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Converting Road bike to Tri Setup?
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 2008-07-10 8:13 AM |
Member  269   Minneapolis, MN |  Subject: Converting Road bike to Tri Setup?I've decided to make the plunge and get a new bike. Right now I am riding a Trek 1000, and I love the bike but I've decided its time to upgrade from the Sora components  Here is my question. For my first two triathlons I just rode the Trek stock (no aero bars, no special wheels, etc). I've decided I want another road bike because I love riding in groups. I'd like the road bike I get to have a geometry that is compatible with adding aero bars and getting closer to the tri fit. Are there certain manufacturers that have road bike geometries that are better or worse for setting up as a tri bike? What types of things should I look at in the frame geometry? Any help is greatly appreciated, thanks! |
| 2008-07-10 8:23 AM in reply to: #1519654 |
Extreme Veteran 739 Westlake, OH | Subject: RE: Converting Road bike to Tri Setup? a Cervelo soloist is often recomemded for road/tri combos. But can I have you consider(or re-consider) keeping your current road for your group rides/training and buy a dedicated tri bike for tris? I'm swapping aero bars/seat posts back and forth on my road bike for group rides and tris. While it doesn't take too long to do, frankly I really don't like to do it. It does take time and as many of us are, time is always in short demand. Plus one will never get a perfect road bike fit as well as a perfect tri bike fit on one bike. That trek 1000 is plenty of bike for group rides/training as well. Plus, after all, two bikes are better than one! |
| 2008-07-10 8:35 AM in reply to: #1519678 |
Expert 1083 The Woodlands, TX | Subject: RE: Converting Road bike to Tri Setup? ohiost90 - 2008-07-10 8:23 AM a Cervelo soloist is often recomemded for road/tri combos. But can I have you consider(or re-consider) keeping your current road for your group rides/training and buy a dedicated tri bike for tris? I'm swapping aero bars/seat posts back and forth on my road bike for group rides and tris. While it doesn't take too long to do, frankly I really don't like to do it. It does take time and as many of us are, time is always in short demand. Plus one will never get a perfect road bike fit as well as a perfect tri bike fit on one bike. That trek 1000 is plenty of bike for group rides/training as well. Plus, after all, two bikes are better than one! This is what I did. My roadie isn't the best, but it keeps up with the groups I train with, so I went with a dedicated tri bike for my solo training and races. I'm keeping the roadie for the group rides. |
| 2008-07-10 9:23 AM in reply to: #1519654 |
Champion 5575 Butler | Subject: RE: Converting Road bike to Tri Setup? Remember one of the major differences between road bikes and tri bikes is seat angle. I forget which is stepper but the main reason for the tri bike geometry is to save your legs for the run. I don't think there is alot you can do to replicate this on a road bike but I could be wrong. If you want a tri bike setup I would say get a tri bike but if you want to ride in groups you will have to sacrifice some in the setup for tris. |
 2008-07-10 9:47 AM in reply to: #1519654 |
| Subject: ... This user's post has been ignored. |
| 2008-07-10 9:54 AM in reply to: #1519654 |
| Member 269 Minneapolis, MN | Subject: RE: Converting Road bike to Tri Setup? The group I ride with is a bunch of roadies. There are some pretty strong guys in the group, so it usually boils down to me just getting in the middle of the pack and trying my best to hang on to someone's wheel. I commute a lot to work so I was planning on keeping the 1000 for daily riding around the city and such anyway. I had written off the idea of a tri bike but it sounds like I'm back to square one.... |
| 2008-07-10 10:56 AM in reply to: #1519654 |
| Subject: ... This user's post has been ignored. |
| 2008-07-10 11:09 AM in reply to: #1519654 |
| Veteran 582 Golden, CO | Subject: RE: Converting Road bike to Tri Setup? I went through the same decision process at the first of this year. I had an entry level road bike with Tiagra components and I wanted to upgrade. I ended up going to a pro bike fitter that specializes in working with triathletes. He basically did two fittings, one for a road bike and one for a tri bike, and then with the data from the fittings looked for a road bike frame that would fit well as a road bike that I would also be able to set up in a good aero position. I ended up buying a very nice road bike. Changing back and forth between the road bike setup and the aero setup takes me less than 10 minutes, but I admit it is a bit of an annoyance. Six months after buying the nice road bike, a local BT'er had an entry level tri bike for sale at a very reasonable price and I bought it. Only you can decide if you want the tri bike or the road bike, based on what you like to do and how you ride. I could have bought a very nice tri bike. Instead, I have a very nice road bike and a decent tri bike. Having a nice road bike at this point was more important to me than having a nice tri bike, but others might decide differently based on their own priotities. Eventually, I will probably want to upgrade the tri bike. FWIW, I am slightly faster on the tri bike than the road bike with an aero set up, but only slightly. |
| 2008-07-10 12:16 PM in reply to: #1519654 |
Champion 7821 Brooklyn, NY | Subject: RE: Converting Road bike to Tri Setup? Conveniently, there's a pretty good article in thithe August issue of Bycycling Magazine that addresses this issue. I thought it was really informative. It's just technical enough to be helpful, but you don't need to be a bike mechanic to understand the adjustments that they suggest to your fit and to the bike. |
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