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road bike or tri bike for hilly course?
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 2010-09-09 8:40 PM |
Member  50 |  Subject: road bike or tri bike for hilly course?I am going to race a small local sprint (my first real sprint...I've done a "mini" and a super sprint so far) in 10 days and I'm starting to wonder about a few things. The bike course is hilly. I'm not so much worried about the climbs as I am the falls. Someone on here said that there are hills that one can easily coast at 30-35 mph, and reach 40 mph if one pedals through it. I'm still trying to strengthen my bike handling skills (especially in aero at high speeds), and actually, the thought of going 35-40 mph down a hill sounds terrifying. I want to race well here and possibly have a shot at the win if I can, but I'm nervous that I won't have the guts to really take advantage of those downhills. I am scared of crashing. I definitely feel more in control in the drops on my road bike than I do in aero on my tri bike...I can actually take a turn smoothly whereas in aero I always jerk and overadjust and panic. Should I race with the road bike instead? Can riding tucked down on a road bike be close to being as fast as aero position on a tri bike? I also feel more comfortable climbing out of the saddle with the road bike. On the tri bike I feel so wobbly and usually end up sitting down again before I probably should. Another reason to race with the Trek instead of the Roo? I think the Trek (road bike) might be heavier than the Roo (tri bike) but I haven't weighed them officially. I do go faster on flat surfaces on the tri bike (can avg 22 on a workout ride, seem to only avg 18-19 w the road bike) , but I don't know how many flat stretches there are between the hills on this course. It's been called "consistently rolling." Does anyone else feel this way (more comfortable with handling on a road bike than a tri bike)? Should I just suck it up and still race the faster bike and know that I'll probably be ok on the downhills? Edited by dogteacher 2010-09-09 8:43 PM |
| 2010-09-09 8:47 PM in reply to: #3090459 |
Elite 4235   Spring, TX | Subject: RE: road bike or tri bike for hilly course? My normal advice would always be to ride the tri bike, but it sounds like in this instance you need to go with what you're most comfortable with. The confidence gained will make you safer and it may even make you faster, assuming you'll be hesitant on the tri bike. |
| 2010-09-09 8:51 PM in reply to: #3090459 |
Elite 3088 Austin, TX Gold member | Subject: RE: road bike or tri bike for hilly course? I'd normally be one to say ride the tri bike unless it's an uphill point-to-point race, especially if you think the road bike is heavier. On the other hand, if handling is an issue and you think you'll descend faster on the road bike, then use it. That aside, I'm curious why being able to ride out of the saddle better on the road bike should be a factor. Unless you have no other choice, you should be sitting down. If you have no other choice, then you probably selected the wrong cassette for the race.  |
| 2010-09-09 9:40 PM in reply to: #3090459 |
Expert 2852 Pfafftown, NC | Subject: RE: road bike or tri bike for hilly course? (can avg 22 on a workout ride, seem to only avg 18-19 w the road bike) I was gonna comment, until I saw this! Rock on! |
| 2010-09-09 9:51 PM in reply to: #3090459 |
Extreme Veteran 845 | Subject: RE: road bike or tri bike for hilly course? Why not just get up on the bullhorns during the descent? |
| 2010-09-09 10:37 PM in reply to: #3090459 |
Veteran 283 Racine, WI | Subject: RE: road bike or tri bike for hilly course? I would say, ride the bike that you feel the most confident on. It's never fun to be hesitant or unsure of yourself when descending at speed. If the Tri bike makes you uneasy and out of control, I say leave it at home and ride the Trek. ETA: Good luck with your race!! Edited by outdoorWI 2010-09-09 10:38 PM |
| 2010-09-10 12:44 AM in reply to: #3090459 |
Member 77 High Desert Heaven, Oregon | Subject: RE: road bike or tri bike for hilly course? Another vote for riding the bike you are comfortable on. It sounds like you'll be in and out of aero frequently and may not see much advantage from from the tri-bike for this particular course. Personally, I love getting that speed on the downhill and try to carry that momentum up the next climb. Good luck in your race! |
| 2010-09-10 1:22 AM in reply to: #3090459 |
Veteran 286 Manly | Subject: RE: road bike or tri bike for hilly course? Not really want to comment love downhills... gravity is a wonderful thing... until i go uphill at 200lbs plus lol |
| 2010-09-10 7:10 AM in reply to: #3090459 |
Pro 5892 , New Hampshire | Subject: RE: road bike or tri bike for hilly course? It all depends on how steep and long are the climbs and how technical are the decents... If the hills are power hills (i.e you can push your way up), and the decents are not supertwisty, then I would stick to your tri bike, but decend on the horns. If you have longer and steeper climbs, and more of then, then you may make up so much time in the hills that you will be faster overall on a road bike than your tri bike, despite being faster on the flats on the tri bike. Comfort is probably the key to your question though... |
| 2010-09-10 10:24 AM in reply to: #3090459 |
Expert 792 Leicester | Subject: RE: road bike or tri bike for hilly course? If this is not your A race, then I'd say go for the tri bike and ride the brake lever position on the decents. Practice at speed is good. With practice terifying becomes exhilarating |
| 2010-09-10 10:58 AM in reply to: #3091300 |
| Master 5557 , California | Subject: RE: road bike or tri bike for hilly course? alex jb - 2010-09-10 8:24 AM If this is not your A race, then I'd say go for the tri bike and ride the brake lever position on the decents. Practice at speed is good. With practice terifying becomes exhilarating This is what I did for the Lake Stevens HIM last month. It's a two-loop pretty hilly course. I kept my hands on the brakes for several of the descents on the first lap. The 2nd lap I stayed on the aerobars more, once I knew where all the danger areas were. Max speed on my computer was 54mph. One thing I'll mention - on that course, there were several rolling hills where it paid off to hammer downhill and get most of the way up the other side. I'm pretty confident I would've done more climbing on the road bike, and my overall time would've been slower. |
| 2010-09-10 1:00 PM in reply to: #3090459 |
Veteran 403 Maryland | Subject: RE: road bike or tri bike for hilly course? I agree with the confidence issue. I chose a road bike for one of my hillier races (early). I did 2 runs with both. The times were not that much different. The thing that made me choose the road, was the time off the aeros (relative to individual comfort) and the amount of shifting while out of the aeros. The terrain constantly changed from steep climbs to good size rollers. With the different set ups, I can also push harder with my hammis while climbing with road bike if necessary, where as with tri bike set up, not as easy. (Changed cassette on my tri bike to match roadie with the advice from this group-thanks). But... Now that I have had more saddle time on my tri bike, I am riding the tri bike at Olympic version of the same race, next year. Confidence. You can get down pretty low with hands on the brakes cruising down the hills on the horns if necessary. Go with what what feels right. |
| 2010-09-10 1:58 PM in reply to: #3090459 |
Expert 3126 Boise, ID | Subject: RE: road bike or tri bike for hilly course? I, like you, am much faster on my tri bike than my roadie. I assume it is due to the fact that I have put over 10 times the miles in on the tri bike. But all that being said, I would ride the tri bike. Go practice ride the course if you can, if it really scares you into being that slow then you can go with the roadie. But if you really are that much faster on the tri bike I would ride the tri. I work hard to average 18mph on my roadie, with a little less effort I can average 21mph on my tri bike. So even if I was nervous, the choice in a race would be obvious, ride the fast bike! |
| 2010-09-10 2:02 PM in reply to: #3091842 |
Pro 6191 | Subject: RE: road bike or tri bike for hilly course? Aarondb4 - 2010-09-10 2:58 PM . Go practice ride the course if you can, if it really scares you into being that slow then you can go with the roadie. x2 |
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