Input appreciated!

lrwagner

Hello to everyone on BikeRadar,

I recently decided to stop being a couch potato and train over the next 2-3 years for an Ironman Triathlon, before then of course competing in smaller races. My father just passed away and I am wanting to complete the Ironman in memory of him since I grew up watching the Kona Ironman with him. I don't have much knowledge on road bicycles, from what I have read possibly would like an aluminum frame. I went to a local bike store and they suggested for the goal I have set, the CAAD12 would be a great bike that I wouldn't necessarily need to upgrade. The components were Shimano 105. Does anyone have any suggestions to what route to go for the purpose of Ironman? Frame type? What price range should I try to budget for? Any particular brands? I know I will have to form my own opinion but this is one subject I have extremely limited knowledge except for what I have read online for beginners. Any input is appreciated. Thanks

-Lawrence

ugo.santalucia

Any bike you can do big mileage on will be perfect... look around the 1000-1500 pounds mark

Anonymous

That is a fantastic bike, but for long distances a sweeping generalisation would be to say that a carbon frame MAY be more comfy.

If your ambition is to compete in 2-3 years then you'll have a much clearer idea of what you want/need for your ironman.

Might I suggest looking at a cheaper bike now to start building your fitness and your first triathlons and then push the boat out once you've got a feel for the sport? In that time while obviously bike design won't change much, value for money on second hand bikes will be extremely good where you may be able to benefit from electronic gears (handy on a TT bike from what I hear) and deeper wheels. Just a thought.

lrwagner

coriordan wrote:

That is a fantastic bike, but for long distances a sweeping generalisation would be to say that a carbon frame MAY be more comfy.

If your ambition is to compete in 2-3 years then you'll have a much clearer idea of what you want/need for your ironman.

Might I suggest looking at a cheaper bike now to start building your fitness and your first triathlons and then push the boat out once you've got a feel for the sport? In that time while obviously bike design won't change much, value for money on second hand bikes will be extremely good where you may be able to benefit from electronic gears (handy on a TT bike from what I hear) and deeper wheels. Just a thought.

What price range would you budget for a carbon frame? I have read that cheaper carbon frames are built with poor quality carbon.

lrwagner

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Any bike you can do big mileage on will be perfect... look around the 1000-1500 pounds mark

Would you suggest to keep that frame and upgrade the components as time goes on or upgrade the bike?

Anonymous

To be honest a 3-400 quid bike is fine for now to get you going. Btwin triban from decathlon or similar then that saves some budget for clothing. I hear tri wetsuits are pricey!!

Once you have been riding for a year or two you'll gradually pick up info from other riding friends and he an idea of what size and spec you want.

ugo.santalucia

lrwagner wrote:

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Any bike you can do big mileage on will be perfect... look around the 1000-1500 pounds mark

Would you suggest to keep that frame and upgrade the components as time goes on or upgrade the bike?

I would suggest to keep it as such... don't get hung up on the equipment, an iron man is about an iron-man, not a man that tries to save 5 minutes by having some better components. In a 12 hours event of that calibre the bicycle is completely irrelevant, the running shoes are much more important.

nochekmate

It's important that the Ironman bike leg is completed as efficiently as possible so fit & comfort is key over the 112 mile bike leg. I would then suggest that you consider a run/walk policy for the marathon that follows eg. 9 mins run & 1 min walk - this served me well at Weymouth 2015 & means running form remains good rather than being reduced to the plod.

Depending on time expectations I would recommend a dedicated TT bike rather than the CAAD12 - but you may want a road bike for training purposes (although training on the TT bike is recommended).

I have a TT bike but also recently bought a secondhand Cervelo S5 for the price of a CAAD12 - something like the S5 offers good road/TT compromise. On a tighter budget the Cervelo S1 is a bloody good machine in my experience for road/TT (reversible seatpost useful). Some may say the S series are a bit harsh but if you get the miles in whilst training the body copes incredibly well.

I loved the Weymouth event & all in all it was not as tough as I had anticipated (I had put the time in though).

Enjoy.

fenix

No need to spend that much. Any decent 500 bike can get you round.

As you're new I'd go for a cheaper bike and see how you get on. 18 months down the road you might find that you can do justice to a tt bike.

A tt bike as your only bike is a mistake. Get a cheaper one that can take mudguards as you need to be riding all year round to build up your stamina.

I'm a crap swimmer and pass a lot of mamils on thousands of pound machines. Disc wheels and tri bars not used as the riders can't get into the aero position.

Find a friendly bike shop or two and see what they have. It's not like one brand can cope with ironman and another can't. At the end of the day it's 112 miles and any decent bike can do that.

Chances are it's also going to be considerably longer than 12 hours too!