Road Bike for Triathlon Beginner

[Mark13]

I am sure this one will have been done before but here goes. I am an experienced runner (and coach) and a competent swimmer, but age and injury has caught up with me and i am struggling to run the sessions I used to do, so I am looking for a new challenge and need to buy a road bike suitable for training and a sprint tri distance c20k.

I have started some research but the choice and range is unbelievable. I want to limit the cost to under £750. So far i have looked at Decathalon B'twin Sport 3 or 4 Specialized Allezport and Boardman Comp bikes. Has anyone got any experience/advice/opinions on these bradnds/models or any others I should look at?

[jodypress]

Planet-X do great value bikes, well specced. Take a look around when you're at an event, generally most people are up for giving advice.

Also Ribble do good value bikes too, bikeradar forums or brave ebay and get a good second hand bike.

[Rinko]

I went for a Trek 1.7 which is well spec'd for the price, and I'm very happy with it. Used it for my first tri (only a sprint), and I also use it to commute to work on.

[anonymous-user]

i have a boardman which i love to pieces, fitted a cheap set of aero bars (profile century) from ebay, turned the seat post round to pitch me a bit further forwards and it makes a pretty good tt/duathlon bike.... I smiled as i passed the ceepo viper at castle combe last year!

i know its over budget but the planet x stealth is awesome and an excellent base to upgrade
http://www.planet-x-bikes.co.uk/i/q/CBPXSPUL/steal...
however to get a good bike under budget which is tri-focussed i would look at building your own using the ribble alloy tt frame from www.ribblecycles.co.uk as you can spec things how you want them and keep the costs down.
http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/bikebuilder.asp?acti... for another £50 you can fit it with fulcrum 7s and reduce the weight by 300g

[whirlybird]

Hi, Ive put a really nice MERIDA 880 Triathlon bike on ebay, sporting goods, cycling section
type in TRIATHLON MERIDA 880, looking at £400 ish, perfect fot
first TT/Tri bike, may be worth a look ???????

[Roman]

It sounds like you are looking for a road bike that you can use for general training as well as racing (with tri bars fitted) as opposed to a pure competition tt/tri bike?

If so I can't think of anything to beat the following for value & performance at your budget:

http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/specialedition.asp?a...

http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/specialedition.asp?a...

(light frame & sram groupset + low front end for a good aero position).

http://www.boardmanbikes.com/road/road_comp.html

You may find some roadbikes (like the Allez) are a bit too tall at the head tube if your most efficient position for racing is a low tuck.

For a pure tt/tri bike I'd follow the advice Pablo offered & start with a tt frame from Ribble or Chain Reaction. If you decided to increase your budget, a Giant Trinity or Felt tt bike currently on offer from from Wiggle for £900 or Planet X for £1,100 would be good (pure tri/tt) options.

Edited by Roman on Sunday 12th December 11:52

[johnny senna]

I have a road bike with clip on tri bars (Trek Madone 5.2). Trouble is, when you are down in the TT position, the geometry is never going to be as good as on a purpose built TT bike.
85% of the aero drag on a bike is the rider, so how you are positioned on your bike decides how quick it is rather than how expensive the bike is. For this reason, and on the flat, I would say a £1000 TT bike would be quicker than a £3000 road bike with clip on tri bars. Obviously with any climbing involved and the pricey road bike would pull you back in, same for twisty, technical courses (all rare in triathlon).
The more reading I do on this subject, the more I am realising that a purpose built TT frame is the way forward, purely because it gets the rider in the correct aero position. The key is the forward seat position which allows a relatively open hip angle (allows you to keep the power up compared to a closed hip angle) whilst at the same time your head is kept low.
The ideal scenario is to have one TT bike and one road bike.

For 900 quid, this looks great:
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/focus-culebro-tria-2010/

The bigger sizes of this bike are out of stock, but it got a good review in 220 magazine:
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/giant-trinity-0-2010/

[PGN911]

Hi,

I would recommend a Boardman. Buy it from Halfords and get another shop (Evans, local tri specialist) to set it up. Halfords mechanics are woeful at best.

Best value for money bikes inho unless you want to source and build your own from scratch. which very very few do.

You are always going to get bike envy, unless you spend 6k on a your dream bike, but at least with the Boardman you'll have a good frame onto which you can upgrade wheels, add on tri bars etc.

Good luck.

[anonymous-user]

PGN911 said:

Hi,

I would recommend a Boardman. Buy it from Halfords and get another shop (Evans, local tri specialist) to set it up. Halfords mechanics are woeful at best.

Best value for money bikes inho unless you want to source and build your own from scratch. which very very few do.

You are always going to get bike envy, unless you spend 6k on a your dream bike, but at least with the Boardman you'll have a good frame onto which you can upgrade wheels, add on tri bars etc.

Good luck.

as i always say with boardmans, buy it online, get it delivered to the store boxed, take it home and build it yourself. its not rocket science. most of it is already done, you will need to bolt on the handlebars and align the cables but its a nice way to get to know your bike and saves some cash....

[Mark13]

Thanks for the advice.
I have considered Boardman, but was put off by adverse feedback about Halfords from several people.
However i have found 3 other suitable bikes at another online retailer.
1. Cube Ariel 2010 £498.98 (was £668.99)
2. Cube Paloton 2010 £598.99 (was £798.99)
3. Vitus Zenium 2011 ££637.98 (was £799.99)
I have plenty of help at hand to build and set the bike up and all these look good enough for me to train on and do Sprint distance tri's.
I have found it very difficult to compare specs as the same kit is often described differently. My main criteria has been to get the lightest and most simple bike for under £700. I have never understood the need for 27 gears and wonder how many are used with 3 cogs on the front etc.

[Roman]

I'd definitely go for the Vitus out of those three.

As you say there is no need for a triple on the Cube Peloton when effectively the Vitus only loses out on 1 lower gear using a compact.

The Zenium also comes with semi aero rims and I think it looks the dogs for £600. I used to race a Vitus (even won a few!) and loved mine.

[Mark13]

Thanks Roman. I like the spec of the Vitus for the reasons you describe. I have looked at the frame sizes and reckon i would need the 55, but again it is confusing. I am 6 feet and my inside leg measurement is c80cm (80x.69 = 55.2). I will probably go and look at a few bikes first and get a feel for the frame size.

Edited by Mark13 on Monday 13th December 18:57

[mrandy]

Mark13 said:

Thanks Roman. I like the spec of the Vitus for the reasons you describe. I have looked at the frame sizes and reckon i would need the 55, but again it is confusing. I am 6 feet and my inside leg measurement is c80cm (80x.69 = 55.2). I will probably go and look at a few bikes first and get a feel for the frame size.

Edited by Mark13 on Monday 13th December 18:57

Mark you should really try bikes with tri bars fitted if you are going to be in that position for periods of time when racing.Not easy when in a LBS but maybe try some of your tri clubs bikes out.Top tube length,stack heights and overall frame geometry make more difference than any other when in this position.

[itsnotarace]

mrandy said:

Top tube length,stack heights and overall frame geometry make more difference than any other when in this position.

Agreed, inside leg measurement can be pretty much ignored. Stack, reach and top tube length are more important to get right.

[HundredthIdiot]

Tri-specific fitting and geometry is less critical for sprint distances, IMO.

Get get a really well fitted road bike and stick some cheap clip-ons on.

[Mark13]

Thanks for all your help.
I am very close to purchasing the bike but am curious to understand the difference between the Sora and Tiagra equipment. Also the different crank descriptions as i am now looking at bikes with FSA Omega Mega Exo (Cannondale CAAD8/Synapse Tiagra and Giant Defy 2 bikes) and FSA Vero on the Trek 1.2C. I was also looking at Specialized Allez Sport 18 but the spec seems to be inferior.
I have also been told to look at the wheels but that is even more difficult to fathom.
Any thoughts?

[itsnotarace]

Tiagra is better than Sora, the FSA Omega Mega Exo is better than the FSA Vero

All the wheels at that sort of price range of bike will be heavy but durable. Don't get hung up on wheels, they are a cheap and easy upgrade path when you wear your originals out.

[anonymous-user]

"better" basically means a bit lighter and more metal used in the manufacture of components which increases durability. shifting wise, it should be a bit more precise but thats a lot about maintenance schedules and the use of guality lubricants too.

quality wheels are cheap and there are lots available. as an example fulcrum racing 7s or shimano RS20s retail for around £150 a pair but you will be very lucky to find either pair on a bike under £1500. £150 might seem a lot when you are spending £800ish on a bike but the difference between those and the wheels the bike comes with will be massive. my advice would be to suffer the lesser groupset if it means you can afford to replace the wheels immediately.

have a look at the gipiemmes from kinetic one if you are after some cheap aero rims.

[shalmaneser]

Mark13 said:

Thanks for all your help.
I am very close to purchasing the bike but am curious to understand the difference between the Sora and Tiagra equipment. Also the different crank descriptions as i am now looking at bikes with FSA Omega Mega Exo (Cannondale CAAD8/Synapse Tiagra and Giant Defy 2 bikes) and FSA Vero on the Trek 1.2C. I was also looking at Specialized Allez Sport 18 but the spec seems to be inferior.
I have also been told to look at the wheels but that is even more difficult to fathom.
Any thoughts?

Tiagra is much, much better.

Sora has a funny shifting system, where you can't shift from the drops. With Tiagra you can. Go into a bike shop and ask them, they will show you and tell you to go for Tiagra, it's a massively worthwhile upgrade.

The Cannondale frame out of the two you mention (Defy/CAAD 8) is so much better than the giant it's untrue. Try and ride them back to back, Cannondale is a much smoother ride and better bike overall.

The Trek is overpriced - for example, the megaEXO crankset has the much stiffer outboard BB whereas the 1.2 has a crappy, flexy, heavy square taper BB.

[Rob13]

I bought the Boardman, and really wanted the Tiagra levers over the Sora's due to the shifting system. For its price, the Boardman is a lot lighter than its competitors in that bracket and the bike gets good reviews for its stiff frame and the transmission of power. I'm itching to get out but I'm still trying to source clothing so I dont look an idiot! Must get some SPD's first