan to compete in. Unless you will devote a lot of time to races, you should seriously consider buying a road bike. Assuming you are a person who likes riding, you will likely get a lot more enjoyment out of it because road bikes are configured for much broader usage -- i.e., group rides, long rides with hills, really any ride where you don't want/need to use aerobars. Also, generally speaking, you can get much more bang for your buck buying a road bike. At the very least, I would wait some time and do a few triathlons before you make the expensive commitment to buy a tri bike.

+1. This is good advice.

I agree. Also it depends on where you ride- mostly flats or hills for example.

[Anonymous]

I have both. If I could only have one bike, I would get a road bike - you are not going to save much time in the triathlon with aerodynamics from the tri-bike. Also, I find it hard to ride in an aero position (hands on shifters and off brakes) in this area because the roads/paths are too crowded, so I use my road bike 95% of the time.

[Anonymous]

I've been doing triathlons for 6 or 7 years and have never had a tri bike. I'm very happy I have a (great but not awesome) road bike, as it's more versatile. I bought it @5 years ago for @$1,600. Someday maybe I'll get a tri bike too. My advice is to get a nice road bike first -- get it carefully fitted at one of the area shops that carry high-end road bikes. All the good bike shops will do the fitting as part of selling you the bike. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

My DH is a serious (but amateur) triathlete. He does Olympic distance and he's strong enough to have qualified for Nationals.

He used a road bike for a number of years. He wanted to make sure he was fully invested in the sport before splurging on a tri bike.

Apparently, the tri bike was a serious undertaking. He went to this guy who's known in the area for a bike fitting, and the guy refused to fit him on a tri bike until he could touch his toes. After DH fixed that, this guy helped him look at all of the geometry to find the best fit. DH's bike came from a business in Maryland that sells older-season models at a discount.

My point is ... might be worth getting a road bike until you know how involved you want to be and if a tri bike suits your needs. Do you know about the D.C. Tri Club? (Or if there's a similar club near you if you're not local.) That club has a huge social network and people give great advice. Some also sell bikes; that's how DH got his road bike.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have both. If I could only have one bike, I would get a road bike - you are not going to save much time in the triathlon with aerodynamics from the tri-bike. Also, I find it hard to ride in an aero position (hands on shifters and off brakes) in this area because the roads/paths are too crowded, so I use my road bike 95% of the time.

I agree.
Unless you have a lot of spare time to drive out to more remote locations to ride, you will be deal with a lot of stopping and starting.
Also if you plan to do a lot of group rides, some of them will not allow tri bikes, so you will need a road bike.

Have you already registered for your first tri?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I agree.
Unless you have a lot of spare time to drive out to more remote locations to ride, you will be deal with a lot of stopping and starting.
Also if you plan to do a lot of group rides, some of them will not allow tri bikes, so you will need a road bike.

Have you already registered for your first tri?

Wait, what? I don't do fast group rides (I ride a hybrid, and I am not terribly fast on that) but I've never heard of this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I agree.
Unless you have a lot of spare time to drive out to more remote locations to ride, you will be deal with a lot of stopping and starting.
Also if you plan to do a lot of group rides, some of them will not allow tri bikes, so you will need a road bike.

Have you already registered for your first tri?

Wait, what? I don't do fast group rides (I ride a hybrid, and I am not terribly fast on that) but I've never heard of this.

PP you quoted here. I was probably too broad in my statement by saying "group rides." I don't mean just your local bike club out for a Sunday ride--that probably won't be a problem. I was talking about more organized "official" group rides like gran fondos.

[Anonymous]

Thanks everyone - bought a really nice carbon fiber road bike from a local shop. Spent way more than I was anticipating but I was surprised at how different the "nice" bikes felt compared to the regular bikes that I am used to. Can't wait to get out and ride.

[Anonymous]

Congrats & good luck! You can always add clip-on aerobars to your road bike. Your bike fitter can also make some adjustments to your saddle to help you get more aero. Just make sure you adjust it back after your race.