Tri Bike v Road Bike...again (Page 2)

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2009-05-13 2:40 PM
in reply to: #2145346

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Subject: RE: Tri Bike v Road Bike...again
KathyG - 2009-05-12 6:37 AM Hardest thing to predict is what will appeal to you as far as sport and training.

I have multiple bikes and like my tri bike best as it is most comfortable to ride. If I had to have only one it would my Kuota.

I do belong to a bike race team. I tried crits and crashed badly and my husband isn't really up for me to try more of that. My road bike I use when doing group rides with them but have done it with my tri bike and they were cool with it as I rode on my bull horns. I bought a cyclocross bike last summer not sure if I'd like racing cross but absolutely loved it. My cross bike is great for different type of riding and my outdoor crappy weather and winter bike even though it was expensive..it has 105 parts and my other bikes have ultegra plus it is steel vs. carbon.

I'd suggest to make a wish list of what you may want to try to do and see which bike fits into that.

Many group rides have lots of triathletes that ride tri bikes but depends which group you ride with...some are strictly roadie type rides and everyone has road bikes.

Key to deciding is what type of riding will you do most..ride with friends? triathlons? road racing?

Are you limited to buying only one bike? Me I tend to buy a bike every year so it isn't like I'll never get another bike if I made the wrong choice.

If you can't decide, get a tri bike as you are obviously going to race triathlons.

Biggest mistake I see new folks doing is buying a cheap bike to save money, falling in love with the sport and a year or two later buying a higher quality tri bike so instead of spending $2-3K on nice tri bike to start they buy a $600-1100 road bike add clip on aerobars then buy a $2-3K tri bike later so end up with $4500 in bikes instead of buying the tri bike to start. I did that and I have seen that happen over and over here on BT.


I did it too.  But I sort of think it's unavoidable, IMO.  It's REALLY hard to justify dropping 3500 to 5k on a machine you may or may not like after the first race!!!!

I guess I never really thought about selling it.

In my case, I bought an entry/mid level tri bike, then upgraded to a cervelo about a year later.  I DID sell my first bike, made half my money back AND helped a newbie on their first step in the tri journey...

2009-05-13 3:33 PM
in reply to: #2145022

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Subject: RE: Tri Bike v Road Bike...again
I suppose if I wanted to boost my average speeds in my logs I could change to always riding my tri bike.
2009-05-13 6:26 PM
in reply to: #2146844

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Subject: RE: Tri Bike v Road Bike...again
wes mantooth - 2009-05-12 4:33 PM

Bopper - 2009-05-12 3:51 PM

lengthcroft - 2009-05-12 4:37 PM

All the answers seem to confirm my suspicions. Many people have regretted buying a road bike, but I haven't heard from anyone that's regretted buying a tri bike.

My one and only reservation about going down the tri bike route is that I MAY want to do group rides in future. I know some people say you can do group rides on tri bikes, but no one uses them on my local rides.

I still think a tri bike is the way to go though.

I would suggest you look at a Cervelo S1... this is a road bike that can be easily converted to a tri bike. (no I don't work for Cervelo)... from all the research I've done, it seems to be the ONLY bike out there that has this capability. You get the benefit of Aero tubing when riding it as a road bike, and with a forward seat position and clip on Aero bars, you have a pretty decent tri bike.

I too am looking at a new bike (in the far future) and am thinking that this option would give me the best of both worlds. If I'm going to spend that kind of money, why be limited in how I can use it. Riding in a pack is SO much easier on a road bike (you are advised NEVER to ride in the aero position in the peloton), that having a dedicated Tri bike would limit your options.

However, this is my opinion only. You have to decide what you will use the most. Spend the money on that.

x2 on the S1.  I picked mine up in December and love it!  I was fitted in both the road position and the forward/tri position.  While I would like to have a road and a tri bike, financially, it just didn't make since for me.  But with this bike, I get both!



I posted a thread in the Gear section essentially talking about the same thing.  I have actually run into two bikes that claim to be dual purpose - the other being the Kestrel Talon.  I was trying to find other dual purpose bikes like it, just because two more bikes (on top of the MTB) is a tough sell. 

The S1 and the Kestrel are on my list to try and test out.  Both are really nice looking bikes, too.

(article on the Kestrel: http://www.sandcanyoncyclery.com/index.php?option=com_content&v... />
If anyone knows of any other beasts like this I am all ears.  Adding more bikes to try just adds to the fun.
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