justinzane

I started riding about 15 months ago and I have discovered that, perhaps atypically, I am more comfortable in a very flat and forward position. My current 61cm road frame has a shortish top tube that forces me to shove the saddle all the way back on a 20mm setback post even with a 120mm stem in order to have a comfortable reach to drops or my Syntace C2s. That, combined with a 73 degree seat tube, means that my hips are rolled back to the point that anything over say 50km get a bit uncomfortable.

I'd really like to try riding a Triathlon / Time Trial geometry frame to see if it would suit my style and body geometry. The biggest problem with that idea is that I live in the middle of nowhere, where the few LBSs around are overwhelmingly MTB centric and even the one Felt dealer would have to special order a Tri bike. That means that I cannot simply rent one and see. And, since the various Tri/TT bikes from Felt, Cervelo, QR, LiteSpeed, etc. seem to almost universally be carbon competition bikes with matching price tags, I cannot afford to just buy one to see how it fits.

So, my question is: what affordable frame/bike models exist with 78+ degree seat tubes and long effective top tubes? That is to say, when searching eBay or craigslist or the like, what model lines should I look for? Thanks.

richietables 

Seems like there would be deals to be had on past generations of tri bikes. I have a '97 QR that still works great, no need to upgrade right now for me especially since I wouldn't get much $$ for my rig toward the new one. But I don't train on it that much... Mostly use my road bike. Maybe the downside to shopping for a bike of that generation is that you'd be on 650 wheels?

justinzane

Ahh, hadn't thought of the 650 thing. Why do you train on a different bike? Just more comfortable?

richietables 

Yes, my road bike is just more comfortable to me for everyday riding- if I do any races longer than a sprint then I get on the QR more ahead of time. Did a sprint yesterday and the QR is a fun bike to ride-

dpd3672

There's been some great deals on Ebay and the local Craigslist on Quintana Roo and Fuji bikes, even some Cervelos (especially older aluminum ones, although they get snatched up a bit more quickly).

I have an older, aluminum Q Roo Kilo with 650 wheels that's a blast to ride. Small, light, fast, and nimble. A little harsh on longer rides, but still fun to sprint around on.

justinzane

@dpd3672 , @richietables: I stumbled upon this article on SlowTwitch and is describes my situation very well. I never really rode a bike before last summer when I picked up a cheap no-name road bike. As I learned to ride and tried to find my sweet spot in terms of position I noticed that I was most comfortable down in the drops. I never like riding on the hoods much and I hate sitting up and using the tops unless necessary for taking a drink or catching a breeze when slogging up a long hill on a hot day.

I picked up a used set of Syntace C2s and instantly was in heaven. Well, almost, riding in the aero bars with my old Bontrager road seat got old quick. Add a Prologo Nago Evo Tango in Tobago for Taco Tri 40 seat and I spend 90+% of every hour on the aero bars. All in all, this is probably the most comfortable I can get this bike, save perhaps for some 23-25mm wide rims to smooth out the rough patches a bit.

My problem is that I have to have the seat slammed all the way back to have a long enough reach -- and I'm still ~15-20mm too short with a 120mm stem. That causes me to have an effective seat angle of ~70-71 degrees, which means that my hips are either excessively flexed or I'm kinda lifting myself up like a pushup on my forearms which ain't comfy either. It seems that I am at the "tweener" stage Dan Empfield mentioned in the article.

So, I can try to find a longer/lower stem and otherwise mess around or I can try a bike that is designed for riding almost exclusively in the aerobars. I'm guessing that the second option would be ideal since I could learn how my body fits on a Tri/TT bike instead of trying to force a road bike to handle a position its designers never intended.

Does this make sense to you all? I'm a neophyte and feedback is very helpful.

Heathpack 

I don't know the answers to all of your questions, but I've recently purchased a TT bike (I also have two road bikes). I'm something of a newby to cycling myself, but I have a coach who is an excellent & experienced time trialist and a fitter who is extremely well-respected internationally and whose 'thing' is aero testing. So from them what I know is that TT bikes are not as adjustable as road bikes, it's possible you could buy a bike & never be able to make it work for you. Sorry, I had a pre-purchase fitting & was given a shopping list of appropriate bikes, I'm not sure how you'd decide on which bikes you'd consider otherwise (not saying you can't buy without a pre-purchase fit, just that I personally don't know what the key measurements are).

The shopping list I was given was: Fuji Norcom Straight, Cervelo P2 or P3, Felt DA1, Look 956, BMC Timemachine and Trek Speed Concept.

Of those, the 'bargain' bikes were the Fuji and the Cervelo P2. I wound up buying a Fuji a month or so ago, it came out to $1600ish for the entire bike. They are on sale right now through Performance Bikes (Internet). The Cervelo P2 would have cost me $2200ish if I paid cash. The P3, Felt, Look, BMC, and Trek would have come in around $4000-$7000, more than I wanted to spend.

Since my intention is to race the bike, I knew I'd be replacing lots of stuff on it- wheels, saddle, crankset (I would be putting acrank-based power meter on it), bottom bracket (for compatibility with my power meter). Once I rode the bike a bit, I installed Di2 electronic shifting & bought better aerobars, two things I knew I might do but wasn't sure. So keeping the starting price low for me was key, it might be different for you if you're not immediately swapping out components to the extent I did.

WebFootFreak

A While back I was doing random searches for cheap TT bikes, and I ran across this...

Gavin CORSA Entry Level TRIATHLON Bicycle - Starter TRIATHLON Bike

justinzane

Thanks for the tip.

fury413rb

I ride my cannondale multisport with 650 wheels and a 60cm frame all the time. right now as my road bike is in pieces I have been averaging about 80-100 miles a week on it. Training for a 70.3. its a 99

Barchettaman

I would have look at the Redshift Sports switch aero system for your road bike.

also consider a Profile Design FF post.

My aluminium tri bike was built up from a Leader 720TT frameset, it's about the cheapest alu frame around with that 78* seat tube angle that seems to define a Tri-specific bike. Their 735TT has the same geometry but a nicer rear wheel cutout. The finish on some of the welds is a bit snotty but heck, that won't slow it down any.

lightly used tri bikes pop up second hand as people upgrade or decide the sport wasn't for them.

I would also have a look at one of the newer split-nose saddles for comfort in the aero tuck, they get 'the boys' out off the front and out of the way. ISM Adamo, Cobb, Sitero are a few of the names to look for.