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The differences between a road bike and a triathlon bike:

By Marty McCrory on July 14, 2009

This is a common, but good question that deserves a simple, straight answer. Here it is.

The big three differences between a road bike are:

  • Tube shapes.  Road bikes tend to have round tubes designed for stiffness and handling.  Triathlon bikes tend to have airfoil shaped tubes designed for aerodynamics.
  • The handlebars.  Road bikes have traditional “drop” handlebars, with integrated shifters and brake levers.  Triathlon bikes have “aerobars” and “pursuit bars,” with shifters on the ends of the aerobars and brakes on the end of the pursuit bars.
  • The angle of the seat tube.  This is the tube that runs from the crankset toward the saddle.  In the top of the seat tube sits the seat post.  On road bikes, this tube is positioned at approximately 73-74 degrees from horizontal (90 degrees would be perpendicular to the ground).  This gives a comfortable, powerful pedaling position while in a road position.  On triathlon bikes, this tube is positioned anywhere from 76-79 degrees from horizontal.  This helps the cyclist to rotate his or her hips forward.  The cyclist’s back can then get “flatter” and thus become more aerodynamic.  There is also some research that says that it’s easier to run following a cycle with a steep seat tube angle compared to a shallow angle.

There are a few other small differences, such as saddle choice, wheel positioning/choice and crank arm length.  However, the above three reasons are the biggest differences between road bikes and triathlon bikes.

If you’re thinking about buying a tri bike, but already have a road bike, use the road bike for a while.  You’ll be just fine.  You can even buy “clip-on aerobars” for your road bike and get the benefits of aerobars without spending $1500+ on a tri bike!  In fact, if you go to any local sprint triathlon, you no doubt will see more road bikes than tri bikes!

However, if you’re serious about triathlon, a tri bike is the way to go.  These differences really do make a difference in your speed and comfort during the cycling leg of a triathlon.

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July 14th, 2009 | 16 comments
Tags: , , , , , , ,
Categories: bike fit, cycling, racing, triathlon

16 comments to The differences between a road bike and a triathlon bike:

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