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Road vs Tri Bike

joehilljoehill
in General Training Discussions

I am sure this topic has been brought up before but how much does the team ride a road bike vs tri bike?  Contemplating getting a new carbon road frame as an upgrade from my older aluminum frame.   Hard to pull the trigger when I haven't ridden the road bike more than few times this summer.  Trying to spend $$ wisely!!!

 

Comments

  • kjanracingkjanracing
    Are you saying you rride the Tri bike more?
  • GMAN 19030GMAN 19030
    Which do you plan on training and racing more? There's your answer.
  • steveperxsteveperx
    I bought a new, high end carbon road bike for my birthday this year. I LOVE it. It is SO much nicer to ride than the old aluminum frame. I also have an "older" carbon tri-bike. I also love that one. I try to do all shorter OutSeason rides only on the tri-bike. Longer rides may be done on the road bike. I'll do the same thing throughout the first 8 weeks of the IM/HIM plan, but when I'm 12 weeks out from the race, it's all tri-bike all the time... unless I'm doing a road race or supported ride (e.g., MS 150) with lots of other people. Once my A race is over, the tri-bike goes into the stable until OS, and it's ALL road biking.
  • dan_forbesdan_forbes

     @Joe:  A lot of members here have both and enjoy the break from the TT bike in the off season.  I myself only have a TT bike because I do not do road races and I want to stay married.  That being said, I'm also a firm believer in the principle of specificity and think the more you train on what you are going to use will make you faster because your body does adapt that specifically (well, that's what I tell myself to justify only one bike!).  

  • Chris GChris G

     Buy the new bike, you know that you want to.

    As for percentages, I ride my tri bike more than my road bike as once the race season starts I ride it pretty much all the time.  This time of year I only ride my road bike.  Same will likely be true for the spring.  I find that when it is cold the road bike is better, not really sure why.

  • michaelgasser17michaelgasser17
    +1 for only one bike to stay married. I have had the internal debate several times on whether to get an awesome tri bike and race wheels, or a decent tri bike and decent road bike. Awesome tri bike tends to win every time.
  • scdankertscdankert
    Joe, I love my road bike. I will do all of my O/S training on it. When I'm locked in my pain cave pushing through my FTP intervals I want to be on it. Does that mean an adjustment when I hit the 12 week out mark? Yes. It takes a couple of weeks to adjust to the tri bike. To me it is worth it.
  • Paul HoughPaul Hough
    If you can only have one, get the tri bike. I love my road bike and both of my tri bikes and my collection of race wheels! image In the race build-up I'm mostly on the tri bike (one on the trainer and the other ready to hit the road). But I still pull the road bike out. I'm doing the Hilly Hundred Sunday so will use the road bike so I can join a peloton. In the winter, I'll shift to 80% road bike...similar to Stephan.
  • joehilljoehill
    Thanks for the input. I have a pretty nice carbon tri bike which really made my aluminum road frame seem really heavy and uncomfortable. Have the chance to get a really nice carbon frame on closeout which I would hope would hold me for a while. Boy, the older I get the more I am convinced it is the equipment and not the rider!!!!
  • kjanracingkjanracing
    I run clip ons on the road bike so I can do a close TT thang. Plus I'm doing my trainer intervals, and road intervals on the clip ons so I won't have that far to go when I start riding the TT bike again.
  • Christian RabbatChristian Rabbat
    Joe, if you join group rides, and if "roadie" stuff contributes significantly to training and riding pleasure, get the road bike. If you ride alone, your luxury dollars may be better spent pimping your tri-ride. BTW, I am biased - my Project One Madone 6.9 arrives in a couple of weeks image
  • Coach RichCoach Rich

    My notes:

    • If you can afford it, best to have both road and tri bikes, as it gives you more optoins. Generally, a road bike is more "fun:" usually handles better, many more hand positions = more comfortable = you can enjoy the ride as a ride, not just as a training event.
    • Tri bike, especially if you are interested in the most aerodynamic, fastest fit, becomes much more like work to ride. Think business casual for the road bike and 3 peice suit for the tri bike: when you strap yourself into the tri bike, you know you're there for work, all business. That's how mine is anyway.
    • Up until 12-16wks out from your race, ride the bike that makes you want to ride the bike. For me, this is my roadie. I want training to be fun, I want to bomb down descents, mix it up on group rides, etc. Then, about 16wks out, the road bike is hung up and I lock myself into the aerobars on the tri bike.
    • You can expect an initial loss of power on the tri bike, especially if your seat tube angle on the tri bike is very steep, ie, the nose of your saddle is directly above or in front of a line dropped from the nose to the center of the bottom bracket. This set up recruits more of your quads than a slack, road bike angle, and you'll feel it. For most people the adaptation that brings the watts back up to road bike watts takes 2-3wks. But it really doesn't matter because you're sooooooo much faster on the tri bike than the road bike. 
  • JESJES
    Would a road bike be a better choice on a long distance (IM or HIM) hilly technical bike course? I seem to climb hills better on my Trek Madone.
  • Coach RichCoach Rich
    Posted By Jane Sanders on 16 Oct 2010 09:08 AM

    Would a road bike be a better choice on a long distance (IM or HIM) hilly technical bike course? I seem to climb hills better on my Trek Madone.

     

    Nope, there are no courses in the US that are hilly enough or technical enough to warant a road bike. Always a tri bike, always as aero as you can be.

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