Road vs tri bike count

Good question. Honestly, I've never really looked that closely at the entire bike rack. What I have noticed is what the top folks are riding as well as the top finishers in my age group. In both cases it is 100% time trial/tri bikes.

At 70.3 Worlds, really almost 100% tri bikes. The only road bikes I've seen at such events are a few of the older age groupers who maybe have back issues and find a road bike more comfortable.

Somewhat looking to buy. Mostly looking for better value vs fit. I have gotten a true fit and we are able to get my road bike into a close tri fit but it is 10 years old and needs it’s normal updates but I have a few hundred in the conversion and really need a couple hundred more in brackets and a new bar set to truly get the “right” tri position. As I do more tris than ride true road bike with friend type rides I am just trying to see better use of my money.

Newer bike looks to have better wheels and at least comparable drive train an with most tri bikes I have found a lot don’t get ridden that often so stretched cables are not as common yet for the 3-5 year old models.

If you mainly train on a trainer and do triathlons, and rarely do group rides or cycling-only events like tours, then a tri bike is a good investment. If most of your riding is with other cyclists on group rides, then you'd probably be better served with a good road bike. One exception I didn't mention is for really hilly races--you might be better served in those cases by a road bike. If it's so hilly you're going to be out of aero much of the time anyway, then I don't really see the advantage of riding a tri bike. Maybe it's just my (lack of) riding experience or something about my fit or my body, but I'd feel more confident (and physically comfortable) handling a course with a lot of steep climbs and technical descents on my road bike. You do tend to see somewhat more road bikes in very hilly 70.3 and other long-distance events.