Buying a Bike - part deus...

[tonyP]

Hi,

I saw the thread ' buying a bike' but this will be slightly different...

I have a Tri bike, and after 3 years I think the time may have come to buy a road bike. Sigh.

As was pointed out on the other thread, the tri bike was made to go straight and fast. It has been suggested to me by a bike fitter (and rider) that road bikes have a 'mechanical advantage' of about 20 % over the tri bike when it comes to climbing hills (due to bike / rider geometry).

I do tri's, but they almost all involve hills, and my training area (Caledon Hills, north of Toronto) is hilly.

So, road bikes, carbon frame - here's my question - before I commit a chunk of change for a road bike, does anyone know of a dealer in the Toronto area that would either rent or demo a road bike to determine it's suitability.

Thoughts?

Thanks in advance,

Tony

[Wu wei]

No way it's a 20% advantage. A couple % tops.

If you are thinking of doing hilly tri's on a road bike, don't. The TT bike is almost always faster. In my 12 years of triathlon I have yet to encounter a course hilly enough to warrant using a road bike over a TT bike, and I've done some pretty hard courses.

Hi,

I saw the thread ' buying a bike' but this will be slightly different...

I have a Tri bike, and after 3 years I think the time may have come to buy a road bike. Sigh.

As was pointed out on the other thread, the tri bike was made to go straight and fast. It has been suggested to me by a bike fitter (and rider) that road bikes have a 'mechanical advantage' of about 20 % over the tri bike when it comes to climbing hills (due to bike / rider geometry).

I do tri's, but they almost all involve hills, and my training area (Caledon Hills, north of Toronto) is hilly.

So, road bikes, carbon frame - here's my question - before I commit a chunk of change for a road bike, does anyone know of a dealer in the Toronto area that would either rent or demo a road bike to determine it's suitability.

Thoughts?

Thanks in advance,

Tony

[RobAllen]

I would be interested to know what kind of "mechanical advantage" a road bike has over a tri bike.
Better braking? for sure but that does not get you up a hill faster. Both have have the same/similar hubs/gears/chains/cogs.

Borrow a road bike and try a route you normally do. They are two different bikes fit wise but no way there is more than a couple of % difference in efficiency based solely on the differences in fit.

[Wu wei]

I would be interested to know what kind of "mechanical advantage" a road bike has over a tri bike.

The only difference is seat angles and seat to handlebar drop (usually). I feel I climb better on my slacker seat angle road bike than my steep tri bike.

[RobAllen]

I would be interested to know what kind of "mechanical advantage" a road bike has over a tri bike.

The only difference is seat angles and seat to handlebar drop (usually). I feel I climb better on my slacker seat angle road bike than my steep tri bike.

But is that mechanical? or functional?

[Wu wei]

I would be interested to know what kind of "mechanical advantage" a road bike has over a tri bike.

The only difference is seat angles and seat to handlebar drop (usually). I feel I climb better on my slacker seat angle road bike than my steep tri bike.

But is that mechanical? or functional?

Functional. And I'm starting to wonder if it's psychosomatic...

[Wu wei]

I would be interested to know what kind of "mechanical advantage" a road bike has over a tri bike.

The only difference is seat angles and seat to handlebar drop (usually). I feel I climb better on my slacker seat angle road bike than my steep tri bike.

But is that mechanical? or functional?

Functional. And I'm starting to wonder if it's psychosomatic...

I thought about this further.
I'd wager one could produce more power with a steep position. A lot of roadies are starting to ride steeper angles after power testing on fit machines.

[tonyP]

What I meant, really, was - buying a bike part deux... but anyway...

So I borrowed my son's road bike and did a couple of rides that I often do. Wu wei is absolutely correct. The TT was faster by far - to the tune of 16 minutes over 50 K with roughly equivalent effort.

Here's the next question - has anyone quantified the time savings achievable by putting a set of clip on aerobars onto a road bike?

Realizing that a road bike with aerobars is a compromise, would that give the best of both worlds (road vs TT)?

I tell you what - let me rephrase the question and get to the crux of this... Can I better my Tri times (in Ontario) on a carbon road bike with aerobars over my current aluminum Cervelo P2SL ?

The mechanical advantage referred tp previously was my 'catch-all' phrase - I should have said ergonomic, or biomechanical - the advantage would lie in the geometry of the frame, and the position it puts the rider in and the various muscles that get recruited. The numbers aren't mine, they were the bike fitters - anyway - a moot point - it seems to be a given that a road bike is better at climbing.

Still - it's overall time that interests me.

Appreciate your thoughts folks, cheers,

Tony

[Wu wei]

TT bike is always faster (the alu Cervelo). I had to ride a road bike with clip-ons for a half-ironman 2 years ago because my TT bike wasn't ready yet.
I lost almost 10min to guys I usually compete against, even though I was fit.

EDIT: my current road bike is an aero road bike with a seat post that I can adjust to a steep position. It's possible I could get much closer on it than my previous bike. However the drop bars are still a lot of extra drag, and I would not be able to get as low or aero as my TT rig.

What I meant, really, was - buying a bike part deux... but anyway...

So I borrowed my son's road bike and did a couple of rides that I often do. Wu wei is absolutely correct. The TT was faster by far - to the tune of 16 minutes over 50 K with roughly equivalent effort.

Here's the next question - has anyone quantified the time savings achievable by putting a set of clip on aerobars onto a road bike?

Realizing that a road bike with aerobars is a compromise, would that give the best of both worlds (road vs TT)?

I tell you what - let me rephrase the question and get to the crux of this... Can I better my Tri times (in Ontario) on a carbon road bike with aerobars over my current aluminum Cervelo P2SL ?

The mechanical advantage referred tp previously was my 'catch-all' phrase - I should have said ergonomic, or biomechanical - the advantage would lie in the geometry of the frame, and the position it puts the rider in and the various muscles that get recruited. The numbers aren't mine, they were the bike fitters - anyway - a moot point - it seems to be a given that a road bike is better at climbing.

Still - it's overall time that interests me.

Appreciate your thoughts folks, cheers,

Tony