Womens bike for triathlon + general duties...

El Badgerino
El Badgerino Posts: 30
edited October 2013 in Road buying advice
Watcha all,

I'm after some thoughts of a bike for my wife. She currently has a beloved (but very old) Raleigh, but is wanting to train towards and complete a triathlon next year. So a new bike would appear to be in order, but she has some fairly specific likes and dislikes towards bikes. So any thoughts around something:-

- Light / can be used for triathlon
- Has flat bars, she can't stand drop bars (an internet trawl reveals tri bars can be attached to flats?)
- Could also be used for general duties including having a child seat or trailer attached

Price range, well that's almost the question, what is out there and what is it going to cost me?

I'm thinking it'd have to be a light commuter bike really (the lack of drops surely rules out any tri specific bikes?)

Any thoughts?

Comments

  • frisbee
    frisbee Posts: 691
    I guess it depends how serious she is about doing triathlons but all your other requirements suggest a hybrid.

    Tri bars are probably going to be more trouble than they are worth.
  • cougie
    cougie Posts: 22,512
    If she cant stand drops - then she won't like tri bars either - its a much more aggressive position.

    This is nice - http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... 65534#tab1

    You'd have to check on the trailer thing - no idea how those work.

    She wont win any races on a hybrid, but if all she's after is a bit of fun...
  • MichaelW
    MichaelW Posts: 2,164
    Flat-bar roadbike like Giant Dash.
    Trailers such as Freedom Carry can fix to a QR.

    Tri bars do not have to be set aggressively low. Their use in touring is for comfort and alt handholds. Moving the hands closer is a big aero improvement.
    The tri position is rotated forward about the bottom bracket compared to a road race/time trial. You can replicate this using an in-line seatpost.
  • cougie
    cougie Posts: 22,512
    If she's not keen on drops - the position change is more radical again from flats to tribars.
  • El Badgerino
    El Badgerino Posts: 30
    cougie wrote:
    She wont win any races on a hybrid, but if all she's after is a bit of fun...

    I think this is the main aim. We've 3 kids and jobs and life to live, so there just isn't time for the training for anything more than for the fun / achievement of it.

    On the whole 'tri bars are more aggressive than drops' front. I hadn't really thought of that, so it's good to know, but, if she does fancy it, then bars can be added for race day / serious training and removed for normality. Drops to flats and back again is a more difficult prospect!

    We've actually got 2 trailers, one just clamps to the chainstay, the other adds and extra washer to the QR which then attaches to the trailer. neither should be much of an issue...

    Thanks for all the suggestions and thoughts so far!

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