Shelbyhed

Hi,

I am totally new to the triathlon world. My daughter is a competitive swimmer and has started to do some triathlons and is really enjoying them!

I read the sticky note on buying bikes, I truthfully still have no idea where to start.

She is 14, 5’3.

I would like to get her a used road bike and would love some suggestions! Since she is new to the sport, I’d just like something good enough and if she wants to get more serious we will of course upgrade.

My daughter asked to research the best way to train….I went down the rabbit hole and much like buying a bike I’m not sure what to suggest. She swims 5-6 days a week (1.5-2 hours) and has been going for short runs after practice lately.

Right now she uses my crossover mountain bike for races.

I appreciate any ideas or suggestions.

Steve B.

Look on FB Marketplace as well as local Craigslist for a good quality road bike. I wouldn’t at this point go to a dedicated triathlon bike as she needs to learn to ride on roads, deal with traffic and how the bike rides, shifts, etc…. Maybe look if there’s a local cycling club that has a beginner level she could ride with, they have knowledge of roads and routes. Also know that the swim leg of a tri is the least important in some respects in terms of how competitive you are. The running leg is very important and she might want to thunk about developing that sport. You need to be a good swimmer to be competitive, but being proficient in the bike and in the run is equally important. Great sport to get involved in at that age.

Shelbyhed

Thank you for your response.

The swim schedule is because she is in competitive swimming, not specifically to train for triathlons.

Track is just starting up at her school, she is hoping to join the team this year. So hopefully that helps with some running technique.

I have been looking at lots of used bikes on FB groups and Kijiji (in Canada). I found an Orbea Orca 51cm that’s actually still new in a box and needs to be put together for $1200 CAD obo. Thoughts?

Steve B.

Track will be good for speed training, I think most of the HS level stuff is short distance, 100-200-400 etc….. where as the Tri distances will be mile, 3 mile, 6.2 etc…. So she wants to think about getting that kind of distance training in. I did a team triathlon once in New Mexico, our teammate on the run had been the NM state running champ in the 200. Had never done much beyond 3 miles. The 6.2 run almost killed him.

I was the swim leg usually on my team races, always been a swimmer, I know the amount of time they put in and the yardage. It’s insane and may make it tough to find time and energy to get the bike fitness up to speed. Maybe concentrate when she can on biking when it’s off season for swimming. Thing is, she doesn’t need to train to win or place top 5, she really and in the beginning only wants to train to complete whatever race she’s in. Many sprint tri’s are /2 mile water, 12-15 on the bike and 2-3 as a run, maybe start at those distances.

Shelbyhed

Do you have any thoughts about the Orbea Orca road bike?

The triathlons she has done so far were 500m swim, 12km (~7.5 mile) bike and 5km (~3mile) run.

She did some indoor sprints this winter which were much shorter 200m swim, 5km bike and 1km run. She prefers the longer races.

I hear what you are saying about track, we have the 1500m and 3000m races at her school. I would hope she would learn a little about efficient running styles…

She is just getting into it now, similar to swimming we have always focused on beating your personal best time more than winning.

My youngest is doing the triathlons too, but her age can use any bike. She is only 10. Her last race she was tired at the end so my oldest ran beside her, bare foot, for 1km to encourage her…my oldest had just finished her triathlon. She can go forever it seems!

Again, thank you for responding!!

_ForceD_

Obviously you’ve already become aware of how expensive the sport of triathlon can be. And, as the person footing those expenses, I’m sure you don’t want to put out a bunch of money for an activity that might be short-lived. As a parent myself, I’ve seen that happen plenty in youth sports. The bike you mentioned above that is new ‘still in the box’ sounds like a good deal. But I don’t know what the added expense of (proper) assembly at a bike shop would be. As mentioned, there are suitable used bikes to be had from the likes of your local area Facebook Marketplace, and Craigslist. (However I’d say use CL with caution because of the trolls that lurk there. That can happen on FB too. But at least you can vet the seller with other local FB friends.) If the interest in triathlon is short-lived…at least you’re not left with an expensive bike that is no longer used, and might be difficult to get ride of. If the interest grows, then you can look into a better bike.

Regarding the youth’s training…it sounds to me like she is doing the right things…distance running on the track team, joining the swim team. Although, my observation with h.s. swim as a parent was this: Unlike in track, it seems that if a kid wants to concentrate on a specific discipline, the coaches don’t cater to that. In other words, if a kid says “I want to concentrate on distance swimming.” the coaches seem to push the concept of making the kid an “all around” swimmer…doing sprints, and the other strokes — one workout for the whole team. Personally, if “I” were the swim coach and had a kid who said they wanted to be my 200/400/500 freestyle specialist…I’d have special workouts for that swimmer, and not make them waste time on the other strokes.

Just need to add a some cycling, and some triathlon-specific workouts like “bricks,” for example.

Dan