ISO: Recommendations for Tri Bike and Loadout

Blue bikes is a new company and sells a time trial/ triathalon frame without components. it's light, and not too expensive, and could get a build kit and bars and wheels for probably less than $5k. www.rideblue.com

Synpax said:

Hi,

I am going into the market for a tri bike. The problem is that I don't know very much about manufacturers and there are SO MANY. I realize that some fit people differently, but was hoping you could help me narrow it down.

I'm not looking to spend more than $5k up front but will spend more on upgrades.

One that has caught my eye is the ride soft. It's design makes sense.

Thanks.

I'd look at http://www.cervelo.com. some great tt bikes and reasonable prices. will you use it solely for triathlons, or will you do time trials? softrides are not UCI approved, and that could cause you to be denied entry into some races.

rv said:

I'd look at cervelo.comcervelo.comOpen ↗. some great tt bikes and reasonable prices. will you use it solely for triathlons, or will you do time trials? softrides are not UCI approved, and that could cause you to be denied entry into some races.

Right now, just tris. I will probably never do a TT.

So Cervelo makes a bunch of bikes. Can you just tell me which is best without me having to look at every single one?

That's my biggest frustration with bike making websites.

Synpax said:

Hi,

I am going into the market for a tri bike. The problem is that I don't know very much about manufacturers and there are SO MANY. I realize that some fit people differently, but was hoping you could help me narrow it down.

I'm not looking to spend more than $5k up front but will spend more on upgrades.

Are you talking Jamaican dollars here? $5k and you don't know very much about the manufacturers? $5k bikes are what professionals ride. Look at the $1k to $2k range.

some links:
http://www.rooworld.com/bikes/2005/
http://feltracing.com/2005_bikes/2005_s32.html

Synpax said:

One that has caught my eye is the ride soft. It's design makes sense.

It's Softride and again "Look at the $1k to $2k range."

P.S. I have never heard any bike shop owner say anything nice about Softrides.

Synpax said:

So Cervelo makes a bunch of bikes. Can you just tell me which is best without me having to look at every single one?

That's my biggest frustration with bike making websites.

Are you kidding me? You are going to spend $5k plus upgrades and you wont even take the time to learn for yourself?

On second thought. This is the best bike for you, here:

http://www.litespeed.com/bikes/2005/blade.aspx

Make sure you get the Dura Ace model and alert all of us when you place it for sale on Ebay because you didn't use it.

Synpax said:

Right now, just tris. I will probably never do a TT.

So Cervelo makes a bunch of bikes. Can you just tell me which is best without me having to look at every single one?

That's my biggest frustration with bike making websites.

since you know nothing and don't seem interested enough to learn, look at the cervelo dual. lots of people win their age groups on bikes not nearly as nice as the dual. if you want something a little better, look at the p2k. the p2k with an additional set of race wheels will be all you ever need. I won a state championship on mine. no brag, just fact.

Wow, there is a lot of venom on this site. I said was brand new. I've done a LOT of reading and research.

There are about 20 tri bike makers out there. I don't see any version of "consumer reports" that looks at all of them. The magazines review them but don't compare them. I've seen a few sites that compare them but only compare a small number. Bike shops don't exactly let you borrow them for a week to test them out.

One guy recommended Blue and I hadn't even heard of them, so already I learned something.

BTW - the 5k price was with the parts. So what looks good to me is the Cervelo P3 or P3 Carbon with the DA10 package and it's around 4300 or so.

If Bike A is better than Bike B for a pro, than it's better for me even though I am an amateur. Why should I get a bike that ain't as great just because I'm new? Odds are the bike is a smaller factor for the elite than it is for the non-elite, right?

If there *is* some kind of overall review report or so, that would be great - point it out.

Synpax, man they did attack you. They did the same thing to me. I too do tri's . I'd like to get some of these guys in the water and go for a 1500m swim.
My advice would be like they said. Buy a 2k bike and use it for a year or two.
You won't be a better biker than the bike and after a year you will learn alot and know what you wan't, then you can sell the bike and not lose too much and buy a better bike to last you for the next 10 years. I bought a Specialized multisport bike. I like it. It cost about 1200 and again it's still a better bike than I am a biker. When I outgrow it in a year or two I will sell it for about 7-800 and be a smarter purchaser. Don't learn your mistakes in thousands,
make them in hundreds.
Good luck.
BOYD

Are you buying a bike to impress people with a brand name or do you want to ride faster with less effort? If you want to impress people, get whatever is trendy and costs the most. If you want to ride better find a bike shop which knows how to fit you on a tri bike. If you ride Lance's bike it will impress everyone, but if it doesn't fit you it will slow you down, leave you with no energy for the run and possibly create injuries. Get fitted!

Synpax said:

Wow, there is a lot of venom on this site. I said was brand new. I've done a LOT of reading and research.

There are about 20 tri bike makers out there. I don't see any version of "consumer reports" that looks at all of them. The magazines review them but don't compare them. I've seen a few sites that compare them but only compare a small number. Bike shops don't exactly let you borrow them for a week to test them out.

One guy recommended Blue and I hadn't even heard of them, so already I learned something.

BTW - the 5k price was with the parts. So what looks good to me is the Cervelo P3 or P3 Carbon with the DA10 package and it's around 4300 or so.

If Bike A is better than Bike B for a pro, than it's better for me even though I am an amateur. Why should I get a bike that ain't as great just because I'm new? Odds are the bike is a smaller factor for the elite than it is for the non-elite, right?

If there *is* some kind of overall review report or so, that would be great - point it out.

Unless limited by wealth, (i.e. the inspiring young racers that ride 8,000 miles a year on a $500 bike because that is all they can afford) the value of one's bike should be proportional to one's interest in the sport. When you say you want us to just tell you what bike is the best, you are showing us you have $500 bike interest while looking for a $5,000 bike and that is well, insulting.

It never ceases to amaze me (in a good way) how much research most people on this forum do when shopping for a bike, even the ones looking at $500 entry level bikes. Most of them narrow their choices down to about 3 and know more about those bikes then the sales guy at the LBS does.

Your vast mismatch of interest versus bike price is something we all see every single day on Ebay. (i.e. guy selling $5,000 bike with less than 400 miles on it) To put that into perspective, 400 miles is what an enthusiast rides in a month, what a dedicated cyclist rides in 2 weeks and for a lot of people riding $5,000 bikes, 400 miles = one week of riding. We would all love to see you prove us wrong, we would, but odds in this case are that we will see your new bike on Ebay in less than a year.

Start with a cheaper bike to test the waters and learn what works for you. Even if you end up loving the sport, you may still end up having to buy another $5,000 bike because your first $5,000 bike didn't feel right to you.

While you are at it read this thread: (this isn't the first time this issue has been mauled over)
http://www.cyclingforums.com/t43152-.html

One more thing:

Synpax said:

If Bike A is better than Bike B for a pro, than it's better for me even though I am an amateur.

That is too simple of a generalization. Try:

Bike A is better for Pro A and Bike B is better for Pro B, but bike B is not better for Pro A and Bike A is not better for Pro B. Since you are an amateur you don't know if you are amateur A or amateur B.

jitteringjr said:

Unless limited by wealth, (i.e. the inspiring young racers that ride 8,000 miles a year on a $500 bike because that is all they can afford) the value of one's bike should be proportional to one's interest in the sport. When you say you want us to just tell you what bike is the best, you are showing us you have $500 bike interest while looking for a $5,000 bike and that is well, insulting.

You do not know the intensity of my interest level. I am and have been a serious runner for a long time. I have three world-class coaches. I am appending tris to my portfolio and am damn serious about it. I am seeking advices from them and others. My impression was that this board had a lot of people with extremely good knowledge.

I don't mess around and asked her because I figured folks would either tell me good things about a particular bike (good warrenty, good value, etc.), would tell me bad things (poor warrenty support, over-priced brand, etc.) or would ignore my post, either of the three are fine.

To try and get into a philosophical argument to demean my "$500 bike interest" is not what I expected. I don't even know why you bothered to post all that [censored]. I suggest if seeing my post aggrevates you so much you can go to your user control panel and add me to your ignore list.

jitteringjr said:

One more thing:

That is too simple of a generalization. Try:

Bike A is better for Pro A and Bike B is better for Pro B, but bike B is not better for Pro A and Bike A is not better for Pro B. Since you are an amateur you don't know if you are amateur A or amateur B.

That makes sense. It's the same with running shoes. My running partner like Mizunos, I like Nike, another likes Puma.

My initial thinking was that this was like automobiles, where it is a little more objective in terms of quality and less a matter of 'personal fit.' It is probably a balance between the two. Anyway, if you know of several good ones to start looking at, let me know. I don't need to make the purchase for another month or two.

scharris_99 said:

Are you buying a bike to impress people with a brand name or do you want to ride faster with less effort? If you want to impress people, get whatever is trendy and costs the most. If you want to ride better find a bike shop which knows how to fit you on a tri bike. If you ride Lance's bike it will impress everyone, but if it doesn't fit you it will slow you down, leave you with no energy for the run and possibly create injuries. Get fitted!

This is normally good advice. There are about 4+ bike shops in my area. Really supposidly elite ones, and of the three I visited, the staff is all clueless. They really just want to sell you the most expensive stuff they can even if it doesn't fit you. It's like being a woman at an auto repair shop because I literally (at this point) have almost no clue about whether what they are telling me is true or if they know what they are talking about.

The best illustration is when I first started looking and went to the shops, I was asking what was the trade-off for a tri bike over a road bike. They gave me all kinds of nonesense. I actually got the real answer when I searched the internet. I expected to find the same when I started looking at brands and models.

Anyway, I think I found my answer. I recently got in touch with an old friend who was heavily into tris and moved away - and it now working at a bike shop. This is my new #1 bike part adviser.

Synpax said:

You do not know the intensity of my interest level. I am and have been a serious runner for a long time. I have three world-class coaches. I am appending tris to my portfolio and am damn serious about it.

That is good to hear but the only way I know how to interpret this statement:

Synpax said:

Can you just tell me which is best without me having to look at every single one?

Is to call it $500 interest and I'm not the only one to think so.

rv said:

since you know nothing and don't seem interested enough to learn...

I'm glad to hear you are more interested than you had shown. The most important thing for you is to get a good fit.