Should You Buy a Triathlon Bike for Mountain and Road Racing?

 Once you have decided to try your first tri bike, one of the first questions continually asked is "Do I have to get a tri bike?" The easy answer is without a doubt no, not at all. Many people would recommend that you do not get one for the initial triathlon, especially in the event you already have got a road or touring bike.

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Special Bikes:

 

If you happen to already have a road bike, In my opinion, the decision is simple. There isn't any need to get out and put money into another bike to give your 1st triathlon bike a try, especially when your very first competition is a sprint. In case you are signed up for something longer such as a 1 / 2 ironman or ironman distance race then some could claim the aerodynamics of the tri bike saves you invaluable time, and that has been shown to be accurate. Even so, for a novice racer or perhaps slower veteran, the amount of time saved is negligible compared to the costs of your new bike. Also note, that at the sprint level you will see a variety of bikes; road bike, tri bike, you may even catch a couple of gravel bikes from time to time.

 

Choose the best one:

 

What happens if you don't own a bike and you have to buy one anyway? Now choosing one can be harder. There are positives and negatives to each. Below are a few guidelines.

I still stick to the notion that when you're not planning to be in the leading 30% of your age group to still go with a more comfy road bike. You'll be able to purchase a set of clip-on aero bars and get fairly aerodynamic as needed. If you are certain that you'll be staying with triathlons at any distance and not considering group riding then I believe that a purchase of a road racing bike is wise. If for some reason you hate life after your first triathlon you can sell it as easy as a road bike. Having said that, usually the road bike is often nicer at each price level.

 

Triathlon Racing:

 

If you wish to race triathlons as well as have fun and take part in group rides with the local bike shop, then would certainly recommend the road bike and purchase some clip-on aero bars for racing. So to sum up, no, you don't need to have a tri bike. If you have a road bike I'd almost always recommend you keep with that for your first race and only recommend choosing a triathlon bike if you do not already have a bike and are certain you will only ride to race and train for triathlons.

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