Budget Triatlon Bike
Discussion
Gargamel said:
Replacement Washing Machine Trap Nozzle?
Disco You said:
You do realise that your question is like saying: "Spec me a car, I want to drive to Africa and need it to be as cheap as possible." Don't you?
Anyhow, your cheapest option is likely to be a second hand road bike with clip on tri bars.
Not a bad analogy.. You could still get there in a 500 quid snotter, but most people think you need a massive 4x4 with a snorkel..Anyhow, your cheapest option is likely to be a second hand road bike with clip on tri bars.
A half is only 56 miles.. you could do it on any old bike if you're determined. From your post though, a reasonable roadbike from whatever source. Make sure it fits and is comfortable.
el stovey said:
Gargamel said:
Replacement Washing Machine Trap Nozzle?
t, I am really losing it. blasted Ipad 
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/specialized/sh...
With TT bikes its about the geometry more than anything, you can get quite a cheap TT frame from Ribble etc that will put you in the right sort of position (road bikes don't really put you in the right sort of position to be honest without a LOT of messing about).
You don't need anything flash, but I would certainly recommend a TT bike over road bike, even if it is just a cheap one. A chap I know (who is at the sharp end of the nationals usually in his distance) was competing on a Ribble Frame and a disc cover.
You don't need anything flash, but I would certainly recommend a TT bike over road bike, even if it is just a cheap one. A chap I know (who is at the sharp end of the nationals usually in his distance) was competing on a Ribble Frame and a disc cover.
Once you've got aero bars, wheels make more difference than anything else. Most cheap TT bikes have crap wheels.
A cheap road bike with areo wheels (£500 from Planet X) and aero bars (£50 ish) is way better than a £1000 TT bike with stock wheels.
A cheap road bike with areo wheels (£500 from Planet X) and aero bars (£50 ish) is way better than a £1000 TT bike with stock wheels.
Edited by mikee boy on Friday 23 August 11:44
I'd look at the route before shelling out for a TT bike= unless you are going to start taking this up on a more frequent basis. If there are any notable hills you wil llose jsut as much time trying to climb on a TT bike as you wil gain on the flat bits. TT bikes are pretty hard to train on so I'd find some aero bars and get a simple fitting session sorted so you can get a good tuck position as well as something that works all the time.
If you still want a TT bike, I'd look at the planet x stealth which is hughely popular on the club scene and good value for money.
If you still want a TT bike, I'd look at the planet x stealth which is hughely popular on the club scene and good value for money.
mikee boy said:
Once you've got aero bars, wheels make more difference than anything else. Most cheap bikes have crap wheels.
No they don't. You simply cannot get as aero on a road bike as you can on even a £100 TT frame because the geometry is totally different. Also a skinsuit and suitable helmet make more odds than wheels.As for your edit, that's total balls.
pablo said:
I'd look at the route before shelling out for a TT bike= unless you are going to start taking this up on a more frequent basis. If there are any notable hills you wil llose jsut as much time trying to climb on a TT bike as you wil gain on the flat bits. TT bikes are pretty hard to train on so I'd find some aero bars and get a simple fitting session sorted so you can get a good tuck position as well as something that works all the time.
If you still want a TT bike, I'd look at the planet x stealth which is hughely popular on the club scene and good value for money.
A TT bike is still quicker up most hills, it will be quicker on the flat, and quicker down the other side of the hill. Obviously if you're doing a time trial up a mountain then there would be a question to be asked, but TT bikes in my experience are quicker over just about any terrain, even with hills. And not sure why you say they're hard to train on? Training in TT position is the BEST thing you can be doing if you're going to race in that position, training in a road position then just riding the TT bike for the race is a road to ruin.If you still want a TT bike, I'd look at the planet x stealth which is hughely popular on the club scene and good value for money.
okgo said:
mikee boy said:
Once you've got aero bars, wheels make more difference than anything else. Most cheap bikes have crap wheels.
No they don't. You simply cannot get as aero on a road bike as you can on even a £100 TT frame because the geometry is totally different. Also a skinsuit and suitable helmet make more odds than wheels.As for your edit, that's total balls.
A sample of wheels showed that 'good aero wheels' produced a saving of 50-70 seconds over 40k, so roughly 100-140 over 56 miles. That's not compared to the cheap wheels you'd get on a cheap TT bike which are likely to be specced to be changed as soon as the bike leaves the shop.
You can get aero on a road bike and you can set it up to work well for TTs. It may not be as good as a specific TT bike, but for a TTer on a budget, aero bars and then aero wheels are the way to go.
This article: http://www.bikeradar.com/road/gear/article/how-aer... shows the difference between a tweaked road bike and a good TT bike to be 20W.
mikee boy said:
I thought the OP was asking about budget Tri bikes, not helmets and skin suits.
A sample of wheels showed that 'good aero wheels' produced a saving of 50-70 seconds over 40k, so roughly 100-140 over 56 miles. That's not compared to the cheap wheels you'd get on a cheap TT bike which are likely to be specced to be changed as soon as the bike leaves the shop.
You can get aero on a road bike and you can set it up to work well for TTs. It may not be as good as a specific TT bike, but for a TTer on a budget, aero bars and then aero wheels are the way to go.
This article: http://www.bikeradar.com/road/gear/article/how-aer... shows the difference between a tweaked road bike and a good TT bike to be 20W.
You said that the next big thing after aero bars was wheels, when actually its probably a skinsuit and or helmet, they're also far cheaper than swish wheels.A sample of wheels showed that 'good aero wheels' produced a saving of 50-70 seconds over 40k, so roughly 100-140 over 56 miles. That's not compared to the cheap wheels you'd get on a cheap TT bike which are likely to be specced to be changed as soon as the bike leaves the shop.
You can get aero on a road bike and you can set it up to work well for TTs. It may not be as good as a specific TT bike, but for a TTer on a budget, aero bars and then aero wheels are the way to go.
This article: http://www.bikeradar.com/road/gear/article/how-aer... shows the difference between a tweaked road bike and a good TT bike to be 20W.
I personally think a really cheap TT frame with proper TT bars with your normal road wheels is still a good option, and will be better than spending £500 on wheels.
I went from a very aero roadbike, with clip ons, and expensive wheels which you would imagine is about as good as you can get on a roadbike to a TT bike and immediately was 60-90 seconds quicker over 10 miles. And over 25 miles 4-5 minutes quicker. The VAST majority of these gains came from the position the TT bike allowed me to ride in.
So my advice is buy something like the below :
http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/sp/road-track-bike/h...
http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/sp/road-track-bike/f...
Then add a cheap groupset with bar end shifters, use your existing wheels and consider something like this http://www.raltech.co.uk/Prod_3-Wh-Cov.html and you will have something that is almost as good as any TT bike for not a lot of money, but more importantly it will be far quicker than you roadbike could ever be.
okgo said:
mikee boy said:
I thought the OP was asking about budget Tri bikes, not helmets and skin suits.
A sample of wheels showed that 'good aero wheels' produced a saving of 50-70 seconds over 40k, so roughly 100-140 over 56 miles. That's not compared to the cheap wheels you'd get on a cheap TT bike which are likely to be specced to be changed as soon as the bike leaves the shop.
You can get aero on a road bike and you can set it up to work well for TTs. It may not be as good as a specific TT bike, but for a TTer on a budget, aero bars and then aero wheels are the way to go.
This article: http://www.bikeradar.com/road/gear/article/how-aer... shows the difference between a tweaked road bike and a good TT bike to be 20W.
You said that the next big thing after aero bars was wheels, when actually its probably a skinsuit and or helmet, they're also far cheaper than swish wheels.A sample of wheels showed that 'good aero wheels' produced a saving of 50-70 seconds over 40k, so roughly 100-140 over 56 miles. That's not compared to the cheap wheels you'd get on a cheap TT bike which are likely to be specced to be changed as soon as the bike leaves the shop.
You can get aero on a road bike and you can set it up to work well for TTs. It may not be as good as a specific TT bike, but for a TTer on a budget, aero bars and then aero wheels are the way to go.
This article: http://www.bikeradar.com/road/gear/article/how-aer... shows the difference between a tweaked road bike and a good TT bike to be 20W.
OP, this article: http://www.220triathlon.com/train/aero-biking-part... is a good place to start looking at the relative benefits of different aero enhancements.
That's an interesting piece. You can reproduce some of the aero benefits conferred by a TT bike using a road bike and clip-on aerobars, but what's less easy is to do so with the kind of hip angle that you need in order to minimise the damage that the bike leg does to your running - Dan Empsfield's articles on bike fitting are a useful read.
Even on a course like Wimbleball you'll probably be quicker in a 70.3 race if your only bike is a TT machine, set-up correctly for long-distance triathlons and you have to do all your riding on it and you're disciplined about using the aerobars all the time that it's safe to do so...
Downside is that it's a bit crap for social rides and you look like a knob out riding with your children.
Even on a course like Wimbleball you'll probably be quicker in a 70.3 race if your only bike is a TT machine, set-up correctly for long-distance triathlons and you have to do all your riding on it and you're disciplined about using the aerobars all the time that it's safe to do so...
Downside is that it's a bit crap for social rides and you look like a knob out riding with your children.
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