Any TRI competitors on here, required info.
Discussion
One of my work colleagues is buying his lad a bike for passing his degree. He has a set him a £2k budget. His lad races in sprint and Olympic distance Tri's. My mate is sick of looking and fed up with his lad as he cant make his mind up. He has a Cube road bike and at first wanted a TT bike now he wants a road bike to fit bars etc too.
Can anyone recomend a bike that would suit his needs or have any better ideas, my mate hasnt got a lot more hair to pull out
Can anyone recomend a bike that would suit his needs or have any better ideas, my mate hasnt got a lot more hair to pull out
To be honest, a fitting session at a reputable shop with tri experience is a good start rather than looking for shiny things so I'd go with that first, let them work out what will best suit his body dimensions and go from there.
Although its easy to get fairly comfy on almost any road bike thats a good size to start with, tri bikes are a little more specialised given the position you are sat in for prolonged periods and the effects on the body from the swim into the bike and run legs. All this assumes of course that the bug has been chomped and he will progress to longer distance races. I assume the comment ref "he has a road bike" refers to the son? Personally if I already had a road bike, regardless of quality, and I was competing regularly, I'd go for a dedicated tri bike.
Once sorted size wise, the offerings from the major brands, trek, Cannondale, Specilasied etc are largely the same spec, you'd have to look at Boardman, Canyon, Merida or Planet X to go above the norm.
Although its easy to get fairly comfy on almost any road bike thats a good size to start with, tri bikes are a little more specialised given the position you are sat in for prolonged periods and the effects on the body from the swim into the bike and run legs. All this assumes of course that the bug has been chomped and he will progress to longer distance races. I assume the comment ref "he has a road bike" refers to the son? Personally if I already had a road bike, regardless of quality, and I was competing regularly, I'd go for a dedicated tri bike.
Once sorted size wise, the offerings from the major brands, trek, Cannondale, Specilasied etc are largely the same spec, you'd have to look at Boardman, Canyon, Merida or Planet X to go above the norm.
pablo said:
To be honest, a fitting session at a reputable shop with tri experience is a good start rather than looking for shiny things so I'd go with that first, let them work out what will best suit his body dimensions and go from there.
Although its easy to get fairly comfy on almost any road bike thats a good size to start with, tri bikes are a little more specialised given the position you are sat in for prolonged periods and the effects on the body from the swim into the bike and run legs. All this assumes of course that the bug has been chomped and he will progress to longer distance races. I assume the comment ref "he has a road bike" refers to the son? Personally if I already had a road bike, regardless of quality, and I was competing regularly, I'd go for a dedicated tri bike.
Once sorted size wise, the offerings from the major brands, trek, Cannondale, Specilasied etc are largely the same spec, you'd have to look at Boardman, Canyon, Merida or Planet X to go above the norm.
Cheers, yeah its his lad with the road bike. His Dad and I have both suggested he use the cube as a training bike and buy a proper TT but he wants a road bike to make into a TT bike. They have been put off Planet X as a couple of LBS reckon the frame quality isnt high and they have seen failures in the frames. The question I ask is how they failed? Crashed or fatigue?Although its easy to get fairly comfy on almost any road bike thats a good size to start with, tri bikes are a little more specialised given the position you are sat in for prolonged periods and the effects on the body from the swim into the bike and run legs. All this assumes of course that the bug has been chomped and he will progress to longer distance races. I assume the comment ref "he has a road bike" refers to the son? Personally if I already had a road bike, regardless of quality, and I was competing regularly, I'd go for a dedicated tri bike.
Once sorted size wise, the offerings from the major brands, trek, Cannondale, Specilasied etc are largely the same spec, you'd have to look at Boardman, Canyon, Merida or Planet X to go above the norm.
I'm not surprised LBS' will say that about Planet X because they cant offer anything like a similar spec bike at the same price as Planet X so have to resort to that sort of thing.
Planet X source direct to their own spec, simple as, there is no one taking their cut in the process from the factory to the showroom. Brant (Planet X head honcho) is often on Singletrackworld forum, and just back from another trip to the far east too, and fights his corner well against all and sundry. Given the number of people riding Planet X bikes in all sorts of competitions, I'd say they are well worth considering and whilst there may have been issues in the past, their product today is nothing like their product a few years ago.
I'd take comments from LBS about failures in frames with a pinch of salt, why would anyone take a Planet X frame to their LBS if it had failed, the warranty would be with Planet X and the LBS wouldnt touch it. I dont take my Vauxhall to a Ford garage if it breaks down so they can have a look at it...
Planet X source direct to their own spec, simple as, there is no one taking their cut in the process from the factory to the showroom. Brant (Planet X head honcho) is often on Singletrackworld forum, and just back from another trip to the far east too, and fights his corner well against all and sundry. Given the number of people riding Planet X bikes in all sorts of competitions, I'd say they are well worth considering and whilst there may have been issues in the past, their product today is nothing like their product a few years ago.
I'd take comments from LBS about failures in frames with a pinch of salt, why would anyone take a Planet X frame to their LBS if it had failed, the warranty would be with Planet X and the LBS wouldnt touch it. I dont take my Vauxhall to a Ford garage if it breaks down so they can have a look at it...
Edited by anonymous-user on Monday 2nd September 15:05
pablo said:
I'm not surprised LBS' will say that about Planet X because they cant offer anything like a similar spec bike at the same price as Planet X so have to resort to that sort of thing.
Planet X source direct to their own spec, simple as, there is no one taking their cut in the process from the factory to the showroom. Brant (Planet X head honcho) is often on Singletrackworld forum, and just back from another trip to the far east too, and fights his corner well against all and sundry. Given the number of people riding Planet X bikes in all sorts of competitions, I'd say they are well worth considering and whilst there may have been issues in the past, their product today is nothing like their product a few years ago.
I'd take comments from LBS about failures in frames with a pinch of salt, why would anyone take a Planet X frame to their LBS if it had failed, the warranty would be with Planet X and the LBS wouldnt touch it. I dont take my Vauxhall to a Ford garage if it breaks down so they can have a look at it...
Planet X source direct to their own spec, simple as, there is no one taking their cut in the process from the factory to the showroom. Brant (Planet X head honcho) is often on Singletrackworld forum, and just back from another trip to the far east too, and fights his corner well against all and sundry. Given the number of people riding Planet X bikes in all sorts of competitions, I'd say they are well worth considering and whilst there may have been issues in the past, their product today is nothing like their product a few years ago.
I'd take comments from LBS about failures in frames with a pinch of salt, why would anyone take a Planet X frame to their LBS if it had failed, the warranty would be with Planet X and the LBS wouldnt touch it. I dont take my Vauxhall to a Ford garage if it breaks down so they can have a look at it...
Edited by pablo on Monday 2nd September 15:05
Mate I have a Ribble, bloody good package and well specced! PX do a full carbon Ultegra kitted bike for £2k, noone else can match that. I said I wouldnt believe the LBS. TBH if a PX bike had failed as severe as the LBS told him it would be all over the forums and Ive never seen anything bad.Gassing Station | Pedal Powered | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff