Used TT bike vs new road bike

eternalstudent

Ok so it's been a long time since I last posted on this forum. Since that post and my purchase (off here) of a fantastic single speed I have been enjoying more and more road cycling. So much so that I have started entering into competitive scenarios. My first foray into this was a duathlon, which was ova 40km cycle sandwiched between a 5 km and 10 km run.

To do this I borrowed my partners road bike, she is 8inch sorter, but the gears were a welcome benifit. I am now looking for a bike for me.

I have a very limited budget, around the £4-500 pound mark, this would get me a half way reasonable b-twin or halfords bike.

However, I have been looking at the older TT bikes and for that money they look an attractive option. Yes they are all alu framed, with carbon forks, but the TT bikes wee, to have much higher specked components.

I have already committed to a three race winter duathlon series, and intend to do at least 2 half IM over the next year, plus a couple of standard triathlons.

It's it a false economy buying a cheap road bike and finding that it is not up to the task of these sorts of races, or is it worse to go for the used TT bikes?

fenix

For me - I'd go for the road bike first and get a TT bike later.

Are you up at the pointy end of the field ? If not - then no need at all for a TT bike.

A road bike is more versatile - you can use it for group rides, sportives etc etc etc.

I've known people to race Ironman on £500 bikes and do well.

Put some tribars on it and it'll be 95% as fast as the TT bike. Ish.

slowbike

you can go for the road bike and put TT bars on it - I did that for my first year of TTs, then I got an offer of a s/h frame that I couldn't refuse - which was handy as it was time to change my road bike back into winter road setup....
The TT setup takes some getting used to, especially not having quick access to brakes (so you have to look much futher ahead) and the general position is so different too ...

If you're happy riding your fixie on the road and want to do more races then I'd get the s/h TT bike as getting used to this will improve your times and you can still use the fixie for general riding....

simon_masterson

Road bike w/clip ons is a mediocre compromise - the two positions require a very different bike. Having said that, it's only worthwhile investing in if it's a position you can and will ride and train in. A good TT bike is 90% about the position, and if you know what you're doing you can put together a very decent rig with older kit for a few hundred.

eternalstudent

Thanks for the input guys.

Basically I have no intentions of group riding either in a club or sportive style. Not got anything against either just very limited time.

I am not yet at the pointy end, more the better side of average, but wanting to be at the pointy end.

I have just bought a felt S32 about 5 year old. It was considerably less than my 400 budget so thought it was worth a shot.

Now looking forward to learning the position and getting up to speed :-)

iron-clover

In which case I would go for a second hand road bike- best of both worlds.
2nd hand TT bikes are great (mine is at least 3rd hand and 10-15yrs old) and I'm still looking at winning my local club's TT scratch contest on it- getting into the position is the most important bit of time trials.

However for you, that's also their biggest downfall. Their super agressive geometry will be uncomfortable for long rides, the cornering will probably not be as good due to the long wheelbase and it should be very stiff which is unforgiving on rutted roads. You probably won't be able to fit wide tyres either due to clearances.

However, if you get a decent 2nd hand road bike you can put clip ons on it and you'll be nearly there- if you can get close to your optimum position (usually just slamming the stem on an agressive road bike with clip ons) then you're nearly as good as being on a TT frame, and actually other things such as skinsuit and helmet makes more difference than the frame itself.

Plus with a road bike it's likely to be more comfortable over long distances so you can use it as a general use/ training machine easily.

Good luck!

Grill

I have a nice TT bike that fits your budget...

DKay

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19681802#p19681802]Simon Masterson[/url] wrote:

Road bike w/clip ons is a mediocre compromise.

I don't agree. A switch to an inline seatpost, moving the saddle forwards, a shorter stem and fitting clip-ons goes a long way to getting a decent TT position.