You’ve got a very nice set of shifters: have the front derailleur tuned for $20 and it should shift perfectly every time. And you can have a third chainwheel put on for under a hundred and fifty bucks – less if you get used parts. However, you should be warned that the two-chainwheel setup is really popular right now and most high-end bikes stick with two. I myself converted my three chainwheel set (28/38/48) to a two (38/52). You’ve got, I believe, a nine-speed cassette, so a third chainwheel might be a bit excessive.
A really cheap and easy upgrade you might want to consider before your triathlon, if you’ll have time to practice with it, is a set of aerobars. A decent set can be got for under $50, and you can install it yourself. My SO (the former hardcore triathlete) eschewed the expensive tri frames and instead bought a medium-end road bike similar to yours and just installed some aerobars. Bam: instant tri bike. Obviously, you lose some of the aerodynamics, but as my SO likes to say, the most important thing on your vehicle is the engine. To wit, the rider.
Yeah, I get a free bike tune up from the shop I bought it from within 30 days. Just waiting to do it until I get closer to the end so the cables are all as stretched as they can be.
I know it’s a nice bike and I’m happy with it. The front derailer struggles if I am all the way on the small gear on the rear cartridge. It will just drag on the chain until I down shift the rear a gear. The actual shifting is smooth as silk when it shifts. No issues with the rears.
ETA: I do want aero bars at some point but I think I need to get more comfortable controlling the bike at high speed first before I throw those on. They don’t look stable for turning. I do want some though to, at a minimum, relieve some of the weight that rests on my palms. They start to hurt after riding about 30min or so. I’m probably just pushing on them tensely or something. If I drop down to the bent part of the bars there is relief, but cant shift or brake from there very well.
Another mistake for a weak swimmer/stronger cyclist to avoid … maybe less so at this distance but was a bad one for me to make on my half-ironman on a 100 degree day … don’t get too carried away with passing up all those swimmers who swam over you on the bike portion … you regret it on pretty damn quick when you hit the run!
Honestly be real here. You are doing this to have fun, not to set any speed record. My first tri (an Olympic distance one, the Pleasant Prairie Triathlon) was biked with a Trek 800 Mountain bike and baskets on the pedels. My supposed to be 1.5K swim was, as noted, sawtooth, and took me over 40 minutes. I averaged just barely over 16 mph on the bike. The 10K run took me 57 minutes giving me a total time of just under 3:16. (They keep these scores on-line still, amazing!) Definitely in the lower half for my age group.
And I had a blast!
And that is what you should expect … to have fun. When I did the Chicago Tri most of my race was spent passing and being passed by another guy who I had never met before, on the bike (yes a better bike by then) and the run. It was the final stretch on the run and he passed me and I did not initially answer until he yelled back at me “Hey don’t give up on me now man!” I kicked it and we finished neck and neck. That fun was the point, not my actual time.
Enjoy it. Don’t crash. Don’t drown. No matter what it will be a new personal best and if it is one that you can blow away next time that is not too bad a thing.
Awesome…I’ve had people tell me I should try a tri. This thread makes me really want to work towards it.
Assuming I start with a sprint, I’m not worried about the swim…kind of. Is it acceptable to side-stroke? That’s the only stroke I’m really comfortable with, and I’m actually pretty speedy…height=speed in the water, right?
I’ve also never been on a racing bike. The last time I was on a bike with more than…well…one speed was 20 years ago. How in the hell does one get started with that?
Palm Bay checking in here! I heard people talking about “the bridges” race in the office so I guess that’s what they were talking about. Unfortunately, I don’t own a bike as when I traded up for a racing bike I found that I didn’t feel like changing the tires literally every time I went out. I’ve been thinking of buying a simpler bike but of course it wouldn’t be as fast for a triathlon.
I don’t know how long you’ve been here but you’ll definitely appreciate the fact that it’s in October by the time you hit the run
You want to have a bike fitting. If you are just beginning, I suggest that you google ‘LeMond fit method’ and use that as a base for fitting the bike to you. The bike shop you bought the bike from should be willing to swap out stems for you until you find something you feel comfortable with. Also ask other experienced riders to give you an opinion on how the bike fits you. As you gain experience, you will be able to figure out on your own the minor adjustments that make a difference (and yes, they can be very minor - for example, a 1/8" or less change in seat height is very noticeable). Excessive weight on the bars may be the result of a bar set at the wrong height or the wrong stem length. Your arms should not be supporting more than 10-15 pounds. Most of your weight is supported by your legs and seat. It’s personal - only miles in the saddle will let you figure it out for sure what works for you. But the LeMond method should get you very close.
I sustained 19-20mph on a flat track on a still day in one of my sprints, on the aforementioned hybrid. I passed a goodly number of people. Closer to 18mph on public roads for my Olympic distance event.
QFT
During my Olympic (Reading 2010) I worked too hard on the bike, and the distance was a bit longer than I expected (28 miles, I think). By the time I was into the last 2 miles and trying to spin out a bit, my adductors were cramping, I could barely stand on the pedals to stretch my legs, and I was pretty sure I would dismount from my bike into a heap on the ground. I did manage to stay standing, but my 10km was appalling - I was seriously broken, and it became an exercise in finishing because I am stubborn. I haven’t done another one yet (some injuries, cost of events, mostly), but I will go easier on the bike and better prepare for that transition at those distances. It really was a step up from the sprint distances.
Practice sighting in the water. If you only breathe on one side (like most people do), you’ll have a tendancy to not swim a straight line. It’s hard to learn to do, but ideally you’ll alternate sides for breathing; this ensures equal stroke lengths on either side & gives you the ability to see both sides to make sure you’re going straight. Short of this, lift your head up every so often to make sure you’re swimming towards your target, be it a turn buoy or an exit point.
Practice some bricks & transisitions from one sport to the next. As mentioned upstream, different muscles are used in the different sports & you’ll gain knowledge about how to end one & start the next.
Maintain a straight, predictable path on the bike. There’s nothing worse then trying to pass someone who is squirrelly & all over the road, especially in turns.
It is acceptable to swim however you want to swim. Again, the goa is to finish the swim with the least total effort expended.
Starting on a bike. Buy a decent enough road bike (used is fine, I eventually got a 2 year old used SoftRide Rocket R1 for under a thousand used, in perfect shape with aerobars) … and then ride it. (Again I did my first on a mountain bike, and Si B did a fast time on a hybrid.) Not much more to it than that.
