If you dont have any long bike trails around ya, you wanna ride with training groups, and ride while not training for a tri, get a road bike. Myself, I just wanna tri, and have a couple decent bike trails to choose from, so I went ahead and got a tri bike. Later, though, I KNOW I will be buying a road bike. Ya just have o prioritize.
I had the same question about 3 months ago when i started out, and from the recommendations from these guys, I went with a road bike and am very happy with it (Specialized Allez Elite Triple). Very fast to begin with, got aerobars on it now, and it's a machine on the road. But like these guys said, if you want to go for a more "leisure" ride with a group, you're cool with all the differences that might pose. Things like quick braking, dogs in the road, and sharper turns...all horribly difficult while in aero. I"m sure i'll eventually get a tri bike (Cervelo is looking good right now), but they're a lot more $$$, and not as versatile.
yes..get a road bike....it's more versatile
If you dont have any long bike trails around ya, you wanna ride with training groups, and ride while not training for a tri, get a road bike. Myself, I just wanna tri, and have a couple decent bike trails to choose from, so I went ahead and got a tri bike. Later, though, I KNOW I will be buying a road bike. Ya just have o prioritize.
I had the same question about 3 months ago when i started out, and from the recommendations from these guys, I went with a road bike and am very happy with it (Specialized Allez Elite Triple). Very fast to begin with, got aerobars on it now, and it's a machine on the road. But like these guys said, if you want to go for a more "leisure" ride with a group, you're cool with all the differences that might pose. Things like quick braking, dogs in the road, and sharper turns...all horribly difficult while in aero. I"m sure i'll eventually get a tri bike (Cervelo is looking good right now), but they're a lot more $$$, and not as versatile.