Aero Road Bike or TT Bike?
Discussion
I'm now in the market to upgrade my current steed or maybe acquire a second steed.
Primary use is going to be rides out and about from London, some sportives (like the Dragon Ride) and Triathlons. Mainly olympic distance in the UK and the Budapest Half Ironman this year. Maybe leading to more next year and potentially a full ironman. There may also be some trips to the Alps.
Current thinking has been towards an aero road bike, was thinking Specialized Venge, but now eyeing up a Canyon Aeroad. The reason for this are a few-fold;
Riding about in London traffic on a TT bike won't be a lot of fun
TT bikes are great if it's flat, not so great if it's up and down, which a lot of courses are
TT bike can't be used on sportives
I don't have a huge flat, so the opportunity to just have one bike, rather than two, is appealing.
Anyone have any thoughts? Most of the Canyon's now come with their integrated cockpit, which makes adding Tri bars difficult without swapping the bars and stem (but that could be done).
Primary use is going to be rides out and about from London, some sportives (like the Dragon Ride) and Triathlons. Mainly olympic distance in the UK and the Budapest Half Ironman this year. Maybe leading to more next year and potentially a full ironman. There may also be some trips to the Alps.
Current thinking has been towards an aero road bike, was thinking Specialized Venge, but now eyeing up a Canyon Aeroad. The reason for this are a few-fold;
Riding about in London traffic on a TT bike won't be a lot of fun
TT bikes are great if it's flat, not so great if it's up and down, which a lot of courses are
TT bike can't be used on sportives
I don't have a huge flat, so the opportunity to just have one bike, rather than two, is appealing.
Anyone have any thoughts? Most of the Canyon's now come with their integrated cockpit, which makes adding Tri bars difficult without swapping the bars and stem (but that could be done).
I think you've made your own arguement why you cant have a dedicated TT bike - because you cant use it for half the events.
Ref the canyon, I'm sure the aero cockpit would go for more than enough on ebay to replace it with a decent bar and stem combo along with some tri bars.
They are basically unavailable aftermarket at this point in time...
Ref the canyon, I'm sure the aero cockpit would go for more than enough on ebay to replace it with a decent bar and stem combo along with some tri bars.
They are basically unavailable aftermarket at this point in time...
If you can only have one bike then certainly don't get a TT bike.
BTW they're still quicker over up and down courses than road bikes by and large, but clearly you'd not want one in the alps!
You can get reversible seatposts, aerobars, helmet, etc etc and get a road bike into a decent situation for time trial based riding. Certainly in most triathlons the standard is such that if you're fit you'll more than hold your own on the bike, there are a lot of people with top end bikes with awful positions who are dog slow.
BTW they're still quicker over up and down courses than road bikes by and large, but clearly you'd not want one in the alps!
You can get reversible seatposts, aerobars, helmet, etc etc and get a road bike into a decent situation for time trial based riding. Certainly in most triathlons the standard is such that if you're fit you'll more than hold your own on the bike, there are a lot of people with top end bikes with awful positions who are dog slow.
TT Bike rubbish for sportives or group rides.
TT Bike still fast on rolling / up and down courses. Especially if you tend towards having enough gears and spinning up rather than grinding it out standing. No you can't attack climbs or descents quite as agressively as on a roadbike, but 'no good on rolling' is a bit of an urban myth IMHO.
All bikes miserable in traffic, just head out as quickly as possible.
Road bike - doable as a compromise, whether aero or not but be aware that:
1) the handling will probably be a bit funky in TT mode as you'll have a lot of weight on the front wheel (TT bike geo addresses this somewhat).
2) If you're doing it properly (which you should), you'll want a completely different fit/setup (stem, seat position etc) for TT mode vs road. In simplistic terms a short stem, shove seat a long way forwards and up slightly, plus aerobars. Good excuse to go electric tho as you could have aerobar shifters and just plug them in.
Most of the benefit of a 'TT' bike comes from the position it puts the lump of lard on top.. the aerodynamics of the frame are a smaller contribution. Or to put it another way, you're probably better in a TT position on a round tube roadbike than a roadbike position on an 'Aero' bike.
TT Bike still fast on rolling / up and down courses. Especially if you tend towards having enough gears and spinning up rather than grinding it out standing. No you can't attack climbs or descents quite as agressively as on a roadbike, but 'no good on rolling' is a bit of an urban myth IMHO.
All bikes miserable in traffic, just head out as quickly as possible.
Road bike - doable as a compromise, whether aero or not but be aware that:
1) the handling will probably be a bit funky in TT mode as you'll have a lot of weight on the front wheel (TT bike geo addresses this somewhat).
2) If you're doing it properly (which you should), you'll want a completely different fit/setup (stem, seat position etc) for TT mode vs road. In simplistic terms a short stem, shove seat a long way forwards and up slightly, plus aerobars. Good excuse to go electric tho as you could have aerobar shifters and just plug them in.
Most of the benefit of a 'TT' bike comes from the position it puts the lump of lard on top.. the aerodynamics of the frame are a smaller contribution. Or to put it another way, you're probably better in a TT position on a round tube roadbike than a roadbike position on an 'Aero' bike.
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