Road Bike for Ironman
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Last year I rode a Trek Speed Concept 7.2 at IMLP, this year I road a Specialized Tarmac Expert, with areo bars and fast forward seat and my time was an hour faster on the Tarmac. I did stop 2x's less times to use "the men's room" this year but my training wasn't much different over the past two years. Part of my improvement I think was to me being a smarter racer as I have just finished my 3rd year in tris (this was also my 3rd LPIM).
I know this is going against the grain, but my results on the road bike support me using the road bike again and I wrestle with going against the grain on this issue.
...My run was 5 minutes slower, but a lot of that was becasue my heart rate was way up because of the heat, so I took it pretty easy running. My legs didn't feel any worse than expected.
Your feedback is appreciated.
Best, Shwan
Comments
I'd be willing to bet the reason you were an hour faster was because you were in better shape and raced smarter. I'd also be willing to bet my entire net worth that you would have been even faster on the Trek SC than the Tarmac had you used the SC this year... assuming a decent fit on the SC. The aerodynamic drag created by the more upright position of a road bike is is way more than the layman thinks.
I'm with Bob on this, While I wouldn't bet MY net worth on SHAWN going faster (grabbing my bank acount might be a motivation to sandbag), I would make the bet if I rode his bikes at the same power level for 5 hours - I would cover more ground on the TT specific set-up than on the jury-rigged road bike. No question. I had the same discussion with my LBS when I first bought my TT bike in 2000. I had it special ordered, custom built, etc, and was waiting for it to be assembled @ the Merlin factory. I had second thoughts, and went in to ask them to substitute out drop bars (with a clip on aerobar) instead of the cow-horns with aerobars. They just laughed at me (gently), and didn't even bother to explain all the geometry stuff which I later learned about.
The other thing is ... when riding non-stop for 5 hours, I feel more comfortable on my TT bike (assuming I stay aero 80+ % of the time) than I do on my well-fitted road bike. A well-fitted TT bike should NOT be a chore to ride for long stretches.
I saw a guy at a race riding a road bike and rocking the rear wheel cover. It's just not the same....another reason to ride the tri bike. Race wheels look better on a tri bike
I don't read reports about a better ride but I was at the point you are making once upon a time.
N 1 according to me :
So I went out on many a ride switching bikes and also having a road bike with aero bars on it too. Straight up road bike I feel as though I have more power output and I did which was 10 watts + or - . If I had a mountain bike I'm sure the out put would have been higher as the taller you sit on the saddle the more power you can apply to the cranks.
The problem was I didn't ride an Iron distance and then run a lot after the ride. However I did notice on a lesser than Iron distance the wind drag beat me up pretty good whether the wind was produced by me and or relative on its own.
The road bike with the aero bars was a less watt producing ride over all with the RPE about the same. I used this set up in many SC races no problem and could use in an IM no problem as the fit , well it just fit good.
Later, I bought a Tri-bike cuz as in Rome do what they do so to speak. My bike is an Elite build local in the Philly area and the fitter is an awesome , awesome dude ! The fit was about 4 hours and we went through 4 seats , stems and measurements with trial and error to ensure the fit was good going out the door. As I rode I took the bike back for tweaking so it fits nice. The ride is great being in the aero position and I don't have any problems running after the ride as much as my fitness provides that is. I still own it. I have a road bike too.
My conclusion is, you can ride a rode bike for a long course Iron distance no problem as long as the fit , fits well for a long time being in the saddle. The only draw back is shifting a road bike with aero bars takes some effort. That effort to me means a lot cause as the hours go by the only thing I want to do is keep my legs moving. If I could afford it I would get electronic/battery control shifting. When you need a gear you want it yesterday that means a lot less wasted time and movement. For every second outside an aero position fiddling with anything you pay for it in loss of the miss advantage of being aero to start with.
Hmmm. Biking. Thong. Scary vision.