road vs. tri bike

I believe it boils down to one word--aerodynamics. 

When I become rich and famous as a stay-at-home-mom, I too, will have a tri-bike.

Road bikes are the traditional style bikes used.  Tri bikes evolved from 80's into a more aerodynamics machine specifically designed for Time Trialing (or triathlon).

Road bikes still handle much better, easier to work with in a pack, therefore are still the bike of choice for most cyclists.

^^^^what he said

The surface of the road is not what determines what bike you should use.  I assume you think that we have road bikes for roads, and mountain bikes for mountains.  With technology advancements, there are now bikes made for what type of riding you do.  Time trialing and triathlons are a different type of riding than road races and crits.  You can still use a road bike for time trials and triathlons, but you are at a slight disadvantage aerodynamically because you are not allowed to draft.

Dozens of threads on this. One more can't hurt, I suppose.

Tri bikes are designed to allow the rider to ride comfortably (more or less) in an aerodynamic position. Road bikes are not.

Whether they handle differently, which is better for what, who prefer what, what is legal in official races, and so forth - that's what the dozens of threads discuss.

If you want to start/stop, steer a LOT, ride in groups in varying terrain, get a road bike. It gives you the brakes and shifters in most hand positions.

If you want to basically go in a straight-ish line as fast as you possibly can, get a tri bike. Your body is something like 80% of the drag you have on a bike and the hunched over position of a tri-bike gets you as aerodynamic as your brick looking self (to the wind) can be.

Apparently, your position in a tri bike also gives as much power as possible while decreasing the use and wear of the muscles required for running.  

Nothing to prove that. And most people produce more watts on a road bike than a tri bike.

This is a nice attempt, but the comparison is bunk.  He's in the aero bars in one picture, and mostly upright in the other.

If you showed two pics of me on my bike, one on the top bar and one in the drops (with a fancy helmet), I'd look significantly more aerodynamic too.

Have you seen Macca ride a road bike - he sits pretty upright (as do many of the athletes in ITU) and only spend time in the aerobars while pulling or off the front.  FWIW, here's a picture of him riding aero on a road bike:





And that's the point - most athletes on their road bike will spend most of their time on the hoods which means they are not very aerodynamic.  It is possible to be in a pretty aero position in the hoods/drops, but most athletes don't ride their road bike this way.  However, take that athlete, put them on a tribike which rotates them around the BB and they are significantly more aerodynamic.

Shane

You're arguing minuante. Sure, I won't ride my whole race in the drops, but that was just the example I used for arguments' sake. I could buy aero bars too.

And yes, a Tri bike is more aerodynamic (though the quantifier "significantly" is open to interpretation.)  The point is that you can't prove it by showing apples and oranges photos. The angle of the photo, the point in the race, the distance from the camera will all affect the visual cue of what looks aerodynamic.

This is why I went to a tri bike!  you use your leg muscles differently and I need all the help I can get on the run!

I think Shane's point was to show the OP, who is obviously a beginner the visual difference in a road vs. tri setup.

I don't think Shane was trying to PROVE a tri bike is more aero with the photos...the fact that all the pros race non draft tris and TT's on tri bikes and not road bikes (on the drops or with clip ons) is enough proof for me.

Shane,

In your first picture, you can also see the difference where he is sitting on the seat, and the difference in the seat post position, relative to the pedals. (Although the pictures are at different angles, I believe, both observations are still relevant particularly for the same rider)

My question is that I have an aerodynamic road bike that I have T3s on. I have also noticed that I sit much farther forward as I can get more over the pedals when I am on the T3s. At this point, I don't think I would get much more out of a TT bike. Would you agree? The biggest bang, I think, would be to train better and smarter? And, maybe wheels. In a previous post you stated you got some race wheels for about $600. Do you mind me asking what they were and where?

Thanks in advance,



 

How so?  I pointed out that one can adopt a more aerodynamic position on a tribike than a road bike.  This is achieved by rotating the rider around the BB so that body angles remain the same and the upperbody gets more horizontal.  Riding in the aero position is usually more comfortable than riding in the drops (and more aero as well).



I wasn't trying to prove anything but show the differences in one ride between the two setups.

Some reading for anyone who is interested:

http://www.bikeradar.com/news/article/how-aero-is-aero-19273

Shane

The biggest reason that you will see athletes riding the rivet (whether riding in the aerobars or in the drops) is because to adopt a good position, they need to rotate their hips forward.  This results in the athlete sitting on some sensitive bits and many will move forward in order to relieve the pressure.  Sometimes choosing a different saddle can help to make the position more comfortable but some prefer riding on the nose of the saddle because they have done it for so long.  For pro cyclists you will also see this because the nose of the their saddle must be 5cm behind the bottom bracket so unless they have a short saddle, they can't ride a steep position.

For the race wheels, I have an old pair of Hed Alps that I got for $400, a wheelcover for $100 and then ProRace 3 tires and latex tubes ~$100.

ETA - as far as the road bike/tri bike; if you want to ride steep in a very aero position, then I would suggest a tribike.  However, if you want the option of different hand positions, don't plan on having much drop from saddle to bars or don't have the money, then I would stick with the road bike with clipons.  Many triathletes would be better served with a road bike as they are riding a tribike with huge stacks of spacers, positive rise stems, aerobars higher than their saddle, etc.

Shane

Edited by gsmacleod 2010-06-08 2:38 PM