beatlebee 

1. Training: Pool lane splitting etiquette: do you wait for the person to make it to the end and then verbally ask if its okay to split the lane?


2. If I get aero bars for my road bike, do I change the seat position?


3. Flip turns legal in a pool swim?


4. If I ride in a race with a water bottle and I accidentally drop it, do I stop and pick it up right away?


Thanks

eco

1. I wait until I verbally am able to ask somebody before splitting lanes with them. I always thought it was kind of rude when people would jump right in. Watch out for the people who flail about like a drowning duck as they "swim" as splitting a lane with them is almost impossible.

2. Yes, aero bars will most likely require some changes to your seat position if you are getting into a the "right" position.

3. No ideas if flip turns are legal in a pool swim. Always done open water swims on every tri I've ever done.

4. Ultimately it depends on the specific tri's rules, but almost every tri I've ever done has had a rule against abandonment of equipment during the race. A dropped water bottle would count (outside of the bottle drops at feed zones obviously).

gazelle5333

don't know about 1 but:

2) NO...get shorty bars. They are meant to be used on a road bike/no need to change anything

3) usually dependent on the individual tri

4) Yes you must pick it up

sirious94

1. Verbally ask especially if they seem to be a different skill level than you. Also try to get in with someone at a similar skill level.

2. If you really want to be in the whole aero position, then yes, but you don't really have to to get most of the advantage, also short bars are pretty much useless unless you are doing draft legal racing (where they are the only thing that is legal. you can hold regular bars halfway back, and short bars don't magically make your road bike position perfect without a steep seattube angle. They were designed to be legal, and not stab people in a large drafting crash, not to make a perfect TT position.

3. They are definitely legal for the faster swimmers, I have heard race directors tell slower swimmers not to use them. You will have to ask there.

4. Both WTC and USAT rules say yes you have too, same with general common sense. But sometimes things just happen. I once dropped mine, and didn't even notice until T2.

gazelle5333

Have you ever used short bars? By your response I'm guessing the answer is no. Shorty bars are meant to give you a more aero geometry without losing the hip angle of a road position. TT/Tri bikes are built with a steeper STA in mind but throw full bars/FF seatpost on a road bike and you lose the road position, so you'll be VERY scrunched up if not in the bars. Also, handling of the bike will be worse due to the extra weight over the front wheel. Shorty bars give me an extra 2-3 mph average. They are the same position (roughly) as full bars holding halfway back

sirious94

Yes I have actually, and yes they are an advantage, but I'm saying the only difference between short bars and long ones is the 15 dollars you save. And as nice as your road position geometry is for hilly races with fast turns (like alcatraz-in which case do not change your seattube angle), that's just not what most tri's are about. The great majority of tri corses are long and flat, have rollers, and/or a few turns here and there. You really don't need the road position in most triathlons. That's why tri bikes don't have road geometry. The handling will be worse, you may feel scrunched sure, but the majority of the time you should be in the aerobars going on a relatively straight road. Also, tri geometry (meaning steep seat tube angles) is more aerodynamic than road geometry with aerobars, and puts less stress on certain running muscles.

gazelle5333

True, but the main point is does the OP have another road bike and if he's asking this question, then I'm assuming the answer is no. With only having one bike, to make the road bike into a tri bike by swapping seatposts/adding the bars is an unnecessary hassle. The shorty bars allow you to train around town on busy roads and not sacrifice the road position

beatlebee 

Thanks for the answers. Esp. when it comes to swim training as I never swam before the beginning of this month and I have my first tri on Oct. 31. Frustrating to learn but I get better every time I am in the pool.

As for the bike: I have one road bike other than my fixed gear commuter. I was thinking of just using the road bike without aerobars at all, since this is my first tri. I was looking into gear and am starting to think that I should just focus on training for this first one and then if I like it, get a little more gear.

And I do not know how to flip turn yet, worth learning in the short amount of time I have? (Swim is serpentine style in pool)

SBRDude

1. yes. often, the best way to get their attention is to either be in the lane at the wall waiting for them, or to put a kickboard in to get their attention.

2. you'll usually get more power by shifting the seat forward, but you'll sacrifice handling/stability. your call.

3. yes

4. no. use old water bottles in a race and treat them as disposable.

travelmama

No need to worry about the flip turns as the swim is most important.
It is a better idea to worry about getting tri gear once you know this is something you want to do again.
Good luck!

trsidn 

I agree, flip is unnecessary, road bike is fine, aero bars not needed. Maybe get tri shorts, less padding and easier to swim (and run) in.

kuf

I hope you mean not to worry about the bottle if you lose it, not to throw it away on course intentionally. I agree. If you drop something, the last thing you want to do is panic, brake really hard and make a u-turn on course to get it, only to find out somebody was right behind you, and your race is now over.

beatlebee 

Thanks. I will look into tri shorts.
As for the possible lost water bottle: hopefully I never have to worry about that, just wondering though.

sirious94

In this case it's probably not worth learning just for your tri. It's one thing to be able to flip turn, it's completely different being comfortable enough with flip turns to do them, then push off underwater at least the distance it will take to get into the next lane. Eventually you should learn them, but for now you really don't have to.

900aero

My $0.02 worth:

I usually just start swimming, in a lane which matches my speed. People work it out. Ask them if they're stopped but its not like anyone owns the pool and you need permission

Most tris have rules about discarding anything on course and you may be disqualified by a technical official if you breach them. Read the terms on the races you enter. Its not like pro road cycling with water bottles ( ok bidons you hardcore dudes) going everywhere.

Don't buy too much gear too early. You'll almost certainly change your mind once you get some experience. Believe me, there will be plenty of time to buy gear and plenty of people trying to sell it to you.

Good luck.

SBRDude

I haven't raced tris in awhile so maybe things are different now, but I used to discard my bottles at the water stations before getting handed new ones. If it was a long race, this happened repeatedly. I started the race with my own bottles and ended it with new ones from the race. I don't recall ever dropping one out on a course between aid stations, but it would never occur to me to stop and pick it up. I do recall seeing dropped bottles occasionally and I don't recall ever seeing anyone stop to retrieve a dropped one. That just seems crazy during a race. I can see how USAT doesn't want to promote littering, but this is just part of racing and I always figured that the organizer would later do a sweep of the course or that spectators might nab some of the bottles for themselves. My guess is that a race official might make an issue out of someone intentionally throwing away their bottle in no man's land, but it would be beyond petty to enforce that rule for accidents.