New Bike or Upgrade

2 watchers

MPH Mar 2015 2:59pm, 12 Mar 2015 728 posts	0 MPH Crikey! I'd better get saving then for when I start doing triathlons!
Hills of Death (HOD) Mar 2015 3:44pm, 12 Mar 2015 30,418 posts	0 Hills of Death (HOD) I have a Boardman Road bike and a Felt B12 TT Firstly 1 Training/Your Weight helps most 2 Bike/Position (see Gobis comments) plus I lost 12 mins on a Half IM Distance Bike course in similar shape by changing from one to other. 3 Wheels Aero wheels will help less power for more return (I can't go into speed/watt ratios but the higher the speed the better the return) 4. Experience etc etc 5. Anything I've forgotten 6. MTFU
sgillespieuk Mar 2015 3:49pm, 12 Mar 2015 6 posts	0 sgillespieuk Lots of opinions to consider... Is the AR5 considered a Triathlon bike, or any feedback on the specific bike? It is on their website under TT/TRI but does not have the same handlebars as a normal Tri Stuart
Mother T Mar 2015 6:00pm, 12 Mar 2015 1,268 posts	0 Mother T I have a Defy 2 with upgraded components and lighter wheels, but I am still a shit load faster on m Specialised Transition 2008 frame. You can pick these up for little money and buy a pair of Mavic Cosmic SLS 50's for less than 600 quid. This will give you at least 3 mins on a 10 over the Defy
Winded Mar 2015 7:29pm, 12 Mar 2015 3,593 posts	0 Winded New bike or upgrade? You obviously haven't got the hang of this cycling thing - the answer is BOTH! Of course! I am a heavy guy, at a time when I was about 100kg I got a new bike. My seating position remained the same (i.e. wrong but that's a different story). On a regular flat 17.4 mile route my time dropped by many minutes overnight. lighter, stiffer wheels and a total bike weight that went down by over 5kg. (even for a big bloke that makes a difference). It also feels amazing to ride a responsive bike. My experience is that training & weight (mine) makes a lot of difference and a radical change in bike makes a big difference, a smaller change might not be very noticeable. I did put my lighter wheelset on my heavier bike as an experiment and it made a noticeable difference but nothing like the difference between the two bikes. Lots of people swear by their TT bikes, others hardly ever ride them. I'm thinking I might get one eventually but I'm doing couple of sprint triathlons this year and expect my road bike should be fine. I probably won't even go for clip-ons. Unless you are trying to win an event I'd go with whatever seems like it will provide the most fun for your budget - that's what it's really about isn't it?
Winded Mar 2015 7:33pm, 12 Mar 2015 3,594 posts	0 Winded Oh - I have a Canyon CF SL, lots of fun per £
Gobi Mar 2015 9:07pm, 12 Mar 2015 55,411 posts	0 Gobi Winded - my tt bike is hardly ridden in the grand scheme of things but it is a thing of beauty and from a performance point of view the bollox. Of course as a cyclist it is part of a fine collection Depends what you want but a tt bike is free speed
Winded Mar 2015 9:20pm, 12 Mar 2015 3,595 posts	0 Winded Free speed sounds nice.