seat post and aero shifter advice

A tri bike is several years away.   What are the disadvantages of converting my road bike now.
Would still like some advice on seatpost and shifters.

I realize it's super tempting to think all you have to do is add a fast-forward seat post and some bar end shifters, and the end result will be just-as-good-as-a-tri-bike. 

But the geometry of a road bike frame is fundamentally different from that of a tri bike frame.   The angles are significantly different and so are the lengths of the top tube, the chainstays, and so on.  This gives two primary benefits: 1) the bike is more comfortable in the aero position and 2) the bike handles safely and correctly in the aero position with the weight of the rider more over the front wheel than a road bike position.

Changing the seatpost and the bars and all that won't change the fundamental geometry of your frame.  Instead it will push your bike into some middle ground where it's partially a road bike and partially a tri bike.  Will it handle well?  Will it be "almost as good" as a tri bike?  Maybe , maybe not.  Depends on much you push it and what you're comparing it to.  Will you be happy with it?  Maybe, maybe not.

If road-to-tri conversions worked well, you'd see a lot more of them than you do.  Instead you see a lot of tri bikes, and a lot of road bikes with clip-on aerobars.  You see a lot fewer road bikes with clip-on aerobars and fast forward seatposts, and even fewer road bike frames with bar end shifters.

All that said, it's your bike and do what you want. 

I have a friend who has been very happy with his Trek road bike with Profile Design aerobars and their "Fast forward" seatpost.  He's ridden it to the podium in various local sprints and Olympics.  He doesn't have bar end shifters, but the local courses don't require have a lot of shifting in aero anyway.  They're flat with hills, so either you're down on the bars or you're sitting back climbing.  He doesn't race longer distances where a true tri bike would have more benefit.  And he has a very cost effective bike for the types of races he does.

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I thought about putting bar-end shifters on my MTB, but unless you already know what you are doing and can easily re-cable everything you will be watching a LOT of you budget vanish into thin air as labor charges at a bike shop.

Depending on your position, you may or may not need a new seat post.

Some suggestions to help you figure it all out:

1)Post some pics of your bike and your position
2)Post on Craigslist, check with local bike clubs for cheaper parts. (Bike club people might loan or give you some.)

-eric 

There are many differences in the geometry between a road bike and a tribike; typically a tribike will have a steeper seattube angle, shorter top tube, shorter headtube, shorter wheelbase, different headtube angle, different chainstay lengths and different rake and trail.  All of these things together give a bike that is designed to be stable and travel very fast in a straight line and handle well in the aerobars.

While you can steepen the seattube angle, the rest of the geometry is harder or impossible to change and as a result, you will most often end up with a bike that doesn't handle well as either a road bike or a tribike.

You can do it and may be happy with the results, but I would again suggest that best bet would be keep a road position that you are happy with and add a pair of aerobars that gives you an aero option on the road bike.

Shane

I am in the same boat as you... check out www.gearscan.com/bonktown and keep an eye on www.bonktown.com... do some online comparison shopping and then check out eBay... I scored a great deal on my aerobars there...