bike for triathlon

[HighFibreDiet]

I'm doing my first (sprint) triathlon at the end of August. The bike leg is the one that worries me the most, but I've been out on my hybrid and it just doesn't have high enough gears so I know I should get a road bike sooner rather than later. I don't want to spend loads on it as I have no idea whether I'll want to carry on with triathlons in the future. What do you advise?

At the moment, ideally, I think I'd like to borrow one but the only woman I know near me who does triathlons is much taller than me - and she might even be doing the same triathlon as I'm doing.

I've looked through some old posts and got some ideas of good makes but it looks like I really have to get off to a bike shop and try some out.

However in terms of getting hold of a secondhand one, is eBay good or do you recommend any other websites?

Thanking you kindly

you could try 'cycling weekly' magazine for 2nd hand sales. i think they have a website too.

my last bike was a women's specific Specialized Dolce and one of the cheaper options for women's specific bikes.
I now ride a mans Giant OCR but have replaced the handlebars with narrower ones for my shoulder width and changed the saddle.

my advice is to not spend too much money til you decide what's important to you on a road bike and that is something you only figure out with getting a good lot of miles under your belt.

thanks v much for your answer. I had a quick look on Cycling Weekly and nothing suitable in my area at the moment but I'll keep checking.

How much do you think is not too much money? Some of these bikes seem to go for a lot of money even secondhand! I've also looked on EBay and found someone near me selling a 19" tri and run bike but they do have a reserve which is not yet met, so I'm not sure how much to offer. Dp thinks I should just get it and sell it on later if I don't want it.

i'd say around £500 is reasonable. less than that would be great obviously.
could you sign up to a bike to work or cyclescheme?

well, I did my first sprint triathlon in June (more of a stroll really). Was in same position as you wrt bike, and as I'm quite (very) short none of the second-hand ones were any good. Ended up buying the cheapest decathlon one. DP said not a bad bike for the money (£300) but would only really do for 1 season if I get into it.(and he's currently doing Ironman so he should know) Figured I could just use it for a practice bike then. It's so much easier to ride than the other one though.

tbh I would do the sprint tri on your hybred - soem people do tri's on there folding bikes or old MTB

so don't worry that you will be the only person without a road bike

do the sprint tri and then if you like - go and do again and then get a road bike

go to a local shop and try different bikes for size and shape - shape being important as it will alter how you feel on the bike - then try it on a turbo - a good shop will have a turbo for you to try the bike

then see if you can pick up a second hand bike the sameish - don't forget companies change their bikes every year like fashion - but at least you will know which bike is likely to fit you well

where is your srpint tri? and good luck

It's the Thames Turbo sprint tri on 30 Aug. I suppose I could do it on my hybrid but already there are plenty of times when I'm having to coast and I know I could be pedalling if I had higher gears. I suppose I could just change the tyres and the chainring and it would work out far cheaper than getting a new bike.

Nevergoogle, I'm not working - and when I do, I work for myself - so no chance of anyone else funding my bike!

I'm lucky to be nearish to Sigma Sport in Hampton, and can also get to tri-and-run in Wimbledon. I'm going to take a look at the bikes there, if only to see what might be possible if I had loads of money!!

I think £500 would get you a good entry level road bike.

You could of course change your cassette to get a different range of gears as you say? (Casettes are about £30 + the cost of work and new chain. I did it myself)

The most important thing you can do is buy a bike that fits. Most people buy the wrong size or think the step over the cross bar is the way to size them. Try a local bike shop and search the web for bike fit calculators like this one

www.competitivecyclist.com/za/CCY?PAGE=FIT_CALCULATOR_INTRO

highfibre - how tall are you? You could always borrow my lovely Bianchi Veloce which is as light as a feather to see what I mean about carbon bikes. I am 5'2.5". I always thought I was 5'3" but the machine at Boots told me otherwise the other month. 'twas a bit of a shock to have to come to terms with the fact I am even shorter than I thought I was.

PS the Thames Turbo was my first too and I did it on a hybrid which annoyed the hell out of me pedalling furiously to be overtaken by shiny faster road and tri bikes!

Ooh MoshiMoshi that's a very exciting offer. If the machine at Boots is correct I am exactly the same height as you. I usually say 5'2" so it doesn't sound as if I am splitting hairs .

Do you live nearby then? We could CAT each other to arrange a meetup. But I might be scared of damaging your bike if it is really that lovely and light.

I went to triandrun yesterday but didn't realise they only did custom bikes and didn't even have any for me to try out. The man there also said I should just do it on my hybrid, with the aim of getting round rather than anything else. After that I should know if I wanted to go for it and spend lots of money on a great bike.

By the way thanks for your info about the bikes (on the other thread). The one I've seen on ebay is an aluminium frame racing bike, so not ideal by your criteria.