Embarassed by bike (Page 2)

I did my first tri years ago on a mountain bike with slick tires. I wasn't the only one on a mountain bike. I did another tri this year on my husbands old road bike that doesn't even fit me and I still managed to pass some much more expensive bikes. There were a lot of old mountain bikes and hybrids in transition too, along with the fully aero fancy tri bikes. It truly does not matter. It's just for fun and there is no sense on throwing thousands of dollars into it when you need it for more important things. If you can great, there is nothing wrong with that either but clearly their are other priorities and it doesn't make you any faster if you don't train. I think it is fantastic that you stuck with it in the oly and still finished, most other people would have given up. You should be proud of your persistence and determination!

x2 on what everyone has said.

My lesson in "it's the engine that counts" came AFTER I spent $3k on a shiny new carbon Trek Madone - "a major upgrade" from my Aluminum Scott road bike that was 7 years old that i still feel more comfortable on than my Trek. I got passed and dropped by a 73 year old (young) dude on an old steel road bike with the shifters on the downtube and a worn out kit with baggy blue tights. He passed me and I tried to jump on his wheel and he dropped me like a bad habit in record time. The only way I found any info about this guy out is because he stopped and waited for me so he had some company on the rest of his ride. We chatted for a while and I asked him how to get faster...He told me he rides alot...mostly hard...sometimes easy. No joke. The same thing you'll hear from others on here. Keep up the smile! Sometimes the fast dudes with the uberbikes need a reminder why we all do this.

I agree with all that's been said. Personally, I'd be more embarrassed if I rode a superbike and was really slow . . . I rode a 29 year old steel framed road bike for my first 4 tris after my "restart" at age 60. Enjoyed passing people who were younger and on "faster" bikes. I did spend a bunch of money on a beautiful carbon fiber Trek Madone at the end of last year as it was on close out and darn it, I just wanted a new bike with newer technology and a lot more gears (old legs can't climb as well as they did 25 years ago). But, from tracking my speeds, I'm not a whole lot faster on the new bike even though it weighs at least 8 pounds less and is designed with aero tube shapes etc. I like riding both bikes, but the Trek is more comfortable over distance.

I didn't say that the OP should buy a new bike - I said that having a bike that you like and want to ride is something to take into consideration. I wouldn't presume to tell anyone whether they should buy a bike or not.

Some things that I think should be taken into consideration are ...
Can I afford it?
Do I like it enough that I will want to ride it?
Will it help me to ride faster?

And a couple of things that I think are irrelevant...
What others think.
"It's all about the engine."

Don

Did my first tri this year at age 60, a sprint tri where the 12 mile bike course was actually a MTB course. I rode my old 1988 MTB with no suspension. It was only a select few old-timers that realized I was kickin' it on a Fisher ProCaliber, which in it's time was one of the premier bikes on the NORBA racing circuit. I was particularly proud that on this technical course with some pretty big climbs I never got off the bike to walk, which is more than I can say for many / most of the other athletes.

I've since bought a road bike. I've never owned a road bike. No one ever told me that they are so EASY to ride versus a MTB, haha. I was an avid mountain biker until I hung it up 15 years ago before catching the tri bug this year.

Whether it's what I wear or what I ride, I am not out to impress you. I am out to impress myself, with improved fitness. I can't believe I waited so long to do this!

Edited by HaydenHunter 2015-11-05 3:57 PM

I did my first few tris on a mountain bike (a rental, no less) and upgraded to a road bike mainly because I was too competitive (both in the performance sense and the personality sense of the word) and too crappy a biker as it was to be shooting myself in the foot by riding a bike that wasn't the right tool for the job. Since I had NO bike at the time (except a one-speed commuter), that was definitely an improvement. I did plenty of tris, winning one, qualifying for sprint nationals once, doing my first HIM, on a low-end road bike until finally finding a tri bike within my means last year. Yes, I was getting teased a lot about my bike. The Singapore tri scene is not very deep, and a woman in her 40's who's in the 1:15 range for sprint and 2:40 range for Oly can often start in the "elite" category. Let's just say that my bike was the only low-end road bike with endangered animal stickers in that section of the racks! I even had a race official tell me once that I didn't need to show my race number to exit transition with my bike because, "Nobody would steal that bike." However, although biking is not my strength, I regularly passed people on much more expensive bikes, podiumed AG or overall in almost every race, and even won a few AG titles.

What prompted me to make the move to a tri bike was not people laughing at my bike but the discovery (when I did a fit with my road bike) that it was simply too small in some dimensions to achieve an optimal fit. The reach is way too short and particularly in aero (which matters a lot as most of my races are on windy oceanside courses), I'm in a position that compromises comfort and power, especially over longer distances. I also felt like despite hard training, I had reached a plateau with bike performance, and that the extreme amount of effort I was having to put into even mediocre performances on the bike was negatively affecting my run, which should be my best leg.

Since getting the tri bike, I've improved my HIM split by over 20 minutes and my Olympic split by at least 4, and feel like there's a lot of room for further improvement. I attribute this mostly to better fit--the tri bike is easier to ride, so I want to ride it more. It takes a lot less effort to maintain a moderate speed, and is a lot more comfortable in aero. It's especially noticeable at longer distances. At Oly distance, that's allowed me to take a couple of minutes off my run as well. So I wouldn't get a new bike because you're embarrassed by it, but if you think you need it to enjoy the sport at the level YOU want to, and if you can afford it. If you're comfortable with your bike and your performance, and have more important things to throw money at, then let' em laugh!

Mitzi,

Congrats on your race!

I did my first tri on a full suspension mountain bike... knobby tires and all:


So, don't worry what other people think (because they really don't care anyway) - do your own thing and have fun!

Yep, I would be a rich woman (and could probably have bought a better bike much earlier) if I had a dollar for all the unsolicited bike comments and advice by various athletes on the Singapore race scene. It got to where I finally started coming back with, "So are you paying for it?" I think it's such a wealthy demographic (Singapore is #5 or 6 in the world in income, plus the triathletes tend to be a wealthier group as a whole) that the idea that I might not be able to/feel comfortable with dropping several thousand on a hobby just didn't occur to anyone. They probably thought they were doing me a favor by pointing out to a pretty competitive athlete that her bike equipment was lacking.

I brought my tri bike home this summer to train and race on (mainly because my roadie isn't comfortable for HIM distance) and almost dropped dead of shock when someone at our hometown Oly commented, "Nice bike!" Someone also claimed I was taking HER bike out of transition (we had pretty much identical bikes and both our bike numbers had come off, but mine has a Lao sticker on it that says, "I stop for elephants"; hers was later found to have been liberated by her husband, who had her race number and was trying to be helpful) and we had to sort it out with one of the officials. So apparently that bike is considered good enough to steal.

My 2010 P2 would be very low end for Singapore. It hasn't gone to Singapore yet, but when it does, people will no doubt be trying to sell me on the virtues of the latest model or disc wheels, or laughing because I don't have a power meter.

But I'm still embarrassed by my bike sometimes.....that I can't ride faster on it. I still feel like a fraud when I'm riding in aero. I simply can't get an aero helmet--I would fall off the bike laughing at myself.

Edited by Hot Runner 2015-11-06 5:54 PM

Thanks everyone, appreciate the support. Bike shop is having a special on a bike overhaul. As I didn't know you are supposed to clean your bike, I'm excited to see it clean, greased and whatever else they do.

If you want to put some more love into your bike without buying a new one, maybe a fit? That can work wonders, especially if you get into longer rides or races. Plus cleaning and basic maintenance can sometimes make a big difference in how well an older bike runs.

It's kind of funny but there is an advantage to being one of the only female triathletes in country--when my bike goes into the shop for anything, everyone kind of wants to "pet" it--clean stuff, grease the chain, go through the gears, talk about it. Hardly anyone here (and no other women) has a tri bike and it's some kind of big deal when Red Rover pays a visit to the shop. I don't think I've ever ended up paying for most of that, just for whatever repair, part, or packing job I came in for in the first place.

Edited by Hot Runner 2015-11-06 8:12 PM