Beginner choice - Felt/Cervelo
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Triguy98 posted 2 years ago.
Anyone telling you a road bike is more comfortable than a tri bike is biased and IMHO, flat out wrong. I find my tri position a lot more comfy than any upright position. (This is due to weight placement and distribution, I find it easier to rest on my elbows and relax vs holding myself up with my arms.) But I know people who think the opposite, but i find that is usually due to poor fit.
An alum frame witha carbon fork is just fine. All carbon may be a little better, but is it worth the $$? Thats for you to decide. The Cervelo Dual is an awesome ride pretty much anyone would be happy on, but the Felts are pretty good too. I dont personally like the looks of Felts, tho. Funky tube shapes and all.
Road groups dont shun due to tri geometry, they shun due to handlebar setup. Its hard to be in a paceline on a tri bike, its not what it is designed for. As a triathlete, my preference is to train alone. Race day, you will be alone. Riding with a group at 25mph+ is fun, but is significantly easier than riding 22mph by yourself.
Life is short. Play hard and get dirty doing it.
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881 days
Jetplane19 posted 2 years ago.
I'm in the same boat as the OP. I like the Dual and S32. The Felt looks cool in blue, but a bit too flashy, bulky Profile bars, and less agressive geometry. I'd opt for the Dual if there was a dealer near me and I could test ride.
My local dealer only sells Specialized tri bikes. :( ...but I trust them when they say: get a fit test _before_ buying anything, then tweak the fit to the most comparable bike. Pls keep us posted as to your bike outcome.
My buddy has a new Soloist & just got a fit test. They jacked his seat WAY up & he rides better now. He likes it OK for its multi-use. I have an older road bike and tried clip-on bars. That sucked bigtime. I'm all for a good fit on a entry/mid tri bike.
110
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910 days
hakadoru posted 2 years ago.
Also in the same boat here with same advice from most local bike shops on getting a road bike. I have no interest at this time in riding in road races.
Plus, I do have a road bike. It's a 1989 Trek 1000 and worked just fine back in it's day on the road. I'm sure that the guys who won races on that bike in 1989 could still win races on that bike today. It's the engine more than the chassis.
I like the Felt 32 and love the price. The Dual would be ideal, but as one of the bike shop guys told me, "Is what the Dual offers worth $600 more? I don't think so." His shop sold both the Dual and the S32, by the way.
At this point, I'm going with the Felt S32. I have my old Trek if I ever want to go club rides, century rides, etc. I have a long way to go on my conditioning before I can start blaming the bike for keeping me off the podium.
hak
The Outdoor Journey: Exploring the multisport life through the crucible of endurance
Buying my first bike. Just getting started in tri action. Seem to be down to one of the following:
Felt F4C
Felt S32/S22 (tri)
Felt S65
Cervelo Soloist (non-carbon)
Cervelo Dual (tri)
The question is what should my preference be leaning to or does it matter? Most bike shops seem to be telling me to get a road bike since it's more comfortable for long training and if I want to do long road races someday. From looking at the geometry specs though it looks like the Felt S32 can get darn near a road bike for seat post angle...or do other things come into consideration? Will road groups shun and fear me because of my tri geometry?
The other issue is the long standing Carbon Vs Al question. Do I go Al w/ carbon fork/rear/seatpost or just go all carbon. Will non-carbon be too uncomfortable tingly-wise?
So many questions...and each person I talk to has a different opinion...which I expect will be true here as well, but maybe I can extract some sort of "average opinion" :> I've poked around in the forums and seen this type of question asked before, but figured I'd ask with my specifics in case someone had the same decision to make.
Thanks for any advice