Bike types

tortoise said:

2 hopefully not too dumb questions.....

1. What is the difference between bikes advertised as "triathlon"
bikes, road bikes and criterion bikes???

2. Why do only triathletes generally use tri-bars? Are they not allowed
in road races, or is there another reason??

Thanks

Oh [censored] here comes the triathlete bagging. Hippy/Dutch begone from this
thread.

1, A cheap triathlon bike is basically any roadie with a set of aero
bars bolted on. A good one will have the aero bars with gear-levers
inside so you can change gears while in the aero position.

2, Here's where the cyclists love to bag the triathletes. From the aero
bars you have minimal control for steering and no access to brakes. So
they're no good for riding in a pack. And really, unless you're the lead
rider they wouldn't make much difference anyway. But if you're on your
own in a non-draft tri they can make a difference, I found about a
2-3kph difference depending on the wind.

DaveB

quote='DaveB'tortoise said:

2 hopefully not too dumb questions.....

1. What is the difference between bikes advertised as "triathlon"
bikes, road bikes and criterion bikes???

2. Why do only triathletes generally use tri-bars? Are they not allowed
in road races, or is there another reason??

Thanks

Oh [censored] here comes the triathlete bagging. Hippy/Dutch begone from this
thread.

1, A cheap triathlon bike is basically any roadie with a set of aero
bars bolted on. A good one will have the aero bars with gear-levers
inside so you can change gears while in the aero position.

2, Here's where the cyclists love to bag the triathletes. From the aero
bars you have minimal control for steering and no access to brakes. So
they're no good for riding in a pack. And really, unless you're the lead
rider they wouldn't make much difference anyway. But if you're on your
own in a non-draft tri they can make a difference, I found about a
2-3kph difference depending on the wind.

DaveB[/QUOTE]

... plus, a tri/time-trial bike has a steeper seat tube.

tortoise said:

2 hopefully not too dumb questions.....

To paraphrase Mr Garrison "There are no dumb questions, only dumb people".

tortoise said:

1. What is the difference between bikes advertised as "triathlon" bikes, road bikes and criterion bikes???

Triathlon bikes are optimised for aerodynamics like a time trial bike. It’s you & the bike against the wind.
Road bikes - A hundred years of tradition, and the UCI regulations 🙂
Criterion bikes - As for a road bike but optimised for getting around the typical sharp corners on a Crit course, ie maybe a higher bottom bracket & shorter wheelbase?

tortoise said:

2. Why do only triathletes generally use tri-bars? Are they not allowed in road races, or is there another reason??

Thanks

UCI rules don’t allow Tri bars in multi start race stages.

"ritcho" <[email hidden]

Quoted message said:

DaveB said:

tortoise said:

2 hopefully not too dumb questions.....

There are no dumb questions.. only dumb replies! ;-)

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

1. What is the difference between bikes advertised as "triathlon"
bikes, road bikes and criterion bikes???

Oh [censored] here comes the triathlete bagging. Hippy/Dutch begone from
this thread.

Ooh.. looky and open invitation from Dave.. :-)
I did actually let this thread go.. for a whole two replies.. but I
have useful info to add (maybe)..

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

1, A cheap triathlon bike is basically any roadie with a set of aero
bars bolted on. A good one will have the aero bars with gear-levers
inside so you can change gears while in the aero position.

If you are just starting aerobars are totally optional. I've
never raced (sprint tri's) with 'em. That being said, they
would make a huge difference for long, flat-ish time trials.
Even roadies use 'em for TT's.. and the pro's were on
them for the Alpe D'Huez uphill TT stage of last year's
Tour de France..

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

they're no good for riding in a pack. And really, unless you're the
lead rider they wouldn't make much difference anyway. But if you're on

your

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

own in a non-draft tri they can make a difference, I found about a
2-3kph difference depending on the wind.

I thought all tri's were non-draft with the exception of the Elites?

Quoted message said:

.. plus, a tri/time-trial bike has a steeper seat tube.

and is designed to be as aero as possible - hence the 'bladed'
style "tubes" rather than more traditional cylinder tubing of
road bikes. Tri-spoke and disc wheels abound. Bigger gears
because TT's are generally done at a lower cadence (pedal
rpm) than road racing.

Google has plenty, given the right input:
http://www.bikeforums.net/archive/index.php/t-62514
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&c2coff=1&q=triathlon+aerodynamics

hippy

A purpose built criterium bike should have a higher bottom bracket as
already mentioned so you don't clip your pedal on the ground during tight
cornering. If you want to go & check a standard road bikes is in the region
of 10 1/2" (bottom bracket axle to ground) , a good crit bike closer to 11".
Steve @ IDEAL
http://au.store.yahoo.com/idealcycles/

<[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

A purpose built criterium bike should have a higher bottom bracket as
already mentioned so you don't clip your pedal on the ground during tight
cornering. If you want to go & check a standard road bikes is in the

region

Quoted message said:

of 10 1/2" (bottom bracket axle to ground) , a good crit bike closer to

11".

Quoted message said:

Steve @ IDEAL
http://au.store.yahoo.com/idealcycles/

And a track bike has a higher bottom bracket on the right side than on the
left side so you scrape the right pedal on the steep banking.

Marty

"Marty Wallace" <[email hidden]

Quoted message said:

<[email hidden]> wrote in message

news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

A purpose built criterium bike should have a higher bottom bracket as
already mentioned so you don't clip your pedal on the ground during

tight

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

cornering. If you want to go & check a standard road bikes is in the

region

Quoted message said:

of 10 1/2" (bottom bracket axle to ground) , a good crit bike closer to

11".

Quoted message said:

Steve @ IDEAL
http://au.store.yahoo.com/idealcycles/

And a track bike has a higher bottom bracket on the right side than on the
left side so you scrape the right pedal on the steep banking.

Put the bottle down Marty and back away from the keyboard.. :-D

hippy
now listening to: Iva Davies - The Ghost of Time
ah [censored]! should be sleeping!

ritcho said:

DaveB said:

tortoise said:

2 hopefully not too dumb questions.....

1. What is the difference between bikes advertised as "triathlon"
bikes, road bikes and criterion bikes???

2. Why do only triathletes generally use tri-bars? Are they not

allowed

Quoted message said:

in road races, or is there another reason??

Thanks

Oh [censored] here comes the triathlete bagging. Hippy/Dutch begone from
this
thread.

1, A cheap triathlon bike is basically any roadie with a set of aero
bars bolted on. A good one will have the aero bars with gear-levers
inside so you can change gears while in the aero position.

2, Here's where the cyclists love to bag the triathletes. From the
aero
bars you have minimal control for steering and no access to brakes. So
they're no good for riding in a pack. And really, unless you're the
lead
rider they wouldn't make much difference anyway. But if you're on your
own in a non-draft tri they can make a difference, I found about a
2-3kph difference depending on the wind.

DaveB

.. plus, a tri/time-trial bike has a steeper seat tube.

Yep, it's true, triathlon bikes have different geometry. So you can have
a tri-bike with no tri-bars, but why would you want to?

T