New Bike or Electronic groupset?

lenovo1983

I currently ride a Cube Peloton race and I upgraded the wheels to campagnolo zonda last year:

http://www.cyclingweekly.com/reviews/ro ... loton-race

I want to upgrade to an electronic groupset (SRAM etap). I'm struggling to decide whether its worth upgrading or if I should just get a new bike (Di2 or SRAM etap)?

My main race this year is Ironman Lake Placid and obviously want to get round as quickly and reliably as possible. My target time for the bike will be 6-6.5 hours (to give an idea of my ability).

I've seen a Di2 giant propel (2016) within budget and I really like the look of the bike, but will the aero frame and wheels be of any real world benefit (I'm dubious given some of the testing I've looked at)?

Budget £2000

Thanks for any advice.

pan280

the giant propel or the etap will not make you get round faster or more reliably.
if you don't have some clip on aero bars then that would be the first thing to look at.
and if triarthlons are your thing then getting a tt bike would be a reasonable upgrade too.

lenovo1983

I've had a few issues with the 105 shifters on the Cube so I'm not sure I agree about the reliability side of things - cables have failed on me, left shifter keeps jamming up and getting stuck in the big ring, they've never reliably gone into the chosen gear on demand. Obviously a service and possible new left shifter would help but I'd rather take the cables out of the equation for piece of mind.

I have clip on Aero bars and agree these are a fantastic upgrade, speed boost and a nice position to rest on!

I do only do triathlon events so would be open to a TT bike although I'm hesitant as most of my training rides and races are over hilly terrain. Do you believe this would have any benefit in bike speed?

bernithebiker

A full on TT bike would chip a few seconds off your time (versus something like a Giant Propel), but I doubt you would enjoy just generally riding it around as much, especially if your terrain is hilly. I would never have a TT bike as my 'only' bike.

The Propel is a nice looking bike that is usefully aero, and if it has Di2 and is in budget sounds like a good bet. SRAM Etap is good too, but it's main advantage, ease of installation, is negated by the fact that you're buying the whole bike pre-built.

super_davo

The correct answer would be to keep the Cube for training and buy a TT bike for racing. I reckon it's worth quite a bit more than a few seconds, more like an hour over ironman distance Vs a road set up (less if you have clip ons and other aero gear). Most importantly it's much easier to hold speed on a TT set up, which saves your legs for the run.
£2000 should buy you a very decent set up with Planet X or second hand; try the time trial forum. Just leave some budget for an aero helmet as that also helps quite a bit.

lenovo1983

Now I'm in even more of a pickle!

I'm interested in the TT option, not convinced it can improve my time by an hour, but if I can save 15 mins, I'd be happy with that. The only problem I can see is that in the week I tend to ride with work colleagues and riding the TT bike would be out of the question. How much cross over is there from training on a road bike to a TT bike? Would I essentially be wasting time training on the road bike if I'm using slightly different muscles?

fenix

PX used to do their stealth for about a grand.

It wont save you an hour but it will shave off a few minutes. I'd not contemplate the gears as an upgrade for this.

Lake Placid is hilly but I bet the best times are still done on TT bikes.

You've not got long to go now ?

fenix

Also not entirely sure IM know where ther own race is ? http://eu.ironman.com/triathlon/events/ ... z4ctGud9gw

About this Race
Head south to warmer conditions and resort amenities at this early-season race in the heart of Texas. Just 27 miles north of Houston, The Woodlands is the perfect venue to host the IRONMAN North American Championship.

super_davo

Didn't realise how hilly Lake Placid was.

In my experience a TT bike and full aero set up gains you 2-3mph vs a standard road set up for an equivalent level of effort on a typical flattish course, which over 110 miles and 6+ hours extrapolates to a lot (there was maths behind my assertion you could save an hour!). This will obviously be much less on a hilly course or if your road bike has aero nods like tribars, tweaked position and helmet.

Regardless of whether you would realise that level of saving yourself, I've done a few Tris in my time and on every event the sharp end of the field are on TT bikes.

I would do 90% of my training on a road bike and just use the TT bike for brick sessions as you approach the day. That keeps your race bike fresh which gives you a psychological boost for the day. The pedalling action is exactly the same barring small positional changes, so training on the road bike will cross over nicely. You'll also get another boost each time you go past people puffing into a headwind whilst you're spinning away in full aero tuck. And as a rubbish swimmer, this happens a lot to me!

fenix

I've raced about a dozen IM on different courses - certainly my fastest time was on a TT bike - but it wasn't an hour faster. Sadly. :-(

A TT Bike is much faster than a road bike - but you'll see plenty of people on tricked out TT bikes riding on the top of the bars as they've not got used to the TT bike. They're giving away time there.

DeVlaeminck

Agree that a TT bike (also look at your clothing, helmet etc as a lot of potential gains there) with aero wheels are going to make a significant gain if it fits you (not as simple as setting up a road bike imo) and you train on it.

Also agree that your road bike riding wont be wasted training so long as you do some TT bike specific sessions - can be used on turbo over winter once or twice a week (but make sure it's well protected from sweat) then some longer training sessions in Summer. A bit of yoga type stuff might help too if you are really keen or really inflexible.

You can often pick lightly used TT bikes second hand as they tend to be race day only bikes for many.

fenix

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Planet-X-Stea ... 1035485011

yep.

lenovo1983

Cheers all for the responses - I've picked up a second hand Cannondale Slice with Ultegra groupset for £600. Figured second hand would be better as if I don't get on with it, I can sell it with minimum/no loss.

16 weeks to go!

chippyk

Good point on the 2nd, make sure you're comfortable on it, no good saving 15 minutes on the bike if you get off in poor shape for the run. There's no such thing as a good bike leg if the run's crap. Good luck and don't be sh!t.