What is the point of fancy wheels and tri bikes (Page 3)

Me too.  And I got the bike expecting it to be a high performance machine.  The car just gets me from here to there time and time again.  I'm not going to race it.

here is a breakdown of how this world works.

people are generally materialistic, people like to have nice things, people earn money and can afford nice things hence you see them there. want / need is something you can debate for years and not fully understand it. 

what will really blow you away is bikes like trek...the sc TT bike has 4-5 models they are almost identical but why does someone buy the trek 9.9 when the 5.0 is identical and its half the price.  because they can....ability, training has 0 to do with it.  if i am a lawyer earning 170k per year 8-10k just isn't that much. 

And even for those of us not making quite that much, buying shiny toys brings enjoyment.  My wife and I love our bikes.  Our race results have no bearing on how much we love the bikes.  Collectively, we have much much more invested in bikes than cars...

I used to take incredible pleasure in passing people riding their Cervelo's with aero wheels. And last week I broke down and bought one. And I am not ashamed to say I love it.

Will it make me faster? Heck yes, now I have to justify spending the money by training harder and being worthy of the bike! Did I need it? Not really, but business is good, my bills are paid, and I wanted it. Long live capitalism

that was really my point.  i am not saying that everyone that earns that much will go and buy TOP end bike but you get the idea. 

i know quite a few guys starting in the sport that have high salaries but start with low end bike for this reason or another....it only takes about 1 year for them to upgrade to something higher end.

Yes, I learned long ago never to judge a competitor by his/her bike. While you may be reasonably sure that the 12 year old on the Next bike will not smoke you, you should never take someone for granted. I've been passed by steel Schwinns just as I've passed titanium Litespeeds with Zipp 404's.

Bikes are fun. They are pretty. They are in many respects toys. If it makes you happy and you have the money, I say buy the wheels and the super-sweet tri bike. If you don't care or are strapped for cash, no big deal - ride what you can. You still have to train either way.

You do not think he would point out Norman Stadlers vicotory in 2006?

This is my first season, and be honest, it has never occurred to me to think that my bike - or any other piece of equipment - was a major factor limiting my performance. I just don't think the difference between my entry level road bike and a tri bike is going to move me from back-mid pack to the podium.

Now, maybe if I was already on the podium it could be the difference between #3 and #1 - possibly. But where I am right now, I really have no rational reason to blame the bike. It's 99% where I am as an athlete.

All the focus seems to be on the bikes.  What about coaching, was that mentioned at all?  I've only glanced a little at it, but have seen $100-300/month which sounds rather expensive.

Maybe there could be races or categories where having a coach is banned.  Or maybe they should run with a big scarlett "C" on their jersey.  Then we could feel so much better about ourselves when passing them too.  Double points if they have a killer bike.

I see the point of the fancy wheels and tri bikes but what I guess I never really realized is that most of these are just used for races only. I know some people train on them to but it seemed like a good portion of people only bust them out for races and a few training ride.

This is the point:

I shot this photo at the Avia Vineman 70.3 race. It speaks volumes about our aspirational relationship with "stuff", especially in the male gender- where it is statistically more prevailant.

We buy things or aspire to things because of a series of stimuli. Some we know on a conscious level, others are subconcious.

The boy in this photo is beginning the buying process. The colors appeal to him- look at his shirt. It matches the bike. Is there any question why he was drawn to it? What part of this experience will remain with him when he is standing in a bike shop 30 years from now? Likely, more than he will realize.

We rationalize that we buy bikes to "go faster" or "becasue of the white paper or wind tunnel test". While a portion of that is true, our decisions are also influenced by a soup of emotions we are not cognisant of. They are there, but we aren't aware of their origin at a cognative level.

Think about this, the best bike fitter will work with a client for three hours to find and then optimize a bike with the best fit. It's within the customer's price parameters, fits optimally and has been engineered to lead the industry in aerodynamics, component performance, consumer ratings and frame durability and ride quality.

But they still walk. Why?

The bike we buy isn't an empiracle decision, at least not entirely. Only Spock buys a bike like that:

The truth is most of us- regardless of gender- buy bikes a lot like we buy cologne or music. The products are roughly comparable at the upper end, but something aspirational and emotional appeals to us about the one we buy.

Ultimately, because our bikes are "toys" or discretionary purchases, that is absolutely fine. How many Porsches, BMW's and Ferraris sit in a traffic jam on a daily basis?

^ my previous point.  love the pic.

we are all materialistic and want nice stuff.....some are worse at it then others   good stuff tom.

The boy would be better served by tighter fitting clothes, an aero helmet, losing 5-6 lbs and training more on that scooter.

This is an interesting thread.  If I had lots of $$$$ I would get fancy wheels and a Tri bike for sure.  Some people have chosen Tri's as their hobby.  They've made the decision that buying really cool bikes and associated accesories make them happy and in most cases gets them a little more speed.  Some people buy really expensive wheels for their cars because it looks COOL!  Well so does a nice Tri bike with Zipp Wheels etc.  Much cooler than my basic starter road bike.

What I like about Tri's is that you can still compete and not have to spend thousands of dollars each year.

There are a not of sports/activities that can have similar discussions.  I'm sure you can spend $1,000 on a fishing pole or $3,000 on a set of golf clubs but still get beat by the Wal-Mart special equipment bearing athletes.

I'll continue to work on the engine before considering the expensive wheels, tri bike setup etc.  In my race Sunday I had a good ride.  I passed a lot of Tri Bikes w/Zipp Wheels and aero helmets and for once did not get passed once I left the transition area.  But the OA winner averaged 23.4 mph compared to my 20.9.  The equipment is not going to amount to achieving that speed.  Training will do most of it, then equipment maybe will get me 1 mph or so.

There's a lot of marketing going on to entice us to buy this expensive stuff.  Wish I had a discount on a wind tunnel test to see the real deal!

I am much better on the bike this year than last year, part due to more time in the saddle and partly due to a pro fitting with clip-on aerobars.  Two years ago I did a 2.5 mile time trial at a Corporate Challenge competion shortly after buying my road bike.  I averaged 22.4 mph for 2.5 miles.  Exactly two years later with the same bike I averaged 26.0  mph for a 3 mile time trial.  Only difference in equipment was clip-on aero bars, all other hardware the same.  I'm sure amb. temp. and wind was different but that's still a big difference.

Because I really like this sport I honestly wish I had the cool stuff.  But for now, it's the engine's peformance I have control of so that's where I'll spend my time.

If I could only have one bike it would be as I have now, road with clip-on aero.  Very flexible and good for Tri's with a lot of hills.

My $0.02 worth, O.K. more like $0.05 ....

I'll admit when I first came to this site, I started a thread entitled:

"Am I worthy of a TT bike, Aero Wheels, Aero helmet"?

I was basing my decision on buying a new TT bike from the perspective that I thought I needed to be averaging X MPH before I should do it. I realized quite quickly that it has nothing to do with being worthy. The right question was do I want a TT setup, and do I have the financial stability to afford one?

The answer is still unfortunately No. (but I really, really, really, want one!)