I know exactly where you are coming from. I started doing tri's about 1 year ago and when I started thinking about buying a bike, i went straight to thinking of getting a tri bike. I race tri's and train on my bike solely for racing tri's. I ride a Felt F70 road bike and I can't complain one bit. Although having a tri bike would be amazing and I'm sure my times would be blistering fast compared to my Felt, but for a beginner, the road bike is the way to go. If I were you, I'd get a road bike in the 500 - 1000 dollar range, ride it, race it, get strong on it. Then, if you get really serious about tri's (i.e. have the cash for a tri bike) then get a tri bike. A plus to getting a road bike is that you gain hamstring strength during training more so than on a tri bike because on a tri bike you would be using primarily your quads. It helps in the run splits. Also, if you find that you get a road bike and don't have the money for that tri bike you want, you can always tweak you fit on the bike a bit and put clip-on aerobars on it. It's the next best thing to spending a bunch more $$$.

p.s. if you want a good bike in your 500-1000 range, get the 2004 Felt F70. It's right in the middle. I've put about 850 miles on mine and I've had no problems besides a couple of flats which is no fault of the bike, just my crappy roads.

[QUOTE=glbrum]I know exactly where you are coming from. I started doing tri's about 1 year ago and when I started thinking about buying a bike, i went straight to thinking of getting a tri bike. I race tri's and train on my bike solely for racing tri's. I ride a Felt F70 road bike and I can't complain one bit. Although having a tri bike would be amazing and I'm sure my times would be blistering fast compared to my Felt, but for a beginner, the road bike is the way to go. If I were you, I'd get a road bike in the 500 - 1000 dollar range, ride it, race it, get strong on it. Then, if you get really serious about tri's (i.e. have the cash for a tri bike) then get a tri bike. A plus to getting a road bike is that you gain hamstring strength during training more so than on a tri bike because on a tri bike you would be using primarily your quads. It helps in the run splits. Also, if you find that you get a road bike and don't have the money for that tri bike you want, you can always tweak you fit on the bike a bit and put clip-on aerobars on it. It's the next best thing to spending a bunch more $$$.

p.s. if you want a good bike in your 500-1000 range, get the 2004 Felt F70. It's right in the middle. I've put about 850 miles on mine and I've had no problems besides a couple of flats which is no fault of the bike, just my crappy roads.[/QUOTE]

Are the Felts made in America?

Personally I have a Cannondale - 2004 R400 -$749 - you might find one cheaper - I did a few upgrades and it is a great bike - I do need aero bars at this point though

[QUOTE=bikefreak]Are the Felts made in America?

Personally I have a Cannondale - 2004 R400 -$749 - you might find one cheaper - I did a few upgrades and it is a great bike - I do need aero bars at this point though[/QUOTE]

Yea, Felts are made in California. my F70 was $800 and is full 105's. I'm pleased with it, especialy for the price.

For $500 - $1000 you pretty much HAVE to get a road bike, unless you find a good deal on a used tri bike. I did my first few races on a standard road bike, with all my training on a MTB, and finished my bike times in the middle of the age group. Tri bikes have their advantages, but you can ride a raod bike anywhere, including group pacelines. There are a LOT of decent 105 level road bikes out there for sub $1k just look around and test ride till ya find one ya like.

[QUOTE=Triguy98]For $500 - $1000 you pretty much HAVE to get a road bike, unless you find a good deal on a used tri bike. I did my first few races on a standard road bike, with all my training on a MTB, and finished my bike times in the middle of the age group. Tri bikes have their advantages, but you can ride a raod bike anywhere, including group pacelines. There are a LOT of decent 105 level road bikes out there for sub $1k just look around and test ride till ya find one ya like.[/QUOTE]

Good point regarding the price and the type of bike. I back up the versatility factor of a road bike vs a tri bike. I don't you can get a tri bike for under 1K that's going to be much better than a road bike. Just go with the road bike!

[QUOTE=glbrum]Yea, Felts are made in California. my F70 was $800 and is full 105's. I'm pleased with it, especialy for the price.[/QUOTE]

Thanks - I am leaning towards a felt as my next bike - that is a better deal then my cannondale - I do not have the full 105s - I am going to upgrade to eith 105 or ultegra (depending on how my poker games do!!) and use my parts to build my cousin a bike - yes I use the money I win at one obsession to pay for my other obsession

[QUOTE=Triguy98]For $500 - $1000 you pretty much HAVE to get a road bike, unless you find a good deal on a used tri bike. I did my first few races on a standard road bike, with all my training on a MTB, and finished my bike times in the middle of the age group. Tri bikes have their advantages, but you can ride a raod bike anywhere, including group pacelines. There are a LOT of decent 105 level road bikes out there for sub $1k just look around and test ride till ya find one ya like.[/QUOTE]

There are some new - leftover 2003 Quintana Roos on Ebay for $795 right now - pretty good deals [URL=http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=98084&item=716535... Quintana Roo[/URL]

I don't know how anyone else feels about a raleigh bike but my husband and I both bought one since we are just getting into tris. Mine was around 700, after I added clips, shorter stem, a female seat since my bike was not WSD, and thinking about aerobars. Hubby got a little bit of an upgrade raleigh road bike for about 900 after clips added. We love them. Good price for the components it had. Anyways, getting us into it and most likely in a year or two I am upgrading. just another thought...... my friend has the felt and loves it!

So aside from the aero bars and the seat angle, what is the difference between a road bike and a tri bike?

The general geometry is different, head tube angles and height, chain stay lengths, more weight due to more materials for the aero tubes, top tube length is affected by seat angle....

[url]http://www.slowtwitch.com/mainheadings/techctr/geometry.html[/url]

And they come at a more expensive premium, you can get a 105 equiped road bike for $800 or so, but a 10 Tri bike is ~$1300- 1600

Check out [url]www.feltracing.com[/url] The S32 tri bike is dirt cheap with good components. Just picked one up for $1100. There is a review on it [url]www.bikesportmichigan.com[/url]. I was sold after reading it!

Jason

Picked up a Felt S25 about 3 months ago and I absolutely love it. Great bike for a dirt-cheap price. I was going to go with the S32, but the LBS had a chipped S25 for a few hundred off (paid 1500)

I would rec. Felt highly - look at the standard components - you don't find it from other manufacturers like that until > $2000.

Hey everyone...
First post here, anyways...this place is great. I'm stoked to start training for my first Tri(Sept). I wanted to ask a question similar in regards to bikes. I am looking at getting my first roadie, and wanted to start cheap(planning on upgrading withing 2-3 years). I have seen some "Motobecane" bikes for very cheap. With Shimano Tiagra and Ultegra components, as well as a carbon fork. I know all bikes aren't the same, but does anyone have exeperience with this company. Here's the link to the bike i'm looking at...thanks+++
[URL=http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7168451291&rd=1&sspag... bike[/URL]

Go with the Felt, you'll get a better frame. Motobecane at first glance represents a good value when you look at the parts spec, but get your hands on a frame, and you can see the lack of quality. They have to save the money somewhere in order to spec those parts.

The aero advantage of a tri bike IS apparent. You might see a gain of 1-2 mph, depending on setup and gearing.

Get the Felt for sure! I just got a Felt 70 this week. Rode it 2x and it is the most comfortable awesome bike ever. My husband rode it and he thought it was great too and he races road on a much more fancy bike. The carbon in the rear and fork really smooth out the ride and if you get it fit properly you will love it. Good luck!