There's no right or wrong answer, but IMO, I say buy as much as you can afford. Not that a $700 bike is garbage or anything, but spending a little more and getting aero bars and lighter/better components, etc will make you more comfortable, probably faster, and give you more to work with once it comes time to upgrade.

I am new to cycling. I was looking at the Felt S32 (felt's entry-level tri bike) and got a great deal on the s25. It's full dura-ace, etc and when I want to upgrade, I pretty much will just need wheels and maybe carbon aero bars.

I can already tell that had I not bought more bike up front, I would have already (in just a few months) spent the difference dumping some of the inferior components, so it would have come out the wash anyway.

It just always seems easier to bite the bullet up front and then take your time on the next stuff.

Also, you could always get a professional measurement and then look for a used bike on craigslist.com or ebay.

A lot depends on aspirations. I thought i would just get into for fun and small rides, and now i do 50+ every weekend and i wish i would have bought a little better bike. Not that my Spezial Allez is bad, it is just that i bought the base model so if i want new shifters i have to get a new cassette and derailers. It is an all or nothing deal.

This actually works out better because if i could upgrade a little at a time, i would and my wife would divorce me. HAHA

i can spend as much as i want...i just really don't know how worth it would be...i mean really, i have never ridden a road bike before so i'm almost positive i'll be happy with anything....

i think the trek 1200 seems about right...its got the 105 rear on it...i know the 1500 is a lot better, but i really can't see spending that much, i mean, with a huge need for a new set of forged irons...

Just make sure what you get is going to be easily upgradable.

Huge Need Aye. Good call.

If you can afford it, test-ride away. But be aware that, if you ride it and like it, you're going to want it. (This is how I ended up with both of my expensive bikes, tri and MTB. I should've known better, but at least I'm happy.) I know a lot of beginner triathletes that are starting out on the Cervelo Dual (more of a tri bike) or the Specialized Allez Comp or Elite (more of a road bike). Neither of those is exactly in the $800 range, though.

I am new tri's and new to road biking so I went on the shopping trip about 3 months ago. I ended up buying the Trek 1500 and I absolutely love it. It has 105 and fits me perfectly. As long as I don't let my butt hit anything Carbon Fiber, I know I will be happy with this bike until I am ready to buy a tri bike.

I test road everything that was equivalent to the Trek 1200 and 1500. I felt there was a huge difference between the 1200 and 1500 but not that much of difference when I jumped up to the 2100 (though it was nicer). I would recommend spending at least a grand. This will get you into a Trek 1500, Cannondale R600, Specialized Allez, etc. I have put a decent amount of miles on my 1500 and I have no urge to upgrade right now.

My opinion is spend about 1,000-1,200 (or more if you would like) and then test ride everything in that price range. I knew I liked the Trek the minute I took it around the parking lot.

Good luck and have fun

Mark

I bet any of those TdF guys could beet me with a tricycle.

PoC -

I don't know - Rob was doing 25 - 27 mph on his old mountain bike (and he's upgraded to a Walmart Special). And Phil here, riding who knows what, did 10 miles in 25 minutes (24 mph) after a week or so of training.
http://www.trifuel.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2829

No wonder Lance is retiring after this Tour!

thehitman

also check out locomotion bike shop locomotionbikes.com

i got my bike from there..Felt B2..and i love it...and they are great guys...they have great service on their bikes..they sell Giants, Cervelos and Felts out of their stock room. theyr have road bikes and tri bikes and can order alot of things

but iif they dont have what works for u..by all means...go somewhere else...

This is a subject that I think I can helpout with. About a year ago my wife and I got into triathlon thank's to an unexpected bonus check. We bought entry level Giant OCR 3's for $550. I was happy with the bike, as I did not think I would jump in to this as hard as I did. We started with 20 mile rides and did a sprint in Oct. I did not stop smiling for weeks!!!

Tomorrow we are doing a 50miler at 18- 20 and a four mile run of of the bike! Needless to say we are now upgrading (It has been a good year at the job!), It started out with a new pair of tri shoes, look pedels then came the aerobars (I never even used them in a race, before I bought my Cervelo last month! ). Same for my wife.

Then I realized I should just go buy the Damn Cervelo Dual ( I will love it once I get all of the kinks out of it) and get it over with, because I am now a TRI JUNKIE. The wife should she decide to do half iron's will be upgrading to somekind of CARBON hello Kestrel/Softride!!

Anyway the point of my story is this can be a VERY expensive hobby. and you do not know if you will like it or not as a begineer. There is a lot of discomfort in training and racing! The water is always cold (I live in Southen California and the Pacific is always COLD!), 20+ mph on the bike starts to hurt after 5+ minutes as you build your conditioning, and the run is a long mental fight that can have injuries to sideline you. But if this is your cup of tea, you will upgrade as your wallet allows for it!

So in summary start small and them make your upgrade choices as you get further into the sport. If you can find an inexpensive or even used bike and wetsuit to get you through the first race / season, then you can upgrade based on what you want by performance, not just want the Local Bike Shop has on sale on a given day. Train hard and race faster! !
Pete

It's contextual. Flojo held the world record for a hundred metres, but her best recorded time in a 10km is less than mine, and I don't consider myself a runner.

and Jan Kirsipu is an outstanding sprinter but has never finished a Tour de France. He can't get over the mountains in the allowed time.

Your bike times look great..

for a stationary bike in a gym. Go ride the IM course against a strong headwind and tell me how you feel about your performance.
It's all relative to the task.

PoC

It's not too common to find solid components on a shoddy frame, but it does happen... mostly online. Components make a difference for sure... the jump from Tiagra to Ultegra is def. gonna make a BIG dif. i your ride, BUT the frame is the fundamental thing that makes or breaks a bike. Trickle down technology is good stuff. Lower level bikes don't usually see it too much, but bike from ~$1k - $2k see a LOT of it. Frames that are a couple years from winning TDFs can be had for $2k from Trek, and I forget which on of QRs mid level bike sports the frame from last years model above it. $500 doesnt get you a good frame or good parts, but $1000 might get you a frame with ok parts, and the frame might be the same as the next model up...

as my question imposed, all i wanted to know was what competitive times are in triathlons for cycling and what not so i know for future reference...obviously i would shoot below those times on a indoor bike to make up for wind resistence and what not...

perhaps you shouldn't be so negative...every post by you so far has done nothing but poke fun at me...since this site and every other forum is designed for learning i'd figure the biggest posters would be the most positive and meaningful, guess you really do learn something new everyday...

for your info, the resistence was on 6 out of 12, turning 90 revs per minute, with my heart rate constant at about 140-150, and small fluctuations in elevation...what more do you want in two weeks? i don't want to see your name in my posts if all you're going to do is be an ass about things...which is funny since your in your 50's you'd think you might have learned a lot about approaching people for the first time, thank god everyone else has been nice so far...

i'm not prepared to spend 1000 bucks on a bike right now...and since i attend college and live off campus i use my car to get to school, hence i don't have a bike up here, and the last bike i owned was a 100 dollar piece of **** from sports authority that corroded 5 years ago....so unless someone gives me one, i don't have one...

please be constructive or just don't post...i mean honestly, geeze man....

Phil, Phil, Phil, don't be so sensitive now.. :)

Don't you know us old fogies can't help poking a little fun at the rookies?

Hitman can be ascerbic now and then, but your post about doing a "10 mile ride in 21 minutes.." on an indoor trainer and sounding all excited about it, was just too tempting a bubble not to burst. Let's say it was a wee bit naive and you brought it on yourself.

About times: as BBBiker has pointed out above, you can check a race site - there are lots of them - and see what the current times are for your age group and race distance are.

About the bike, as I pointed out you can race on anything really. I did. No need to spend a lot of money. Buy second hand if you're a poor student. Been there, know what it's like. I already told you I did IM on a bike that came out of the city dump, and my "upgrade" for this year's race only cost $300 bucks.

Hitman's advice: Go ride a real bike down a real road and let us know how you do is appropriate I think. In fact I said much the same thing to you in my post a little bit above his.
"Go ride the IM course against a strong headwind and tell me how you feel about your performance. " - PoC

A little dose of reality, now and then, is a good thing, I think.

PoC
and we really will offer you good advice when you need it..
(as long as you don't pout!)
:)

PGansz said:
[I]"any idiot on the planet knows riding in real life will be slower, which is why i stated said conditions..."

I don't know that Phil. And to the extent that you believe it, you're wrong.
If you doubt it, set your resistance at 12 and take a 15 minute ride at 90 rpm.

But if you want to provide us with some useful information, set the resistance on your trainer so that you're doing 90 rpms and have a heart rate of at least 180 for 15 minutes; then get back to us. My heart rate averaged 175 for my last time-trial, and yours (theoretically) should be much higher.

And there's no reason you can't do like thousands of others and start out on a $25 garage sale ten-speed.

thehitman

Phil -

For future reference, you didn't go on a 20 mile ride. You rode an exercise bike. And you never went 10 miles in 21 minutes.

so set it to something i have a heart rate of 180...what type of info should i get back to you with? PGansz

I used 180 as the target heart rate based on the formula 220 minus age times 90 percent. The fact that you can't come anywhere close to completing that test (at any resistance) indicates to me that your aerobic conditionig needs lots of work. What's the maximum heart rate you can sustain for 15 minutes? Ride at a resistance that produces that heart rate for 15 minutes, and tell us 1) your avg. heart rate, 2) the resistance, and 3) the "mileage."

Its much easier way to gauge where you're at, if you use an actual time trial on a bike (any bike). On a flat surface, ride 3 miles, attempting to cover the maximum distance. Rest, then do it again. Record your time (avg speed), and preferrably, your maximum and avg. heart rates. Now you have some really useful information.

thehitman

who ever said i can't complete a test? ...... if there were a place close by and readily accessible to right i would....i'll try and find one and get some info to you quickly hitman... PGansz

Let's see. I've proposed a couple of ways to test yourself on your stationary bike, and a couple of road tests. PoC's suggested that you test yourself on the road. Its not that you can't complete a test, its that you haven't.

I'm not sure what "place" you need to go to. Where's the staitionary bike now; and isn't there a road where you live?

thehitman