Tri Relay: TT bike or Tri bike?
 

Due to incredibly bad knees, I'm not able to do the run portion of a triathlon anymore, but I am frequently asked to do the bike leg of a relay. I've been a competitive cyclist for a couple decades and, to this point, I've done the relays on a road racing bike. It's worked out okay but, as I do more of these, I would like to get faster. It's time for a dedicated bike.

The question in my mind is whether to go with a Tri bike (saddle forward) or a TT bike (saddle rearward like a road bike). Tri bikes have the saddle forward in order to recruit non-cycling specific muscles and spare the quads for the run. But I don't have to run. No need to move away from my cycling muscles.

Is there something I'm missing that mitigates in favor of using a Tri bike? I understand why a triathlete would use the Tri bike. But for a relay cyclist, does a Tri bike or a TT bike make more sense?

I'm not a Tri guy but I've ridden the bike leg in a mixed sex relay Tri event several times.
As a cyclist I rode my road bike fitted w/ tight gearing for the course on my race wheels and had at it. :twitchy:
Did just fine.

Doing Merckx class TTs w/ your local USAC club is a great way to improve times w/o the expense of a dedicated TT bike until you feel the need.
Tri bikes need not be UCI compliant, if you are doing USAC TT events as well as the bike leg of a Tri and feel the need for a dedicated TT bike make sure it is UCI compliant. It takes considerable adaption to position and a dedication to technique, training and mind-set for the TT discipline. Have fun.

-Bandera

Unfortunately, there are very few opportunities to ride a TT in this area. There are probably 10 times as many opportunities for triathlon. The bike will be used exclusively for the cycling leg of relay triathlon.

It probably doesn't matter much, you really want the bike that's going to allow you to get into the best position. The first five most important things on the list of the ten most important aerodynamic things on a TT or tri bike are:
1. Position
2. Position
3. Position
4. Position
And
5. Position

In advance of riding the bike, it's hard to know what bike will work for you. My personal approach was to get a pre-purchase fit, so I knew what bikes to shop for. If that's available to you, I'd suggest it. If not, try to get a bike and aerobars that are very adjustable (some are not, making position changes difficult).

You also want to consider the ease of working with the bike, the Trek Speed Concept for example has some great aero brakes but they are a bit of a nightmare to work with.

Otherwise, for your purposes, I'd look at both TT and Tri bikes and buy what seems to meet your needs on all levels. Right now there's no way of knowing whether a TT or a Tri position will be faster for you anyway.

90% of that mumbo jumbo is to make triathletes feel special and to sell them Tri specific gear.

The other 10% is probably legit physiology if you have to run after riding. If you're not running after riding, do with the cyclist do. That is going to be fastest.

If I was just gonna do the the bike portion, I'd go aero/TT bike.
In my experience:

Some of the Tri specific bikes use a steeper geometry and have you all over the road wasting energy.

The forward saddle position is to use quads more and hamstrings less. Saddle back allows you to incorporate your glutes more.

I use a regular road bike geometry with original scott aero bars, saddle forward and thoroughly enjoy competing against other triathletes with the latest "mumbo jumbo".
Ultimately the most comfortable aero position takes precedence, so try them both you may end up racing what you have.

Maybe . . . with aero bars for positioning. I don't tend to think the specific shapes of the bikes make a huge amount of difference, but the positioning of the rider makes a huge difference.

Sorry, thought your ride had aero bars.
In that case aero bars will make a huge difference.
However I wouldn't discount aero if literal seconds matter.

No problem. I should have been more clear. To this point, I've been riding a BMC SLR01 (non-aero) bike, wearing a non-aero helmet. It hasn't been a problem so far, but I know either aero bars or a TT/Tri bike would make a big difference -- so long as I don't get into a position that causes me to lose power.


Figuring it all out is a big part of the fun.

I came from a running back ground, and had to stop running because of knee issues. Aero bars, wheels, and aero bike design will make a difference. Once you are dialed in you should have no power lose, if anything you should gain power with a proper fit. Aero bars, aero wheels, and aero bike design make a difference, and don't dismiss the mental advantage. Whenever I get on my Zipp2001 I feel that I have to go out and hammer out a ride, I don't want to let the bike down. Sounds crazy but knowing you have a rocket for a bike makes you push that little extra in a race.

I took my first "test ride" on a Tri/TT bike on Saturday. Unfortunately, it was in heavy traffic in a busy suburban retail area. Less than ideal. Lots of turns. It was also my first ride on a non-Di2 bike in 8 years. And I haven't used a friction shifter since before puberty set in. So I started at the literal beginning of the learning curve.


It took a mile or so to get comfortable. This was due, in part, to the traffic coming in and out of retail parking lots. In a 30-minute ride, I never really hammered it. But I wish I had brought my Garmin along. Why? Because there were a few areas where the bike was faster than it should have been. What looked like maybe 1% uphill drags FELT like 1% downhills. The bike held speed when it shouldn't have. I felt as if it were building a little speed, but I suspect this was because I was expecting it to slow (but it wasn't). My instincts made me reach for a downshift -- but then, I discovered I didn't need it. This happened six or eight times in 30 minutes.


So . . . without the Garmin, I don't know if what looked like 1% uphills weren't really uphills at all, or . . . the aero effects of the bike were truly impressive. At any rate, I liked the bike. I have a lot to learn, but I felt I could get there.

Depends on the distance and terrain. I don't do ironman, or even half iron man events. Most of my races are sprint distances where the bike portion is usually under 20 miles. Occasionally I'll do an olympic distance. Here in east TN, lots of tris have rolling, hilly terrain where you're shifting a bunch. A tri bike just doesn't make sense here, not a whole lot of flats where you can tuck and go. Even on the decents, they are sweeping, curvy where you can't just tuck and go.

I had a tri bike for a few races and just didn't think it was practical for how technical a lot of courses are here. In middle TN you may find it more useful, as I would think it's flatter than here in east TN.

We are at the base of the plateau, so race organizers have a choice. Road races always include a lot of climbing and rolling hills between climbs. But triathlons generally start and end with whatever hills it takes to get from the start/finish to the flat course and back -- usually a mile or so of hills. Once on the flat part, a TT/Tri bike has a big advantage. They tend to run on divided state highways, so the surfaces are good and the rise/fall is very gradual.