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Build a road bike on a tri frame?
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 2011-03-15 9:13 PM |
New user 3 South Boston |  Subject: Build a road bike on a tri frame?So, I know what you're immediately thinking from the thread title, But hear me out.
I've been in a handful of triathlons over the past two years, and I'm hooked. I've been riding my old steel Univega. Good condition, gets the job done, but doesn't actually fit me "properly". Anyways, I've decided this season to upgrade to a real bike. The question is what kind of bike to buy/build. I do casually go out with a friend or two to ride during the week/wknd. But what I would predominantly use this bike for is Triathlons an training. I would keep my steel bike as my 'city bike'. So I want to buy/build a bike that will have the versatility and ease of ride that you get with a road bike. But I also want to be able to have the aggressive features that you find in a tri bike. Everything I hear so far is to just get a road bike and fit it to use in triathlons. However, is it completely out of the question to get a tri frame/fork and fit road-style handlebars and shifters on it? Doing this should give me my aggressive (body)/energy saving (legs) position, while still having active control of brakes/shifters... or am I completely off base? |
| 2011-03-16 8:55 AM in reply to: #3399568 |
Champion 10668    Tacoma, Washington | Subject: RE: Build a road bike on a tri frame? The steep ste-up of the back end of a tri bike tends to put your center of gravity forward enough that your core won't be able to take your weight, and it'll end up on your hands when trying to ride "roadie" on it. Not saying it can't be done, but I think you'd find it pretty uncomfortable. |
| 2011-03-16 10:31 AM in reply to: #3400012 |
Master 2406 Bellevue, WA | Subject: RE: Build a road bike on a tri frame? briderdt - 2011-03-16 6:55 AM The steep ste-up of the back end of a tri bike tends to put your center of gravity forward enough that your core won't be able to take your weight, and it'll end up on your hands when trying to ride "roadie" on it. Not saying it can't be done, but I think you'd find it pretty uncomfortable. I agree. There's a reason you don't see many triathlon geometry frames paired with drop bars - it's not a receipe for a comfortable bike. You can't ride it in aero as comfortably as you should, nor can you ride the drop bars as comfortably as you should. It's a just a weird middle ground. |
| 2011-03-16 10:56 AM in reply to: #3399568 |
| New user 3 South Boston | Subject: RE: Build a road bike on a tri frame? OK, all valid and appreciated points. How about this... Lets say I built the bike up and was able to swap out seat posts (or shift seat forward/back) when I'm transitioning between riding "tri" and riding "roadie". This would give me (or I would build it so that) my roadie ride is 73ish degrees and my tri ride is 78ish degrees. Then I'd throw my aero bars onto the drop bars and call it a day. Does this sound reasonable? Am I approaching a valid solution? I'm just looking for the best of both worlds, and I'm sure I'm really splitting hairs doing so, but I want to either find a solution I'm happy with or rule certain things out. I appreciate your responses! |
| 2011-03-16 11:19 AM in reply to: #3400286 |
Champion 10668 Tacoma, Washington | Subject: RE: Build a road bike on a tri frame? jwissuperman - 2011-03-16 8:56 AM OK, all valid and appreciated points. How about this... Lets say I built the bike up and was able to swap out seat posts (or shift seat forward/back) when I'm transitioning between riding "tri" and riding "roadie". This would give me (or I would build it so that) my roadie ride is 73ish degrees and my tri ride is 78ish degrees. Then I'd throw my aero bars onto the drop bars and call it a day. Does this sound reasonable? Am I approaching a valid solution? I'm just looking for the best of both worlds, and I'm sure I'm really splitting hairs doing so, but I want to either find a solution I'm happy with or rule certain things out. I appreciate your responses! It can be done. I'd recommend starting with a tri bike set up at close to 78 degrees, and then using a second seat post to get the aft saddle position. You could also swap stems to get the road bars in the proper positions for adding clip-ons getting a good aero position and a decent roadie position that doesn't have the bars too low. I'd recommend using bar-end shifters and swapping them between the bar ends of the clip-ons for tri, and the roadie bar ends. It's kind of a pain to swap back and forth, but I've done it, and it "works" okay. |
| 2011-03-16 11:25 AM in reply to: #3400286 |
| Member 47 SLC | Subject: RE: Build a road bike on a tri frame? A lot of people do just what you've described. In fact, most of the people I know did that for their first couple seasons of racing. Sometimes pros even race with that kind of setup. Jodie Swallow won the 70.3 world championship last year riding a road bike with clip on aerobars. There's a picture of her at the race here: http://bit.ly/g15i5L |
| 2011-03-16 1:20 PM in reply to: #3400347 |
| New user 3 South Boston | Subject: RE: Build a road bike on a tri frame? It can be done. I'd recommend starting with a tri bike set up at close to 78 degrees, and then using a second seat post to get the aft saddle position. You could also swap stems to get the road bars in the proper positions for adding clip-ons getting a good aero position and a decent roadie position that doesn't have the bars too low. I'd recommend using bar-end shifters and swapping them between the bar ends of the clip-ons for tri, and the roadie bar ends. It's kind of a pain to swap back and forth, but I've done it, and it "works" okay.
Awesome. I really just needed somebody to tell me that the idea wasn't too crazy. And TransitionFour, great article, I'm impressed. But I was thinking of doing that handlebar setup on a tri frame, not a road frame. Speaking of frames... thoughts on the K2 Red Zone? I'm thinking that because its more of a upright position (in the grand scheme of tri bikes) that it might be a good candidate for what I'm trying to accomplish. |
| 2011-03-18 6:06 PM in reply to: #3399568 |
New user 40 | Subject: RE: Build a road bike on a tri frame? Is there a reason not to use the Univega as your "casual ride with friends" bike? Assuming you're running front/rear derailleurs and brakes swapping out handlebars and stems sounds like a royal pain in the boot to me. That and trying to find a seat post that can effect a 5* change in effective seat tube angle could be your hunt for the White Whale. I hate to be a downer, but it's a pretty tough sell for me to see this working. |
| 2011-03-18 6:39 PM in reply to: #3399568 |
| 80 | Subject: RE: Build a road bike on a tri frame? to be honest I first bought a road bike for the same reasons your thinking I wanted a comfortable ride on training days and still wanted a decent bike to do tri races
so after the first year of the road bike I decided to build myself a tri bike exactly with what I wanted and could afford I ended up getting a planet x exocet full carbon setup with some personal touches added to it and honestly I love it so much I ride it on long training rides and leisure rides etc. the tri geometry is not really uncomfortable to ride in a non race situation at all |
| 2011-03-20 11:34 AM in reply to: #3399568 |
Pro 5892 , New Hampshire | Subject: RE: Build a road bike on a tri frame? Yes, you can do it, but keep in mind that you are effective creating a compromise... it won't be a good tri bike or a good road bike, but it can function as both. Steering will be affected (shallow steering tube angle of the tri bike), balance will always be a bit off (most likely, you will need to use a shorter stem to make the aero bars function for you), comfort will be compromised (either too long for a good tri fit or too short for a comfortable road fit...). If you can only have one bike, I would recommend getting a road frame and have a fitter helping you out setting up the bike with aero bars (ITU style, "shortie bars"). |
| 2011-03-21 10:24 PM in reply to: #3399568 |
Veteran 248 Peachtree city, GA | Subject: RE: Build a road bike on a tri frame? Blue did this for matt chrabot and Jarrod once with the triad to race ITU and it was fast but they said they wouldnt ride it for longer than 40k. then they got the AC1sl... i wouldnt do it unless you plan on racing itu and riding solo during the bike portion. the discomfort just wouldnt be worth it personally |
| 2013-08-05 8:55 PM in reply to: 0 |
| 1 | Subject: RE: Build a road bike on a tri frame? I am not a triathlete, I do a lot of road bike cycling but I have a Tri frame and this is exactly what I've done. I took the Tri frame and make it into a road bike. I am not dialed into the my seat position yet and have only rode the bike 2 times so far. See attached photo: this is Brent Ruegamers Zen Master that he used in Iron Man - Arizona for the 113 mile bike ride, all Ultegra 6700 except for the crank which is 6601. I Don't like the 6700 crank and decided to go with the Ice Grey 6600 series. IRD B2 bars are very comfortable with the ergo flat tops, comfortable to ride on Planet X 52mm Carbon wheels. Edited by lewchin 2013-08-05 9:00 PM (zenmaster.JPG) Attachments ---------------- zenmaster.JPG (1315KB - 29 downloads) |
| 2013-08-05 10:08 PM in reply to: jwissuperman |
Veteran 572 Hudson Valley | Subject: RE: Build a road bike on a tri frame? Cervelo Soloist is the basic concept you are tri-ing to accomplish. I would not recommend building a standard tri frame into a road bike. Tri bike wheelbases tend to be shorter compared to a road bike, which will lead to toe overlap and increased potential during sharp turns at low speed. I've experienced toe contact with the front wheel, and it is unnerving. Tri bikes are designed for straight ahead speed, so their narrow frames lack the lateral stiffness found on road bikes. If you really want to impress your road buddies, build up a road bike frame with Dura-Ace or Ultegra DI components. The remote gear shifter can be placed at the end of clip-on bars very quickly. No wire cutting would be necessary. |
| 2013-08-06 12:47 PM in reply to: jwissuperman |
Master 1718 Loughborough, England | Subject: RE: Build a road bike on a tri frame? I have done this before and it worked for what I needed it for. When I did IM France I wanted drop handlebars due to the long, fast descents. I put them onto my Tri bike along with clip-on aero bars. It worked really well and I was never uncomfortable. I didn't spend much time on the hoods though. |
| 2013-08-06 12:53 PM in reply to: tridantri |
Elite 5145 Cleveland | Subject: RE: Build a road bike on a tri frame? I just got done building a 2001 P2K frame into a road bike. I had the frame stripped and powder coated matte black, along with the crank arms. New microSHIFT Arsis components, FSA crank, adjustable stem, and bars off a late 90's Trek 1200. Currently, the wheels are Shimano R500's that were the stock wheels on my P1.
I haven't done a lot of riding on it, yet, and I still have a little fine tuning to do, but what little I've done - she's been a fun ride
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| 2013-08-08 8:40 AM in reply to: jwissuperman |
| Subject: RE: Build a road bike on a tri frame? |
| 2013-08-08 10:17 AM in reply to: #3399568 |
Pro 5892 , New Hampshire | Subject: RE: Build a road bike on a tri frame? If I remember correctly, Wellington won Alpe d'Huez triathlon on a P2C with roadbars, but Kona was won on the samebikebut with tri bars. AdH is almost a hill race so you need to be efficient climbing, hence the road bars. |
| 2013-08-08 11:13 AM in reply to: audiojan |
| Subject: RE: Build a road bike on a tri frame? Originally posted by audiojan If I remember correctly, Wellington won Alpe d'Huez triathlon on a P2C with roadbars, but Kona was won on the samebikebut with tri bars. AdH is almost a hill race so you need to be efficient climbing, hence the road bars. Yup, you're right. Kona with TT bars. But all her other races with road bars.  If it's good enough for Chrissie... |
| 2013-08-08 12:55 PM in reply to: DanielG |
Extreme Veteran 635 Ajo | Subject: RE: Build a road bike on a tri frame? Chrissie is a freakin' outlier if there ever was one. She's got a gift from nature. If you went the route of using a road bike then tri'ing it out. The new Giant Propel is incredible. It has a slightly more aggressive seat tube angle than a road bike, almost all of the aero advantage of a TT bike. I want one!! (2013-Giant-Propel-Aero-Road-Bike1.jpg) Attachments ---------------- 2013-Giant-Propel-Aero-Road-Bike1.jpg (44KB - 27 downloads) |
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