Anyone ever regret buying a triathlon bike? (Page 2)

We had a guy come into the shop a few weeks ago and was talking about replacing his entire Hed front end set-up because he was having issues staying in position. I started asking him about what was going on, and it turned out that it was the shallow s-bend extensions that were giving him grief, both in how it turned his wrists down (causing tension in the arms) and how it placed his forearms parallel (causing tension in the shoulders). We had a set of Profile Carbon Stryke extensions in the parts bin, and I experimented a bit with him on a trainer... Hands very close together, wrists straight and relaxed. Immediately his eyes opened wide and he said it was WAY more comfortable. I trimmed down the extensions so they'd fit into the Hed collets, and he's been a happy camper ever since. Says we saved his IM training.

How do any of those issues relate to the fact that it is a tri bike?

I don't see how that follows at all.  I'd be far more inclined to infer that the fit wasn't good than that OP is somehow just 'not cut out' for a tri bike.  

The solution I ended up with is the 3T Aura Base bar with Zipp VUKA elbow pads and pad wing extension brackets. 

The back story on how I came to this...  

Some base bars come with a fixed position aero bar extension and pad mount.  Some allow you to slide the aero bar brackets and pad mounts to adjust the width (clip-on style).  However nobody seems to make an aerobar setup where the elbow rest and aero extensions can be adjusted INDEPENDENTLY of each other.  Out of the ones that allow any adjustment, the width of the circular clamping area (same area the stem clamps to) never seems to be wide enough to set the elbow rests far enough apart.  So Zipp makes these pad wing extension brackets that screw into the original pad mount holes, then you screw the pads into the brackets, effectively setting the pads wider.  

Now with adjustable aero bar clamps, the aero bars move with the clamps. So if you set the elbow pads as wide as possible, then your hands also move further apart.  This creates that uncomfortable "parrallel forearm" position that I described in my original post.  I didn't want that.  So I found that the 3T Aura base bar has a fixed aero bar and pad mount position, which happens to be very close together.  And it just so happens that the Zipp Vuka pad wing brackets fit the same bolt hole pattern as the 3T elbow rest bolt hole pattern.  So I was able to install the Zipp brackets to the 3T base bar and get my elbows comfortably far apart... while keeping the aero bars (hands) closer together, and it's perfect. 

According to 3T they are also supposed to be releasing their own version of that pad wing extension bracket.  For all I know it may be out by now. 

The other thing I am still toying with is ski-bend vs s-bend.  I currently have the stock 3T s-bend extensions and they feel fine.  However while in the aero position I have tried moving my wrists into a position as if holding onto imaginary ski-bends and I felt even MORE comfortable.  So over the winter I plan to pick up some ski-bends and test them out for real to see how I like them. 

 Ya know... sometimes the whole fitting thing is a matter of trial and error.  It's difficult to assess long term comfort during a one hour fitting session.  You sometimes don't identify points of discomfort until you're out on the bike, really riding, for longer periods of time.  While there's great value in a good fitting session, I believe that ultimately it becomes a trial and error kind of thing over an extended period, until you REALLY get dialed in. 

No regrets here.  1st tri, mountain bike.  That winter, picked up a frankenbike road bike for a good price, did a couple more races on that.  Next winter, picked up the tri bike.

As others have said, comfort will be based on fit, your body shape and mobility (flexibility) and the bike itself.  There are a lot of things that go into fit beyond seat height.

I've found my tri bike to be as, or more comfortable than my road bike.  Maybe it's a better fit for me.

We're also heading into a good time for sales, but keep fit out in front over saving a couple $$.

That's how I feel about my tri bike.  It's a fantastic bike, but I don't ride it.  It's actually a bit too big for me (purchased second hand), and I should probably resell it and use the money to buy something else.