Looking for Pros and Cons on Bike

Here's how I roll (pun intended); a tri bike is for racing, so I will invest time and money to squeak out every advantage I can get. For this reason, I go with a high end tri bike and all the bells and whistles. A road bike (for me) is for training, whether it's on the trainer or in group rides, so I'm in it for the watts, not the speed. So I use an entry level road bike.

My recommendation since you're still early into Triathlons.

I would look locally (craigslist) for a road bike. I raced two years with a $200 road bike I purchased off of craigslist. The person I purchased from was the same height so it worked out well for me. This bike allowed me to get comfortable riding and I became confident with experience. I passed a lot of nice Tri bikes with my $200 road bike and actually won my age group a few times.
Once I knew I was hooked on the sport, I purchased a nice carbon Tri bike. I love the Tri bike so much that I ride it all the time and sold my road bike.

Ring the bell! This is the answer.

I didn't do this. And ended up spending $800-$1000 more than I needed, because I bought a "good" road bike...instead of a "more than adequate" one like you did for $200-$400..
Granted, I love all 3 of my bikes now (hybrid, road, tri)....but I could have saved some of the money by going with a good used roadie instead of a mid-tier "good" road bike.

$200-$500 should do you quite nicely for a used road bike (depending on your market).
The difference between a $300 used road bike and an $1000 road bike for sprints and the occasional Olympic over the course of the next 1-2 years is not likely worth $700. By then, you'll likely be at bike envy point where you're getting a tri bike come heck or high water and your don't care how much it costs. Well, you'll still look for value, but you get the idea. And, in theory, you're starting off with $700 in the bank.

Or, maybe you'll just decide you like the roadie life and the tri-bike isn't so important. You're still starting with $700 in the bank and can upgrade relatively carefree.

If you plan on doing longer rides to include a century, bike fit becomes the most important factor. I'm new to triathlon but have been cycling, on and off road and my first bike was a $200 CL bike that fit OK. It got me through 20-25mile rides but I was always a little "achey" in my shoulders, hips, back afterwards. Fast forward as I started doing 50-100mile rides, I got a bike fitted for me and the difference was night and day. I can do B2B rides and the only thing that's sore are my quads...

IMO, If you want to do long rides...get a proper fitting road bike. Good luck and tell us what you decide.
-john

Yes, there is indeed a third option. If done right, it can give you the fastest, the most practical, and the most comfortable bike. And it will save you a ton of cash to boot. Quick read here explains it clearly:

http://darkspeedworks.com/blog-whatbike.htm

Read, think about it, and then decide what is best for you.
Knowledge is power.

Greg @ dsw


Edited by DarkSpeedWorks 2017-07-14 12:29 PM

Greg - isn't this pretty much just that? https://www.liv-cycling.com/us/envie-advanced-2

Unfortunately, not so much. That bike has fairly traditional road geometry (vs steep seat tube angle and proper front-center tri bike geometry). And a well-designed and true tri bike will also have a much more aerodynamic frame. That Liv/Giant is ok, but the brakes and the cable routing take an ok bike and make it into an aero disaster.

But, say, if you get an excellent tri bike and set it up with drop bars (and make sure that you also set it up with good brakes and optimal cable routing), it will be a far, far faster ride.

I essentially did this third option as well. I had a road bike fitted with a Fast Forward (FF) seatpost, a longer stem and clip-on aerobars which gave me a great Time Trial position. Then for group rides I simply removed the aerobars (just 4 allen screws). I had a Retul fit before the moditication which made me quite fast in Triathlons even though I didn't have a true TT bike.

Sure, that works ok.

But a road bike 'converted' for a forward triathlon bike body position does not handle nearly as well as a true tri bike which is designed for it. You end up with too much weight over the front of the bike. Can get dicey when cornering and stopping.

Some more stuff to consider ...

Agreed, it takes some getting used to but I ended up doing just fine in some Crits on that road bike. I never removed the FF seatpost nor the stem. I think steep downhills is where the biggest challenge would be if you need to stop in a hurry.

I found this picture, I'm in the front right as you're looking at the screen and you can see the two other guys in the front looking at my bike (I think). This was from a crit race last March when it was still cold. Pretty sure I was the only guy out there with a FF seatpost on his bike, LOL





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If it were me, I'd go with the road bike first. I think you're on the right track. I checked out that bike, appears to be a great long term investment. Has a nice gruppo, carbon frame, and looks great. There is a trade off, even an entry level TT bike would be faster, but I can't for the life of me understand why anyone would want to do all their riding on a TT bike.

Alright, so I went bike shopping this weekend after reading all of the replies (very helpful!) and doing a lot of thinking. I mentioned the used bike option to the husband, but he put the kibosh on that one for several reasons. I don't mind riding a used bike, but definitely felt the stress of trying to find something that fit and was in good order when my bike knowledge is pretty low. So, I didn't argue

Anyway, after riding a several endurance bikes and race bikes, I concluded that I'm just not ready for the race bikes. It's too big of a jump from a hybrid position wise, and if I'm not somewhat comfortable, I'm afraid that I'll stop biking! With that in mind, I ended up opting for the Liv Avail SL1 (2018). It's an aluminum frame with carbon forks (but it's still light), disc breaks (yes - I know they're a little heavier and not super aero, but I was impressed with how easy it was to stop!) and shimano 105s. Down the road I can do a couple of modifications which will have me sitting in more of a race position. And, if I stick with this, I'll look into a tt bike or a race road bike in a couple of years. I also got shoes and pedals and ended up saving close to $400 because of a discount my local chicks who tri group gets at our LBS. I didn't realize I would save that much, so it was a nice surprise

This, by the way, also solved the conundrum of transporting said bike since we can only put a trunk rack on my husband's company car and my car is too small to fit all our stuff in when we go to races (we spend the weekend camping).





Edited by Trine 2017-07-17 10:59 AM

I think you made a good choice.

I have a 4 year old, entry-level aluminum road bike (Schwinn Fastback, Sora-level). Got goo-goo eyes for a tri bike after doing one race, bought a nearly-new carbon Orbea Ordu this spring. I like the Orbea, it's cool. But I probably jumped the gun. I've decided I really don't like riding the tri bike much when I'm not racing. Aero position is a little faster (I average about 1-1.5 mph faster over most of my regular training routes on the Orbea than the Schwinn), but vision from that position kinda sucks. So I still ride the road bike outside more than the tri bike. If I had to do it over again, I'd probably invest the money in a better road bike, first.

That Avail may very well be your go-to bike for years to come, even if you do eventually decide to step up to triathlon bike for racing. About the only upgrade I'd consider anytime soon would be tires. Some nice, supple (+/- 120tpi), wide (28c, or maybe even wider) tires will likely make the bike both faster and more comfortable.

Great decision, has my stamp of approval

You may be able to alleviate fit concerns. If you get to know a fitter at a LBS....go in with a Panera gift card or something and promise to have him/her fit you when you buy if he/she will have a look-see to make sure you can be fit to that frame. Then when you set up a Craigslist meetup with the seller do it at the LBS parking lot...might want to throw in a gift card for their trouble too.

I did that. As a bonus, the fitter will likely identify any major mechanical. On top of that, they'll probably offer you a pretty good deal on their own inventory and throw in added-value (maintenance and such on their bike).

That's what I did. Almost went with the LBS bike...but even they admitted I was dealing with a very motivated seller.

That's very creative indeed! lol

Still going with the new bike, though, since it's paid for