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TT or Road Bike
NornIronMan
✭✭
in Triathlon
Looking for a bit of advice from some kind souls here. I'm looking to buy a buy to use for my first Ironman next year and was wondering whether it would be best to buy a TT/Tri bike or a Road bike. This bike will only be used for solo training runs and the Ironman itself so I was leaning towards the TT but as a novice cyclist I'm not sure. Any advice or even recommendations would be greatly welcomed.
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Comments
I would go for a road bike over a tt bike. Far more versatile for your training.
A tt bike is good for speed on a flat course but most people can't stay in the tri bats for 6 hours or so.
A road bike is much more suited for all the training you need to put in.
I have both and use both equally ... BUT if i didnt have a bike ... I would go for a road bike ...greater all round use
yep - road bike which you can fettle for a tri with clip on tribars and deep rim wheels
when you are no longer a novice, THEN think about a TT bike
+ 1 for what WW & FB say
If you're only going to have one bike, get a road bike. A good road bike will do you for everything.
When you've got a road bike and using it regularly, then get a Tri bike
Remember two key rules in getting/owning a bike:
1) The best bike is not the most shiney or the most expensive or the most aero - it's the one that fits best (especially for Ironman)
2) The optimum number of bikes to own is N+1, where N is the number of bikes you currently own...
What he said..
TT bikes while nice arent a one stop shop like a road bike, if youve just got the one bike and its a TT bike its not going to be much fun for winter riding, group rides, easy rides with mates, sportive or hilly training rides.
Make it a road bike suitable for clip on tri bars though. Normal shape bars, not with a high sportive type front, ideally a steeper seat tube angle etc.
Many thanks for the responses. I do have an old road bike that I'll be using for winter runs as it's a good solid aluminium frame beast but I could do with something lighter and more of a proper size compared to my height. Seems a good road bike would be the most logical investment from reading the responses.
Good thing I'm at work so I can browse online for a new bike.
Cheers all
and before you buy, try a few for fit and feel. getting the fit right is key and you can only really do that by talking to a decent bike shop and getting measured. by changing things like stem length, crank length, saddle position, bar height etc you can then get a very good setup for you.