Triathlon / TT Bike or Aero Bike?

tubsolard

Hi,

I'm planning on getting a new bike next year for Triathlons. I do maybe 3/4 a year from Sprint to Half Ironman plus the odd Time Trial (which I'll do allot more of with a TT Bike).

I'm just wondering as I see lots of people just use an Aero bike for Triathlons what my best options is. I'm reasonably competitive but not at the highest level. My plan for 2017 is to go under 2:30 for an Olympic Triathlon.

I have 3 options:

1 - Source some Aero wheels and bars for my Cannondale Super Six Evo.
2 - Purchase a second bike being :
A - A new or second hand Triathlon / TT Bike
B - A new or second hand Aero bike with an Aero frame, wheels and bars.

I don't have a huge budget in fact I don't know what my budget is yet, possibly between £1k and £2k.

I was looking at the Exocet 2 but that's now out of production and the Exocet 3 is a little over budget. The problem I'm finding is that if I buy a triathlon or aero bike, I'd still more than likely need to buy some Aero wheels as not many come with Aero wheels when spending under £2k.

Just wondering if it's actually worth buying such a specific bike and if so, recommendations welcome!

Cheers.

Scott

napoleond

Scour the Time Trialling Forum for used bits and build up a 2nd hand Tri/TT specific bike. This can be done very well for pretty damned cheap, especially frames and wheels.
E.g. my Hed trispoke front wheel cost me 150 quid and just needed some new bearings fitted.
Fit Ultegra or 105 groupset from Wiggle or Merlin for a very good price.

tubsolard

Thanks, that is definitely another option!

Might sound like a silly question but where is the Time Trial Section?

I looked for a Time Trial or Triathlon section within Bikeradar but couldn't find one.

diamonddog

The Exocet 3 will probably be on offer before next year or what about the Stealth.

joenobody

tubsolard wrote:

Might sound like a silly question but where is the Time Trial Section?

I suspect he's talking about http://www.timetriallingforum.co.uk/

fenix

I'd go with Nap D's comments.

An aero bike isn't really that aero - but they look pretty.

If you are going to take the tt / tri seriously - you need a tt bike. Doesnt have to be expensive but something that makes your body position right. Cos at the end of the day - its your body thats the drag - not a skinny bike frame.

sopworth

Hi Scott
I was in the identical dilemma to you only a couple of years ago. Given you have a superb bike in the SuperSix, I'd be very tempted to build a TT rig for TT's and triathlons. Unless the triathlons are very lumpy courses, then you will regret not going them on a TT bike.
Before stepping into the TT market, maybe blow a small amount of that 2k on getting a good fitter to size you up for a TT frameset and base your shopping on that. I did this and it ruled out certain bikes I had in mind: Px Exocet, but it did give me a good list to go off. I went for an Argon 18 frameset which I managed to acquire from a shop for £800 and built the rest up from being savvy on here, eBay and scouring the classifieds. I already had some Mavic Cosmic, which I raced and TT'd on for a season before buying a disc from Flo wheels. I doubt my built has gone past £1600 including the Flo disc.

napoleond

Yeah I did mean the actual site, timetrialforum, sorry!

chippyk

The simple answer is buy both.....

More seriously whichever you buy, once you've got it fitted right as Sopworth says, you have to train in that position and get used to it. I've done Iron distance races on my road bike, I'm not at the sharp end of the pack, about 6-6.15 for the bike leg, and towards the end I've seen plenty of people on TT bikes or with clip ons that are sat up.

Fitted correctly, and if you can maintain the aero position a TT bike will be quicker. Having said that, it on a local 10 mile TT course, although I've never raced it, the last time I tried it I was quicker on my road bike without the clip on bars and forward seat post.