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2016-11-30 11:03 PM

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Subject: which bike to ride
I have a full coming up. I was all set to ride my tri bike but my wife surprised me with a new roadie. An Orbea Orca M10 with etap. It is amazingly responsive and rides like a dream. It is also 3 full pounds lighter than my tri bike. I am fully comfortable on either.

The course has two climbs that make up almost all of the 4200' of elevation gain. The rest of the ride is relatively flat.

What do you think and what should I be considering?


2016-12-01 6:33 AM
in reply to: Stuartap

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Subject: RE: which bike to ride
Originally posted by Stuartap

I have a full coming up. I was all set to ride my tri bike but my wife surprised me with a new roadie. An Orbea Orca M10 with etap. It is amazingly responsive and rides like a dream. It is also 3 full pounds lighter than my tri bike. I am fully comfortable on either.

The course has two climbs that make up almost all of the 4200' of elevation gain. The rest of the ride is relatively flat.

What do you think and what should I be considering?


If you have a good position on the tri bike and you can hold it for long periods of time, the tri bike will be signifcantly faster. I am about 10s per km slower out of aero position but my aero position is more aggressive than average.

The difference will go down if your tri position and road position are not that different, or if you are constantly coming out of aero position.

There are people on tri bikes that aere so high up in the front, they are no faster than in the drops of a road bike

The weight factor is almost negligible.

So it depends very much on your position on the tri bike and ability to hold it.
2016-12-01 7:24 AM
in reply to: marcag


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, Wisconsin
Subject: RE: which bike to ride
Originally posted by marcag

Originally posted by Stuartap

I have a full coming up. I was all set to ride my tri bike but my wife surprised me with a new roadie. An Orbea Orca M10 with etap. It is amazingly responsive and rides like a dream. It is also 3 full pounds lighter than my tri bike. I am fully comfortable on either.

The course has two climbs that make up almost all of the 4200' of elevation gain. The rest of the ride is relatively flat.

What do you think and what should I be considering?


If you have a good position on the tri bike and you can hold it for long periods of time, the tri bike will be signifcantly faster. I am about 10s per km slower out of aero position but my aero position is more aggressive than average.

The difference will go down if your tri position and road position are not that different, or if you are constantly coming out of aero position.

There are people on tri bikes that aere so high up in the front, they are no faster than in the drops of a road bike

The weight factor is almost negligible.

So it depends very much on your position on the tri bike and ability to hold it.


^^^^ This is a great answer, I totally agree.
2016-12-03 10:16 PM
in reply to: MikeD1


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Subject: RE: which bike to ride
I've debated the same thing. My road bike would certainly be more comfortable and enjoyable. But on my TT bike, I'd be able to go faster on the same watts. I'll get to T2 faster and when facing another 26 miles of running, seems to me getting to it sooner than later is the right approach. 4,000 feet over 112 miles would not change the equation for me.
2016-12-04 8:20 AM
in reply to: Stuartap

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Subject: RE: which bike to ride
I would say that it depends a bit on the length of the climbs and how pitchy they are. If it's fairly steady pitch over a longer distance, then climbing on a tri bike won't hurt you. If it's steep and pitchy, then a road bike will help. Same does for the decent, non-technical - tri bike, technical - road bike.
2016-12-04 6:07 PM
in reply to: Stuartap

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Subject: RE: which bike to ride
I'm thinking about the same issue for a full race next summer. I know I'll be 15 to 30 minutes slower on the roadie, but it's not a course I'm going to PR on, so the time's not that big of a deal for me (run has 6000' of gain, almost all in the last 7-miles). On my tri bike I tend to be hunkered down and only looking at the road a few feet ahead of the bike. On the roadie, I suspect I'll "see" a lot more and have a more memorable ride. It's also an open course on a rural highway with a very small field of racers. I think I'm a safer rider on the road bike......more control on the drops than the aerobars.


2016-12-05 7:01 AM
in reply to: g_shotts

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Subject: RE: which bike to ride
Originally posted by g_shotts

I'm thinking about the same issue for a full race next summer. I know I'll be 15 to 30 minutes slower on the roadie, but it's not a course I'm going to PR on, so the time's not that big of a deal for me (run has 6000' of gain, almost all in the last 7-miles). On my tri bike I tend to be hunkered down and only looking at the road a few feet ahead of the bike. On the roadie, I suspect I'll "see" a lot more and have a more memorable ride. It's also an open course on a rural highway with a very small field of racers. I think I'm a safer rider on the road bike......more control on the drops than the aerobars.



(run has 6000' of gain, almost all in the last 7-miles)

Seems like that would be a fun way to finish a full
2016-12-05 8:23 AM
in reply to: dandr614

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Subject: RE: which bike to ride

Originally posted by dandr614
Originally posted by g_shotts I'm thinking about the same issue for a full race next summer. I know I'll be 15 to 30 minutes slower on the roadie, but it's not a course I'm going to PR on, so the time's not that big of a deal for me (run has 6000' of gain, almost all in the last 7-miles). On my tri bike I tend to be hunkered down and only looking at the road a few feet ahead of the bike. On the roadie, I suspect I'll "see" a lot more and have a more memorable ride. It's also an open course on a rural highway with a very small field of racers. I think I'm a safer rider on the road bike......more control on the drops than the aerobars.
(run has 6000' of gain, almost all in the last 7-miles) Seems like that would be a fun way to finish a full

Look up Alaskaman Triathlon.

2016-12-05 8:27 AM
in reply to: audiojan

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Subject: RE: which bike to ride

Originally posted by audiojan I would say that it depends a bit on the length of the climbs and how pitchy they are. If it's fairly steady pitch over a longer distance, then climbing on a tri bike won't hurt you. If it's steep and pitchy, then a road bike will help. Same does for the decent, non-technical - tri bike, technical - road bike.

While not necessarily untrue, "technical" tends to get overdone in triathlon where a dozen turns on the course has brought out it's use.

2016-12-05 10:45 AM
in reply to: brigby1

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Subject: RE: which bike to ride
Originally posted by brigby1

While not necessarily untrue, "technical" tends to get overdone in triathlon where a dozen turns on the course has brought out it's use.




Completely agree with you, but when I say technical descent, I truly do mean it. Not long sweepers, but steep, sharp turns, off canter with lots of braking.

I've seen definition of technical courses and steep climbs that are anything but...
2016-12-05 10:58 AM
in reply to: audiojan

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Subject: RE: which bike to ride
If you're talking HITS Palm Springs there's that 12 mile climb with average grade of 2% you do twice. That's only 24 total miles out of 112. You'll want to be aero those other 88 miles where weight is not a factor. I'd go TT on this one for sure. You go back down that climb after the turnaround and you'll enjoy being arrow on the way back down. From the course maps it doesn't look like any tight twists and turns so very non-technical course.


2016-12-05 12:28 PM
in reply to: brigby1

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Subject: RE: which bike to ride
Looked it up master, 4200' of climbing during that period seems pretty intense as well.
2016-12-05 12:48 PM
in reply to: dandr614

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Subject: RE: which bike to ride
Originally posted by dandr614

Looked it up master, 4200' of climbing during that period seems pretty intense as well.


That's your perspective!

I do 4200' of climbing on 30 to 40 mile rides all the time. So for me that is a flat coarse.
2016-12-05 12:51 PM
in reply to: mike761

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Subject: RE: which bike to ride
That is for the last 7 miles of the RUN
2016-12-05 2:42 PM
in reply to: dandr614

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Subject: RE: which bike to ride

Originally posted by dandr614 Looked it up master, 4200' of climbing during that period seems pretty intense as well.

LOLz...master...

I'd agree though that 4200' over 112 miles isn't that much climbing, and the only courses I've heard of that are actually so technical on the descent that a road bike might be worthy is Savageman and Escape from Alcatraz.  Both are closer or over 100' of climbing per mile though, as compared to this course which is closer to 38 feet of climbing per mile.

2016-12-05 4:39 PM
in reply to: audiojan

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Subject: RE: which bike to ride

Originally posted by audiojan
Originally posted by brigby1 While not necessarily untrue, "technical" tends to get overdone in triathlon where a dozen turns on the course has brought out it's use.
Completely agree with you, but when I say technical descent, I truly do mean it. Not long sweepers, but steep, sharp turns, off canter with lots of braking. I've seen definition of technical courses and steep climbs that are anything but...

Thought you might, but wasn't sure others would know that.



2016-12-05 4:49 PM
in reply to: Jason N

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Subject: RE: which bike to ride

Originally posted by Jason N

Originally posted by dandr614 Looked it up master, 4200' of climbing during that period seems pretty intense as well.

LOLz...master...

I'd agree though that 4200' over 112 miles isn't that much climbing, and the only courses I've heard of that are actually so technical on the descent that a road bike might be worthy is Savageman and Escape from Alcatraz.  Both are closer or over 100' of climbing per mile though, as compared to this course which is closer to 38 feet of climbing per mile.

It's not nothing, but isn't really a tremendous amount either. It also depends on the particulars of the course, which isn't necessarily reflected in such an overall value.

Something that doesn't seem to come up much is riding the tri bike more to be able to handle it better. I've had no issues taking my tri bikes on the back roads in Wisconsin for rides that broke 8,000 ft in a century. Certainly didn't bomb the descents, but wasn't inching along either as I could see speeds near 50 mph. Have taken my road bike on them too with little difference in speed in the more technical spots. I couldn't see well enough ahead to really go much faster anyway. Different courses will change the feel as they all have their own terrain, but still, tri bikes can do alright with this.

2016-12-05 5:33 PM
in reply to: brigby1

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Subject: RE: which bike to ride
I rode my TT in the Garrett County Gran Fondo and I believe we had just under 13K in climb over that century ride. It was a few years ago when I lived there but I recall seeing probably about 25% on TT's that morning.
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