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Tri BIke Choice
Hi all. My first 70.3 is coming up later this year, and I'm now giving a lot of thought to investing in a tri bike for increased comfort over the distance and hopefully a slight time advantage+the possibility of slightly fresher legs off the bike. I'm looking at three main offerings - a Trek Speed Concept in the 7.0 or possibly up to 7.5 range, one of the new Shiv models, or a Scott Plasma. I've read that the Scott bikes tend to be a lot easier to travel with and work on. I'm also drawn by the inbuilt hydration on the Shiv, and by the UCI compliance of the Speed Concept if I get into club TT racing later on (this seems possible). I love my roadie, but even after a few fits and lots of stretching this year it's still killing me about 50-60ks into a solo ride.
Has anyone got any comparative experience of the three, or two of the three? Thanks in advance for any info.
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9 comments
After much deliberation, I ordered a Plasma 20 last week - local bike shop got me it pretty much half price!! Looking forward to it.
Wife approval achieved, especially after banging my Fuji up a touch in a race crash yesterday! Will check out the Planet X and a few others besides Specialized and Trek. Had a look at the Plasma as well.
I dont have any direct experience but I have always gotten help from here http://www.2wheelbikes.com/
Yeah cheers for that
Get it before you have kids otherwise you'll spend months trying to sneak it in under the radar LOL
Surprised that you can't get a comfy fit on your roadie. I have used my road bike for olympic, 2-80-20 and 70.3 races, with no issues, it is all about fit. I ride a Spesh Tarmac with tri-bars, a tri specific saddle, no need to change the stem, all good.
I appreciate I may be more flexible, but I've not seen the need to go for a full TT bike, I've always thought that only a Full IM would justify it!
To answer your question, what you have listed are all from BIG manaufacturers, you might like to try out some of the lesser brands just to find a better fit... and of course Planet X.
When I'm in the market, I'll be looking at Orbea, Boardman, even Canyon, but only if I can wean myself off the idea that a nice lightweight M2M steel frame would be much better in terms of comfort. In my view, for a TT bike, "spend it on the wheels", 'cos aside from comfort, the frame isn't going to make that much difference without a wind tunnel session, and new shoes, helmet, suit, no bento box, no spare tube/tyre, facial hair, etc, etc.
Thanks for your reply - the reason I'm keen on the larger brands is purely for access to customer service and so on. In NZ access to certain things can be limited at times (where I live anyway) and so I know I have dealers in all the large brands that I can trust. Again with wheels, the wind here is so strong a lot of the time that deep dishes are a serious no go - something like a 404 at most perhaps but definitely no 808s! I've looked at getting some bars and a saddle but, again, because things here tend to be so overpriced in comparison to the US and Europe I could almost buy a second cheap bike for the price. I've settled therefore on a TT bike at some point (and perhaps another fitting session on the roadie!!). I'm also very keen on a full IM in the next couple of years and although I could wait and get a TT bike then I'd really prefer just to get something now before I have kids!
Why don't you get a road bike and put those mini tri bars on, like they do in the Olympics?
Boardman Air 9.8?
That's what the Brownlee bros use.
And they're quite good
They ride road bikes because under ITU rules (the races they tend to compete in) they are allowed to draft, and when drafting you need the degree of control that a road bike gives. In Ironman and Half Ironman drafting is not allowed so the bike leg is a solo time trial of either 56 or 112 miles. Also, putting bars on a road bike means not having an ideal position either for riding it like a road bike, or like a tri bike.