robbyville

Hi folks,

I'm an avid rider who participates a fair bit on the road forum and in the past the racing forum. Recently I've goofed around a bit with a mini triathlon, and then the Olympic Distance for an aquabike. Although not much of a runner (ok, not at all a runner), and an average swimmer, I'm having a great time and decided to enter an upcoming Triathlon also in Olympic distance. Going to start training for the run and work on my swimming over the next few months. The event is March first.

To my question... I'm a one bike guy, at least for now. If I'm going to keep doing these I'm sure I'll try to pick up a Tri bike at some point. I also know that I can do perfectly well using my current set up. Still, part of me would like to practice getting into the aero position and looking the part. I use a one piece bar/stem combo and am not willing to sacrifice my paint with clip ons. My stem is also slammed with only a 1mm spacer below (see pics). Is there a Tri bar that I could buy along with a stem that would get me into a reasonable tuck? I imagine that I would need the arm rests to be fairly high although my saddle to bar drop is only about 2.5 inches. I know I would have to buy brake levers and electronic shifters along with new cables.

I'm sure this won't pay off financially, but I am curious as to if it would be plausible and get me started at least in a direction where I can get a feel for the tri bike set up until I decide to actually buy one further down the line.

I'd appreciate any thoughts or ideas!

_ForceD_

There are integrated single piece 'cockpits' that are available that you could convert to. But if your intent is to switch from road/racing, to Tri/TT aero, and then back again, and again...that's a lot of maintenance/time making the switch(es). I see the work stand in the background of your photo, so I presume you're comfortable with doing the work yourself. Or, if you're relying on the LBS to do the work...that's also a lot of time your bike will be away and not available for riding. I know you don't want to mar your paint finish...but if you want to remain a "one bike guy" I think I you should try to come up with a way to use spacers/lining so that clip-ons could be mounted without destroying the finish. The only problem is...I can't tell from your photo...is the handlebar round or flat? If it's NOT round...you might have a hard time finding compatible clip-ons. And, if it's CF, there may be a clamping/crushing issue. Now, you acknowledged that potentially switching to the integrated aero 'cockpit' would be costly. So I'm suggesting that you weigh that cost with the cost of letting go of the "one bike guy" moniker and purchasing a used bike suitable for a triathlon setup. As someone who's done a fair amount of triathlons, and owner of several bikes, I always preferred to have one bike set up for triathlon and just leave it that way. The rest are road bikes. I'm sure you too would want to have a traditional road bike available the rest of the time. The only time my tri bike gets ridden is in prep for, and in tri/du races.


Dan

robbyville

Dan, thank you so much for the reply. I am indeed comfortable making the switches. My plan was/is to have a new seat post topper with tri saddle already set up. And obviously plug and play with my DI2/ brake cables. I’m confident I can do it quickly and I get that it’s not ideal.

my main issue isn’t that I want to stay a one bike guy, it’s simply that when I make a purchase I tend to go all out vs what would most probably be a more stepped approach. Since I don’t yet know how into Tri’s I’ll get I don’t want nor can I afford to spend a considerable sum on a new bike, and as mentioned I don’t generally like going in half way. So I figured this may be a fun approach.

i am part of a great local group though and I think what may end up happening is that I may start to train a bit with someone else’s bike and ride the race on it and if I enjoy and keep it up then purchase. We shall see.

in the meantime I’m keeping my eye out for a nice reasonably priced integrated cockpit as my current bars are both carbon and flattened at the tops.