That killer Q everyone faces...road or tri bike (Page 2)

Call around ands see if anyone still has last years model (the Soloist).  If so, you should be able to get a decent deal on it.

I recently went through the same decision process... and was to the point of being dead set on a Nemesis tri-bike.  Then several local bicyclists, triathletes and a guy at the local bike shop all talked me down.  It came down to a road bike being more practical for training, ability to ride with the groups around here, only planning on sprints/Olys, etc.  

Next came the tough part of finding a bike... went through some bikes in the 1-2K range and am 99% sure I am going with a Fuji Roubaix Pro.  A decent aggressive bike with solid components.  I like the fact that it is an aluminum frame with carbon seatstays and forks.  For around 1K, it seems like a real bargain.  

I have yet to do a Tri but I tried to setup my road bike last year to use in aero position. I really don’t understand people who say they can use their road bike for aero and for group rides.

By the time I got a comfy aero position my seat was so far forward that riding on the hoods puts way too much weight on my arms. More then an hour or two like that and I am screaming.

Put the bike back in roadie position and you are stretched out in aero and your hip angle is messed up.

Do you just look for something in the middle and just deal with your fit being messed up? Or make adjustments depending on the kind of ride

road bike are generally longer in the top tube(I think that's what it is called), making it difficult to get a good aero position.  The seat tube angle is also very slack (72* usually instead of 76-80) which affects the hip angle.  Try a "fast forward" seatpost to give the steeper seat tube angle.  But generally, road bikes are much tougher, if not impossible, to get as comfortable as a tri bike with regards to the aero position because of the differences in their geometries.

PS...this is what I read, not my experience.  Take all info with a grain of sand for I don't know how much is actually right.

It's a total quandary, roadie vs tribike, if you can only get one. There's no simple answer, and it definitely depends on circumstances often beyond your control.

I only own a tribike - I only plan to bike race during tris, and I was originally planning to do mostly solo tribike training rides (like I do when I run.)

I must admit that I find myself riding mostly with groups, and mostly on big hill climbs here in SoCal. I totally didn't expect it, but that's what ended up happening. I LOVE my bike, but for sure, the roadies around me would be happier if I was sporting a road bike. I don't get to use the aero as much as I like because of the group and the big hills. For me, I think the road bike with clipons may have been a more flexible option - but I do have to say that on race day, I was REALLY happy to be on a pure tri-bike, as race day is really what really counts in the end.

I know the geometry is slightly different between roadies and tribikes, but for me, and even greater consideration is that tribikes use bar-end shifters and not the integrated "brifters" that are on road bikes. Thus, if you're off your aerobars, you can't shift on a tribike. I've gotten really good at shifting fast by dancing on and off the aerobars, but there is a definite loss of time in shifting with the extra hand motion, and it's somewhat inconvenient. For training, the roadie setup with brakes/shifters integrated is definitely more responsive than the bar-end shifters on the tribike.