Bike Question

This article pretty much sums it up:

The biggest difference is seat angle and where you are relative to the bottom bracket. On a road bike you will generally have a 74 degree seat angle which puts you over the bottom bracket (or behind depending on your set up). The pros are that it is a much more comfortable position, and you will as a general rule produce more power. That all being said you will never acheive a true "aero" position on a road frame. Road frames are much more twitchy and hard to handle as you attempt to move the seat position forward.

A tri frame on the other hand is a steeper seat angle (normally about 78 degrees) which will put you over or slightly in front of the bottom bracket depending on your set up. However you will be able to get aero on a frame that is intended for that purpose and still be able to generate power.

There is also an argument on road v tri on running off the bike. I personally don't notice alot of difference, but then again I don't run off of my road bike all that much.

If I may make a suggestion:  Get on your trainer and practice clipping and unclipping.  That will help build your confidence when out on the road.  Also it will allow you to get use to being in Aero while in a controlled environment.

Jim

For me my road bike has been killer for sprint distance but the longer the distance the more you need to be on a tribike i think for efficiency sake. i am trying to learn how to go aero on my road bike which i equipped with aero bars. this is not ideal or a good long term solution but more cost effective. i think the ideal would be to have a killer road bike AND a killer tri bike. for now, if you are doing sprints, unless you are rich i would do what i am doing and dream about the tri bike which is hopefully not too far off.

 I think I am going to slap some aeros on my road bike for now and see how it goes. Thanks everyone for all the advice.