Supa Dumb question about bikes.

hi mandara - you should prob figure out how much you want to spend and how much youre going to ride. for most people getting into tri's its better to buy a road bike, not a time trial or tri specific bike, and then add some syntace aero bars or deda aero bars for a race. you can buy a lot of decent bike for under 1m and buying one of ebay can prob save you even more money. i wld recommend an aluminum frame, carbon fork and ultegra components if you can afford them. anything less than ultegra will break down much faster and will be much harder to use - ie - shift, brake. the next biggest issues is bike fit - you need to get fit by a pro and its worth the $50-$75 that you might pay bc once you are fit then you can use those measurements for the rest of your life. generally a time trial position will be an inch fwd and an inch up from your road position with the saddle tilted down slightly to make it more comfy in the aero position. alot of triathletes put their seats really far fwd but it is important to remember that if you normally train in a "road" position and only tt once in a while, your body will have some major issues will a big change in body position. happy shopping!

First go to a bike shop and get them to measure and advise you what frame size you need. After you know what frame size you need then see what fits in your budget and is the frame size you need. You can adapt a road bike quite well to meet you needs. Just make sure you buy something that fits you, you don't want to have a bike that is uncomfortable because it is the wrong size. If you have the dollars to set you bike up using the latest hi-tech components, then go for it. If you don't have the dollars, get what you can afford ride for the finish. When they print out your times at the end of a race, they don't list what your bike was.

Still Tri'n,
Michael

Hello Mandara. I agree with the comments of riggler and Micheal. I just started training and bought a pretty decent bike from a friend. The first couple of weeks were brutal because the bike did not fit me properly. My neck, elbows, wrists and knees were very sore. At first, I thought it was just the price I had to pay in the beginning. Through the internet I learned how important fit really is. Check out slowtwitch.com, there are a lot of good articles about fit over there as well as here. I went and got properly "fitted" and it has made all the difference. To the second issue about components, I have some limited experience there. The frame and fork I have are pretty good, Cannondale R600, but for some reason the bike came with non Ultegra Shimona components. As the miles have built up on the bike, things are starting to break. I have had a lot of trouble with my shifters and shifting the bike in general. Components are important, but can be very expensive so you just have to get the best that you can afford.

The most important thing about buying a new bike is fit. Although it has been said by previous posters, I cannot emphasize enough the importance of a good fit. Take the time to have yourself fitted by a competent bike fitter. This is important because some bike shop employees may tell you that they can fit you but only end up trying to sell you a model that is NOT moving. As for the type of bike, you can get yourself a tri-specific bike like the Cervelo One for around 1300AMD (994AMD at www.nytro.com) or get a tri-road bike like the Cervelo Soloist 105 for around 1700AMD. Note that I said "like" because there are many more bikes in these categories which are just as good or could be had for a lesser price. And remember that for tri's, you do not need the lightest bike just a more aerodynamic bike. Shop around and see what your local bike shops have to offer and get feedback from other triathletes here and in your area.

Edited by Machiavelo 2003-12-21 7:43 AM