Another, rather general brand/model question… I’m going to be looking to buy my first TT bike/frame for triathlons (not time trials) the next time they go on sale.
I’m 53, 173cm (5’8"), 102kg (225lbs), and a total beginner at this, currently riding a gravel bike on the road because I still need that more relaxed position.
Which brands and models of bikes are generally known to be better for people like me, who are looking to get into the tri-bike space but need a lot of adaptability or a far-less-aero position from their bike? Are there any?
I’m open to both full bikes and frames that I then build up. Would prefer to build, but since I only do this recreationally I make more of an effort not to spend a fortune on this hobby.
Do you have a fitter you use? If not, I’d find one and start there. A lot of times your specialty bike shops will have fit databases that can help you find a bike that fits the geometry you need, and then the fitter can adjust the position based on your personal constraints/goals, etc. Some fitters even specialize in TT fitting, so might be worth poking around locally and seeing if there’s someone like that. We had one here in SD who did all my bike fits, but was a TT guy so really knew his stuff there, and his fit on my older Cervelo P3C was far and away the best I’d had on that bike in terms of comfort and performance.
Spending the time, money and effort on that fit process is well worth it, certainly well more worth it than putting another several hundred bucks into the bike itself. Fit and position are everything on a TT bike. So invest there first, then get a good aero helmet, and then get a solid set of aero wheels. Those are your best investments in terms of speed and performance. Happy to help with this if I can!
Yes, Tim Dougherty in northeast NJ is legendary. I’ve already had one fit with him, and I’ll definitely do it again the moment I’m ready to buy the tri bike.
What I’m thinking right now is that two of my three bikes have been $10K+ “last year’s model clearance” bikes that I got for half-price. So I figured that, if there’s a brand/kind of bike that is known to be of a more relaxed position, or more adjustable for newbies, that I’d start keeping an eye out or putting in a word with my favorite bike shops to see if I can do this a third time, or just score the bike/frame on sale somewhere.
Not a bad idea. I’d reach out to Tim who should have your fit data handy (or maybe you send it to him) and he can probably answer this question really well for you. Granted fit data changes over time, but that baseline will be good. But start fit first and then work the deals as you said.
I can’t believe we’re already halfway through the year. How’s everyone’s training going?
May was good for racing, okay-ish for training for me:
Workouts
Time
Distance
Swim
8
4:16
N/A
Bike
18
27:07
905 km
Run
13
12:03
134 km
Highlights:
Raced Ironman 70.3 St. George.
Raced the Jackson Hole Half Marathon, won my age group, and got a PR in the HM distance (1:36:43). My run fitness is off to a good start this summer.
The weather has been lovely, I’m finally doing most of my runs outside.
Lowlights:
Training volume as a whole is down a little from last month, I feel like it’s taken me longer than I expected to recover from these last two races. It may be time to start accepting that I’m getting old.
Still no reopening expected for my lap pool, so I’m still stuck with the endless pool at the gym. Not being able to track my time and distance in it is driving me a little crazy, so I built a little tool to tally my swim sets there. At least the lakes have thawed, so I can start open water swimming again this month.
Coming up:
Grand Teton Half Marathon next weekend
Ironman 70.3 Coeur d’Alene at the end of the month
May was fun, sun is out and i’m enjoying more time on the bike outside. Less structured workouts across the board. Spending the next week attempting to put some hours in before being out of the country for a week, then i’ll put in some mega days at the end of June.
Also did my first sprint distance simulation last week - and had a lot of segments at or above threshold, I think my TR AI FTP is a bit high but it makes me happy to see the number go up. Its set at 307 right now which I find hard to believe i could even hold for 30 min straight. Run off the bike was a 4 min transition to change in my garage and lace up shoes, slight calf cramps in the first mile but slowed down and they went away. I went out at my 5k pr pace and slowed about 60 seconds, then throughout the run ended up pulling the time back down. I’d imagine my bike position could use some work to help with the run right off.
Running has been the last thing on my mind lately - it just hasnt sounded ‘fun’ but I know i need to do it. Good reset after Europe and i’ll put some miles in.
Swimming feels super hit and miss. One key workout felt really smooth and did 3x300 @ 1:48/100 followed by 2x500 @ 1:50/100. I’m pretty slow, but those sets are all about unbroken time moving.
The next workout it felt like I didnt even know how to swim and 200’s were gassing me.
Races:
I pulled the plug in HIM CDA as the logistics just don’t work out for me this year. I’m doing an Oly and a Sprint in July instead. A 10k and 5k race sprinkled in. Full Marathon in early September.
Equipment:
Picked up a wetsuit and trisuit during memorial day sales. Any tips on getting the wetsuit on/off in the foot area? The ankle holes are quite small and getting my heel through was borderline impossible. Do they loosen up? I’ll be getting out for some OWS soon. Wetsuit was Xterra sleeveless and trisuit was 2xu.
I’ve continued to tweak my position on the bike to make the aero bars more comfortable. Slammed my saddle as far forward as I can go, and raised it a fair bit. I keep fiddling with the stick length, pad position, and angle of the entire setup. I think i’m happy with it now. Also got the SRAM wireless blips and 3d printed a few different mounts that go into the end of the bars. All that to say, i hated them being on the ends and fell in love with a very simple tape approach on the bottom of the sticks. Now that i’m happy with them there, i’ll properly wrap the ends of the sticks with bar tape.
I get the wetsuit down to my feet and then get two fingers between my heel and the wetsuit, like a shoehorn, to stretch it over the heel and pull it down the rest of the way. My wetsuit has some reinforcement on the inside of the heel, so it seems they expect it to be pulled like that. That said, I always use the wetsuit strippers at the race, if they have them.
I cut my wetsuit. At first I was nervous about doing this. But then looked at the XTERRA site (I have two of this brand) and realized they have strips sewn in for this purpose. Just make sure you measure twice (or three times) before you cut! Once I did this I can pull my full suite off just as easy as my sleeveless which has shorter legs.
This has been the roughest year of training I’ve ever had. Sick multiple times, issues with my back, my youngest started a travel baseball team that likes scheduling last minute games on my race days, and just life. Training has finally started to look consistent, so that’s good. I had planned to do a 70.3 in August however, my best friend decided to schedule his bachelor party for that weekend. I can’t find any other 70.3’s that I want to do around that time frame so I’m just doing local olympic events this year. Somehow I’ve found a lot of joy in this! Training feels super easy compared to full distance IM training from last year, I have more energy for things like home improvements and hanging out with friends. Silver linings!
Not sure if a new post would be better, but I am struggling with the Trainer Road triathlon plans. I have an olympic tri this weekend and then have my ‘A’ race of 70.3 Boise in late July. My question is - what interval workout types are best suited in the 2 months leading up to a 70.3 distance? (VO2/SS/Threshold)
I’ve been using a 40kTT plan since from Jan-June and have enjoyed the weekly plan of 1 VO2 1 SS and 1 Threshold workout per week. (FTP increases tell me it’s working) I’ll do an easy Z2 ride every weekend to get enough time in the saddle…and I plan my own runs/swims.
As I’m tapering for a few days before my Oly, I switched to a 70.3 triathlon plan in TR for the 7 weeks leading up to Boise. The plan has one VO2 max workout and two Threshold workouts (Zero SS workouts - essentially replaces a SS for a Threshold). This seems off to me, since my race pace will be much closer to SS work than Threshold. My version of ‘common sense’ tells me that I should be incorporating a workout close to race pace (Sweet Spot) to get ready for the 70.3 distance.
Maybe i’m wrong or maybe it doesn’t matter as long as you’re doing hard workouts and taper appropriately for a 70.3…But wanted to get the hivemind’s input. I might just switch back to a 40kTT plan for the last 7 weeks.
EDIT: Quickly chatted with TR support & got an answer - think i started the plan too ‘late’ to have a full ‘specialty’ phase. I will now try to set my plan starting in ~April and see if that helps.
I always preferred the shorter stuff to the longer stuff, personally. I think so many athletes fixate on going longer that they forget it can be even more fun (and beneficial to your health and probably your overall life stress) to try to go faster instead.
I am firmly, solidly in your camp. From what I know today, I can’t see myself wanting to go longer than Olympic. FASTER is definitely my priority (followed by stronger, smoother, healthier, etc.)
May was a good month of training, even with a few obstacles along the way.
Second place age group Kinetic Multisports Olympic
Obstacle #1, the middle daughter of our longest and best friends got married Memorial Day weekend, seven hours away from the house which forced me to move my Eagleman Race Rehearsal to Thursday before, I missed 1 swim, and two bike sessions. Since it was Memorial Day, I was able to move my long run from Sunday to Monday
Obstacle #2 I picked up a niggle in my left thigh/hip/groin area. It did not bother me during the Race Rehearsal, however, last Thursday it got irritated following a strength session. Forced me to take some time off Thursday and Friday, I missed two rides and 2K of swimming.
Positives some very good swims, consistent race pace runs. I have been riding with a local female pro, (Half my age) and we have put down some very good, sustained power numbers.
I think it ebbs and flows. With running I wanted to keep doing the longer events. Now that I’ve done an ultra it’s all about beating previous times. It’s a lot easier to train for a faster 5k than it is a marathon so I’m doing just that. I’m sure this silly triathlon thing will be exactly the same once I check off the full IM distance.
It’s all relative! I say slow because I know there is some low hanging fruit in my stroke that could likely shave off 10 seconds per hundred if I could get them sorted. My body line is less than ideal - tight hip flexors and typical tech neck slouch from a desk job, my kick is doing essentially nothing the entire time (kick drills with a paddle board absolutely gas me and I go nowhere the entire time), and my elbow angle is pretty open compared to the “swim around a barrel” I’ve seen/heard. Those along with only feeling really comfortable with breathing every right stroke I FEEL slow compared to a good hundred where I’m actually gliding through the water.
I did however manage my first 100 with 3 legit flip turns. Everything else is open turns with a breath at the wall.
Just ribbing you for fun… it’s all relative indeed!
My first-ever continuous 300m was less than three weeks ago, so 2:40/100 actually FEELS pretty darn fast to me. It was 3:15/100 just a few weeks before that!
