General Discussion Triathlon Talk » 2011 speed concept 7.5 outdated? Rss Feed  
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2018-08-12 4:39 AM


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Subject: 2011 speed concept 7.5 outdated?
Good morning. I need some help and advice. Last year when I started getting into tri’s I bought an entry level road bike, trek series 1. I would love to buy a triathlon specific bike, and found a used one on craogslist. I don’t want to break the bank and want peoples opinion on this bike. They are asking $900 obo for a 2011 trek speed concept 7.5. (https://syracuse.craigslist.org/spo/d/trek-speed-concept-75-mens/6636339059.html here is the link). Is this bike old and outdated in the triathlon world or is it still up there as being a solid reliable bike being a 2011? Any opinions/thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.


2018-08-12 10:27 AM
in reply to: Brandon443

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Champion
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Knoxville area
Subject: RE: 2011 speed concept 7.5 outdated?
Speed Concept is still a top tier bike, even the 7.5's. They would stand up (aerodynamically) against any of the new models.

That said, it's a used bike, 10 speed, and the rear brake is not beginner friendly to set up / maintain. Whether you can live with that for $900 is hard to determine. I don't think it's priced in "slick deal" territory, but I don't think the seller is trying to rip anyone off either.
2018-08-12 11:04 AM
in reply to: #5247797


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Subject: RE: 2011 speed concept 7.5 outdated?
Thanks for the info, greatly appreciated. I asked if I could take on a test ride and he said absolutely (but I’d like my mind more made up before o go look at it). I looked up the value and was thinking if o got serious about the bike I’d offer $700. He could take it or leave it. Would you say $700 is pushing the “slick deal” territory?
2018-08-12 12:00 PM
in reply to: Brandon443


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Subject: RE: 2011 speed concept 7.5 outdated?
Originally posted by Brandon443

Thanks for the info, greatly appreciated. I asked if I could take on a test ride and he said absolutely (but I’d like my mind more made up before o go look at it). I looked up the value and was thinking if o got serious about the bike I’d offer $700. He could take it or leave it. Would you say $700 is pushing the “slick deal” territory?


Without seeing the components, wheels, tires. . . it's hard to say what's fair. But assuming it's in decent shape. . . $700 is reasonable. If it's only in fair condition and the person has put on a bunch of miles since 2011, $500 may be more appropriate. It's not an easy bike to sell in the used market so he likely won't be getting many offers if any.
2018-08-13 8:54 AM
in reply to: Brandon443

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Subject: RE: 2011 speed concept 7.5 outdated?

I'm riding a '95 Klein Aeolus with 8-speed drivetrain, and it hasn't been my race limiter.  I got it used in 2006 and have put over 5000 miles on it.  

Old and outdated?  For those who change bikes like they change socks, yea, it's old and outdated.  

Can it be reliable?  Sure.  Periodic maintenance will keep an old bike on the road just like it does old cars.  You're probably looking at replacing cables (some recommend that every other year), chain (every 2 years), tires/tubes (annually).  Bearings and bottom bracket are probably new, sealed types and may or may not need replaced.  You might spend $200-300 on a full tune-up for the above if you don't do this stuff yourself.  

 

2018-08-13 9:47 AM
in reply to: Brandon443


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Subject: RE: 2011 speed concept 7.5 outdated?
Again, thanks for the input. can anyone tell me from first hand experience what kind of time they saved in a similar situation to me. entering triathlons using an entry level road bike, then stepping up to a triathlon bike? i've read many articles that say an increase of around 1-2.5mph or more. however, i'd rather here it from people and what kind of difference they may have seen from the switch. my bike has greatly improved in the last year just on the road bike but i think in order to get where i want i need to invest in a triathlon specific bike.


2018-08-13 11:36 AM
in reply to: Brandon443

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Subject: RE: 2011 speed concept 7.5 outdated?

Where do you "want" to be?  

There are a lot of variables besides the bike.  

Road bike to road bike with clip-on aerobars may get you 1 mph for the same effort.  (That's been my experience with 2 road bikes where I've added aerobars.)  

Road bike with aerobars to tri-bike may get you a fraction of a mph and a few seconds/mile on the run.  

So let's assume you get 1.3 mph more (from 18 to 19.3 mph) and 5 seconds/mile on the run.  You'd save 12.6 minutes on a HIM bike split and 1.1 minutes on the run.  You might go from 50th percentile finish to 60th or ~100 places in a 1000 person race.  Is that worth $1000+ to you?  

Or...could you take that same $1000 and hire a coach for $80/month and with that additional training focus shave more than 13.7 minutes off your time?  

You might consider clip-on aerobars (and an aero helmet) for your road bike before you plunge into a tri-bike.  For <$100 (aerobars), you can get a feel for how comfortable you are riding in an aero position before plunking down $1000 to find out you don't like it.  Hint:  that aggressive aero position puts additional strain on you neck and your nether regions.  Sitting up on a tri-bike doesn't get you any advantage over sitting up on a road bike!  

I've got both and I rode both a lot (not so much lately).  If you want the tri bike and buying it doesn't put your rent at risk, buy it.  

2018-08-13 11:41 AM
in reply to: Brandon443

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Knoxville area
Subject: RE: 2011 speed concept 7.5 outdated?
it's impossible to tell you what you'll gain.

If you're going from a totally nailed down road bike position to a "bad" aero position, maybe not much at all. A bad road bike position to a super slick aero position, a lot. Somewhere in the middle of both... somewhere in the middle.

google will spit a ton of answers back at you... all basically ending with "it depends."

To add to that, here's a link to an "unscientific" test I did many years ago
https://beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp?tid...
2018-08-13 11:55 AM
in reply to: McFuzz

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Subject: RE: 2011 speed concept 7.5 outdated?

Originally posted by McFuzz

I'm riding a '95 Klein Aeolus with 8-speed drivetrain, and it hasn't been my race limiter.  I got it used in 2006 and have put over 5000 miles on it.  

Old and outdated?  For those who change bikes like they change socks, yea, it's old and outdated.  

Can it be reliable?  Sure.  Periodic maintenance will keep an old bike on the road just like it does old cars.  You're probably looking at replacing cables (some recommend that every other year), chain (every 2 years), tires/tubes (annually).  Bearings and bottom bracket are probably new, sealed types and may or may not need replaced.  You might spend $200-300 on a full tune-up for the above if you don't do this stuff yourself.  

 

 

Ya...that is about what I did too for my first TT bike.  I feel nothing is outdated unless it is no longer functional. 

My first TT bike was an 18 year old Canondale Multisport TT bike.  It is an aluminum frame, 9 speed, with 650 wheels.  It is a fast bike and I passed 50 people for every person that passed me on the first 30 miles of the bike course of the first 70.3 I did on it.  I would tuck and hold down the hill and coast past people on high ends bikes that where were peddling steady. So not a race limiter. I got an upgrade two and half years ago because I didn't want to invest in 650 wheel sets.  I wanted 700 wheel sets so that I could move them to other bikes as needed.  So the 650 wheels were a bit dated (as is the 9 speed, etc.), but at $300 it was in the slick deal category for me and I couldn't have done any better for the money.  My current "A" bike is a 2011 Kestrel Talon.  It fits me a little better than the Canondale, has the 700C wheels, 10 speed, and carbon frame.  I am the same speed on it as I am on the Canondale.  :-

2018-08-13 12:05 PM
in reply to: Brandon443


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Subject: RE: 2011 speed concept 7.5 outdated?
alright, all that sounds good. just seems like a tough choice whether or not to buy a triathlon (and i know fit, position and all that makes a world of a difference) specific bike. i did put clip on aero bars on my road bike over the winter. last year (i would say im in similar shape or maybe not quite as good this year due to a new born and time constraints), for my 10 mile TT i was hanging right around 18.8 mph (road bike, no aero bars, gym clothes). this year, same bike but with aero bars, and tri suit my last TT i hit an average of 21.4 mph. i really want to get that TT to around 23-24 mph. and be able to consistently hit the low 20's in races. my run is by far my strongest. i can push a 6:20-6:40/min pace off the bike for a 5k distance consistently. again, i appreciate everyones knowledge that has responded
2018-08-13 2:11 PM
in reply to: Brandon443

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Subject: RE: 2011 speed concept 7.5 outdated?

Given the info that you just told us, you are very capable of low 20s in a race even on a road bike.  You just need to train more or harder or smarter, or some combination of the above.

The tri bike will help a bit, but probably not a ton.  Training will definitely help, and it sounds like you are already close.

The tri bike might actually be more help in setting you up (better than a road bike will) for a strong run after the ride, once you get a solid fit on it.



2018-08-13 2:12 PM
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Subject: RE: 2011 speed concept 7.5 outdated?

Originally posted by Brandon443 alright, all that sounds good. just seems like a tough choice whether or not to buy a triathlon (and i know fit, position and all that makes a world of a difference) specific bike. i did put clip on aero bars on my road bike over the winter. last year (i would say im in similar shape or maybe not quite as good this year due to a new born and time constraints), for my 10 mile TT i was hanging right around 18.8 mph (road bike, no aero bars, gym clothes). this year, same bike but with aero bars, and tri suit my last TT i hit an average of 21.4 mph. i really want to get that TT to around 23-24 mph. and be able to consistently hit the low 20's in races. my run is by far my strongest. i can push a 6:20-6:40/min pace off the bike for a 5k distance consistently. again, i appreciate everyones knowledge that has responded

With my last TB I was able to achieve low 23 mph on 15.5 mile sprint course and still have excellent run pacing off the bike. IIRC, the rule of thumb is that for every 5 watts saved its ~ 0.5 sec per km (0.8sec/mi) faster.  Besides the bike type you can start with what you've done to date and make sure you are using fast tires (great spreadsheet here) with latex tubes (If you don't have already).  Some goes for decent wheels, etc. Depending on the bikes setup differences there's a good 20-30 (or more) watts in aero to be saved.  Here's an older article that provided aero saving possibilities with RB & TB configurations.

I was never a W monster, think my best Kinetic Road Machine trainer based critical power was around 260w, so I did everything I could to have best aero position I could with my limited neck range of motion and supporting equipment.  I rode a 2013 felt B12 that I had dialed in, FLO Cycling wheels, Conti GP4000 tires with latex tubes, front TriRig Omega brake. Heck I even added the small crank fairing they had for holding Di2 battery as it was supposedly worth 1W and a VR frame bottle for holding tubes, etc., as it was good for aero saving.

BTW, see you are from the CNY area, I grew up there.  On the bike, BicycleBlueBook states its worth $797 - $820 Excellent condition, $758 - $781 Very Good condition, and $691 - $712 Good condition.  I'd offer $700 to see what they counter with.



Edited by Donto 2018-08-13 2:21 PM
2018-08-14 5:18 AM
in reply to: #5247797


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Subject: RE: 2011 speed concept 7.5 outdated?
Donto, thanks for the spread sheet. One tire I don’t see on there unless I just keep skipping over it is the Vittoria Rubino pro speed. Can you or anyone reading this thread speak for these tires? I bought a pair thinking they’d be an ok choice for a short 10 mile duathlon here in a couple months but have ready very mixed reviews on them. The tires I have now came on the bike in the winter of 2016-2017 when I bought the bike and I have used quite a bit on the Trainer so the back tire definitely isn’t in the best shape. Like I said in an earlier post, due to time constraints I haven’t done any tri’s this year(just got that duathlon coming up in which I’m using to judge my biking progress from last years races) just trying to work on my bike and keep my running where it’s been. I have a hard time getting anywhere to work on my swim right now.
2018-08-14 6:54 PM
in reply to: Brandon443

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Subject: RE: 2011 speed concept 7.5 outdated?

Originally posted by Brandon443 Donto, thanks for the spread sheet. One tire I don’t see on there unless I just keep skipping over it is the Vittoria Rubino pro speed. Can you or anyone reading this thread speak for these tires? I bought a pair thinking they’d be an ok choice for a short 10 mile duathlon here in a couple months but have ready very mixed reviews on them. The tires I have now came on the bike in the winter of 2016-2017 when I bought the bike and I have used quite a bit on the Trainer so the back tire definitely isn’t in the best shape. Like I said in an earlier post, due to time constraints I haven’t done any tri’s this year(just got that duathlon coming up in which I’m using to judge my biking progress from last years races) just trying to work on my bike and keep my running where it’s been. I have a hard time getting anywhere to work on my swim right now.
Newer 25mm VRP tires were tested here,  Crr is right there with GP4000's, WITHOUT the puncture belt or tread thickness the GP4k has!  I'd rather race on Conti GP4k's for the durability or a faster Conti version.
https://www.bicyclerollingresistance.com/road-bike-reviews

https://www.bicyclerollingresistance.com/road-bike-reviews/vittoria-rubino-pro-speed-2016

What I loved about short TT's & Sprints were the trainer workouts.  In 45-75 minutes I could blast specific training intervals WO's and still have effective run training.  I'll be up that way in 2 weeks and coming from FL I'm looking forward to some Onondaga lake parkway and Erie canal running in the cooler weather!

 

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General Discussion Triathlon Talk » 2011 speed concept 7.5 outdated? Rss Feed