Road bike to Triathlon bike - advice needed!

Furners78

Evening

I am hoping i might get some advice......

I have been training for some triathlons coming up later in the year, I try to cycle to work a couple of times a week and also on Wednesday completed my first Time Trial, which was great, although hard work on a Road bike!

So, i would like to upgrade my Road bike (that was £500) I have been recommended either a LIV Triathlon bike or a Cervelo P series. What i want to know is, if i get a triathlon bike, can i still commute and train on it?! I keep get conflicting advice and just don't know what to think!

Any advice is greatly appreciated!

Thanks

chippyk

You can commute on a TT bike but I wouldn’t recommend it. You’re miles from the brakes on the extensions and if you’re going across town then you’ll be far better off on the road bike. A good compromise would be some clip on TT bars.

You have to get used to a TT bike, they’re not that good on hilly courses in general and you have to get it set up so that you get off it and can run, it’s no good having a super fast bike leg if you’ve been in super aero position and can’t run.

Half a dozen people from the Tri club went to Lanza the other week for the IM and they all took their road bikes with clip on TT bars and left the TT bike at home.

Furners78

Thanks @ChippyK.... That has been my other option, get a better spec Road bike and then add bars etc.... I don't want to wreck a bike by cycling to work and back on bumpy country lanes....

Its not quite as simple as i thought it would be!

cougie

I'd just get a pair of Tri bars and put them on your road bike and see how your triathlons go.

You don't need to spend four figures on a bike to do triathlon.

I used my road bike for many years before deciding to take it a bit more seriously with a PX TT bike. Even then it's cheaper than your options.

You don't want to be all the gear and no idea.

And you can't really wreck a bike on bumpy roads unless you don't maintain it.

StillGoing

You also need to be sure what events you intend entering. Drafting events require a road bike with clip ons added if you wish, but no TT bikes. A TT bike can be used in non-draft events.

https://www.britishtriathlon.org/britai ... s-2018.pdf

Equipment:
In general, UCI rules, as of January 1st of the current year, will apply during competition and also during familiarization sessions and official training:
(i) UCI road race rules for draft-legal triathlon and duathlon races;
(ii) Time trial bikes are permitted for draft-illegal triathlon and duathlon races;
(iii) UCI Mountain Bike (MTB) rules for winter triathlon, cross triathlon and cross duathlon races.
The bicycle is a human powered vehicle with two wheels of equal diameter. The front wheel shall be steerable; the rear wheel shall be driven through a system comprising pedals and a chain. Bicycles are referred to bikes and will have the following characteristics in the following sections:
For Elite (Senior, U23, Junior and Youth) draft-legal races:
(i) Frames:
• The frame of the bike shall be of a traditional pattern, i.e., built around a main triangle of three straight or tapered tubular elements, (which may be round, oval, flattened, teardrop shaped or otherwise in cross-section) such that the form of each element encloses a straight line. The elements of the frame shall be laid out such that the joining points shall follow the following pattern: the top tube connects the top of the head tube to the top of the seat tube; the seat tube (from which the seat post shall extend) shall connect to the bottom bracket shell; the down tube shall connect the bottom bracket shell to the bottom of the head tube. The rear triangles shall be formed by the chain stays, the seat stays and the seat tube with the seat stays anchored to the seat tube at points falling within the limits laid down for the slope of the top tube. The maximum height of the elements shall be 8 cm and the minimum thickness 2.5 cm. The minimum thickness shall be reduced to 1 cm for the chain stays and the seat stays. The minimum thickness of the elements of the front fork shall be 1 cm; these may be straight or curved. The maximum ratio of any two dimensions in a cross section of any tube is 1:3;
• The bike will be no more than one metre and eighty-five (185) centimetres long, and fifty (50) centimetres wide;
• The bike will measure between 24 centimetres and 30 centimetres from the ground to the center of the chain wheel axle;
• There will be no less than 54 centimetres and no more than 65 centimetres between a vertical line passing through the centre of the chain wheel axle and a vertical line through the centre of the front wheel axle;
(iii) Dangerous riding may result in a penalty. This includes but is not limited to passing another competitor
on the wrong side.
British Triathlon Competition Rules 12
•
•
•
(ii)
•
•
Fairings are prohibited. Any device, added or blended into the structure, that is destined to decrease, or which has the effect of decreasing, resistance to air penetration or artificially to accelerate propulsion, such as a protective screen, fuselage form fairing or the like, shall be prohibited;
Bikes provided with the UCI Road Race homologation label (Code RD) are always allowed in ITU draft legal events, even if they contravene any of the 5 first bullets in this 5.2 c) (i) insert.
Bikes provided with the UCI Time Trial homologation label (Code TT) are forbidden unless they comply with the conditions listed above.

cougie

The vast majority of triathlons are non drafting.