Specialized Venge
Discussion
Does anyone have one? Keen to hear thoughts or thoughts on alternatives.
I have a half Ironman in August, along with several Olympic Distance triathlons this year, possibly building to a full ironman next year.
I can't justify the expense of a full on tri bike which would really need to be a second bike as it wouldn't be practical to use in and around London the SE all the time, so the Venge seems like a decent compromise.
Thoughts?
I have a half Ironman in August, along with several Olympic Distance triathlons this year, possibly building to a full ironman next year.
I can't justify the expense of a full on tri bike which would really need to be a second bike as it wouldn't be practical to use in and around London the SE all the time, so the Venge seems like a decent compromise.
Thoughts?
No experience of the venge specifically, but don't worry too much about the aero-ness of the frame, that makes relatively little difference compared to how aero that bike puts you, and all that draggy upper body.
The main thing a tri/tt bike brings to the party is a more forward seatpost, and some tweaks to the wheelbase / fork / etc in order to make it handle a little better/try to get over the fact that you've basically put all the weight on the front wheel.
Whether you can get in a useful aero position on a 'road' frame, depends rather on you (flexibility, dimensions etc), and also how 'aero' you want to go. Also, if you do it properly, you need to do a lot more than just bolt on some aerobars; typically you will: Push the saddle forward (probably as far as it can go - you need to balance being too-stretched out vs putting all the load onto your quads), raise it somewhat (to make up for the forward position), fit a (much) shorter stem - pretty much as short as you can - to bring the elbow pads somewhere near where they need to be (normally your hands would be on the hoods - with aerobars they're now a lot further forward). If you're riding it in road mode without the aerobars, it's a very good idea to reverse those changes as you'll be overloading your quads and not using your hamstrings otherwise.
HTH.
The main thing a tri/tt bike brings to the party is a more forward seatpost, and some tweaks to the wheelbase / fork / etc in order to make it handle a little better/try to get over the fact that you've basically put all the weight on the front wheel.
Whether you can get in a useful aero position on a 'road' frame, depends rather on you (flexibility, dimensions etc), and also how 'aero' you want to go. Also, if you do it properly, you need to do a lot more than just bolt on some aerobars; typically you will: Push the saddle forward (probably as far as it can go - you need to balance being too-stretched out vs putting all the load onto your quads), raise it somewhat (to make up for the forward position), fit a (much) shorter stem - pretty much as short as you can - to bring the elbow pads somewhere near where they need to be (normally your hands would be on the hoods - with aerobars they're now a lot further forward). If you're riding it in road mode without the aerobars, it's a very good idea to reverse those changes as you'll be overloading your quads and not using your hamstrings otherwise.
HTH.
upsidedownmark said:
No experience of the venge specifically, but don't worry too much about the aero-ness of the frame, that makes relatively little difference compared to how aero that bike puts you, and all that draggy upper body.
The main thing a tri/tt bike brings to the party is a more forward seatpost, and some tweaks to the wheelbase / fork / etc in order to make it handle a little better/try to get over the fact that you've basically put all the weight on the front wheel.
Whether you can get in a useful aero position on a 'road' frame, depends rather on you (flexibility, dimensions etc), and also how 'aero' you want to go. Also, if you do it properly, you need to do a lot more than just bolt on some aerobars; typically you will: Push the saddle forward (probably as far as it can go - you need to balance being too-stretched out vs putting all the load onto your quads), raise it somewhat (to make up for the forward position), fit a (much) shorter stem - pretty much as short as you can - to bring the elbow pads somewhere near where they need to be (normally your hands would be on the hoods - with aerobars they're now a lot further forward). If you're riding it in road mode without the aerobars, it's a very good idea to reverse those changes as you'll be overloading your quads and not using your hamstrings otherwise.
HTH.
thats what I would have said! The main thing a tri/tt bike brings to the party is a more forward seatpost, and some tweaks to the wheelbase / fork / etc in order to make it handle a little better/try to get over the fact that you've basically put all the weight on the front wheel.
Whether you can get in a useful aero position on a 'road' frame, depends rather on you (flexibility, dimensions etc), and also how 'aero' you want to go. Also, if you do it properly, you need to do a lot more than just bolt on some aerobars; typically you will: Push the saddle forward (probably as far as it can go - you need to balance being too-stretched out vs putting all the load onto your quads), raise it somewhat (to make up for the forward position), fit a (much) shorter stem - pretty much as short as you can - to bring the elbow pads somewhere near where they need to be (normally your hands would be on the hoods - with aerobars they're now a lot further forward). If you're riding it in road mode without the aerobars, it's a very good idea to reverse those changes as you'll be overloading your quads and not using your hamstrings otherwise.
HTH.
I think Bakerstreet's idea is better though, you get all the benefits as stated above and dont have to worry about changing components. If you change the stem for a shorter model for example, you are changing the cable routing which may impair shifting. A dedicated TT bike costing £1k will probably be no worse than an entry level Venge for triathlons and if you are moving up distances, comfort and energy conservation will be far more important than aeroness.
Hunt around on the www.timetriallingforum.co.uk if you want a good s/h bike
ts and giggles. 55:16 should scare them in transition if nothing else...I had a venge expert for a couple of years and I thought it was a great bike. Stiff, responsive, fast, easy climber and with a set of aero wheels looked awesome. I would thoroughly recommend one.
However I got the titanium bug and bought a kinesis atr which is a completely different proposition. This I found to be stiff, responsive, fast, easy climber.... And incredibly comfortable, it was so good that I stopped using the venge at all so sold it.
Don't get me wrong the venge is a great bike and I rate it very very highly but a bike is made fast by the rider, not the other way round.
However I got the titanium bug and bought a kinesis atr which is a completely different proposition. This I found to be stiff, responsive, fast, easy climber.... And incredibly comfortable, it was so good that I stopped using the venge at all so sold it.
Don't get me wrong the venge is a great bike and I rate it very very highly but a bike is made fast by the rider, not the other way round.
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