Buying a bike, tri or road?

CURubin said:

I am buying a bike to begin my training for triathlons. I am looking for a bike that I can both train on and race on in a triathlon. My question is, can I train on a tri-bike? Do you suggest getting the tri bike or a road bike?
I am trying to decide between a Felt F65 or a Felt S32.
-Randy

I am not a triathlete, but I did see some conversions about this in the forum at http://www.slowtwitch.com/index.html, where many tri folks are now finding that road bikes have benefits over tri bikes in triathlon events.

CURubin said:

I am buying a bike to begin my training for triathlons. I am looking for a bike that I can both train on and race on in a triathlon. My question is, can I train on a tri-bike? Do you suggest getting the tri bike or a road bike?
I am trying to decide between a Felt F65 or a Felt S32.
-Randy

nice bikes here bpstealth.combpstealth.comOpen ↗ mines in yellow but i prefare it over the road bike, you can save yourself $300 by purchasing the exact frame from pedalforce.commodel RA.htmOpen ↗ in carbon weave without the decals.

closesupport said:

nice bikes here bpstealth.combpstealth.comOpen ↗ mines in yellow but i prefare it over the road bike, you can save yourself $300 by purchasing the exact frame from pedalforce.commodel RA.htmOpen ↗ in carbon weave without the decals.

Of course you can train on a tri bike.

I suggest the Cervelo One for your application, or the Cervelo Soloist if you have the budget (I don't know anything about the Felts as a price comparison). The One is not radical enough to make it THAT much different from a road bike, and the Soloist swaps between the two with a reversal of the seatpost head.

Aztec said:

Of course you can train on a tri bike.

I suggest the Cervelo One for your application, or the Cervelo Soloist if you have the budget (I don't know anything about the Felts as a price comparison). The One is not radical enough to make it THAT much different from a road bike, and the Soloist swaps between the two with a reversal of the seatpost head.

I am on a budget between 1000-1500 dollars. The F65 is around 1300 and the S32 is 1199.

the bp - 3 is the identical frame, just in carbon weave...

but where 9sp is ultegra mines dura ace, i made a saving by using mavic instead of zipp rimms however 😄

CURubin said:

I am on a budget between 1000-1500 dollars. The F65 is around 1300 and the S32 is 1199.

Remember, TRIs are 3 disciplines. Don't go over the top on buying the bike, S32, S25 Felts and The 2 Cevello tri bikes are aimed not to sent triathlets broke.

I would suggest the S25 Felt, and if you don't want to wear it out on training, buy a cheap MTB and put slicks on it, the 2 and 3 tooth spacings on the rear (11-30) will make you work... it does for me..

gclark8 said:

Remember, TRIs are 3 disciplines. Don't go over the top on buying the bike, S32, S25 Felts and The 2 Cevello tri bikes are aimed not to sent triathlets broke.

I would suggest the S25 Felt, and if you don't want to wear it out on training, buy a cheap MTB and put slicks on it, the 2 and 3 tooth spacings on the rear (11-30) will make you work... it does for me..

Buy a road bike. I bought a tri bike to train on for long and short course events. It is very good in the aero posistion (A Cervelo P3) but is not so great on training rides. My reason has nothing to do with geometry of the bike, it is simply more comfortable to ride with road bars, and you can add aerobars to a road bike, but not vise-versa. My suggestion, a Cervelo Superprodigy, it is $1799, but this time of year you should be able to get a deal, and a steel frame is a longer term investment than a Aluminum one. Plus it is more comfy.

It is important to train on the bike that you are going to race on. Different bike positions will work different muscle groups.

madisongrrl said:

It is important to train on the bike that you are going to race on. Different bike positions will work different muscle groups.

I agree, not only that you get used to the bike that you ride, the seat position hight, favourate gear and cadence etc, thats why i would prefare to have my own bike for the track rather than loaning a different one with gears that are either to big or to small.

not only that you get used to it, when it or you are under performing you know what its best tyre presure and you know what adjustments to make for it or perform best for you etc.

CURubin said:

I am buying a bike to begin my training for triathlons. I am looking for a bike that I can both train on and race on in a triathlon. My question is, can I train on a tri-bike? Do you suggest getting the tri bike or a road bike?
I am trying to decide between a Felt F65 or a Felt S32.
-Randy

Here is some good literature on the subject that may help you decide.

http://www.bikesportmichigan.com/bikes/difference.shtml