A few newbie questions
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Tamara posted 1 year ago.
Welcome to the world of tris! IMHO, if your goal truly is just to finish, don't spend any more $$ investing in your mountain bike. I know more than a few people (moi included) who have done their first multisport event on a mountain bike or hybrid, as opposed to a road or tri bike. Clipless pedals might be worth it, but aerobars, road tires, etc... on a mountain bike aren't going to significantly change your results.
Save your pennies and instead invest in training time in the pool and on the bike and run. Make sure you love this sport before pouring money into it.
Good luck!
"It's very hard in the beginning to understand that the whole idea is not to beat the other runners. Eventually you learn that the competition is against the little voice inside you that wants you to quit." ~George Sheehan
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Anton posted 1 year ago.
Hey and welcome!...Don't worry,no question is too stupid...but some of the answers might be!
Using your MTB is fine your first time out,or 2nd ,or third...you'll see lots of folks with all sorts of bikes...you won't br alone.
What kind of pedals do you have? Using a full MTB kit is fine..however...get some road tires...slick or a tad bit of tread...the decreased rolling resistance will make you feel like you are flying! You'll gain several miles per hour over knobbies.
Good luck...and we're here for ya!
"What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything?" - Vincent Van Gogh
My Blog: http://agingsuperhero.blogspot.com
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Iron Dan posted 1 year ago.
I would say no to bar ends, on a mountain bike they would not provide much if any benefit. Tires would be the best thing that you could do. Getting a set of more road type tires will make a huge difference. On getting shoes, they might help if you get ones that are not to time consuming to get in and out of. It might just be easier to bike in a pair of running shoes and just be able to drop your bike of in the second transition. This depends on how large your pedal platform is to see if this would be a possibility.
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Triguy98 posted 1 year ago.
High pressure tires make a world of difference. I'd run these:
http://www.biketiresdirect.com/productdetail.asp?p=COSPC
get the higher pressure model.
If your MTB shoes are the three strap velco variety, youre pretty good to go. Just throw em on at the rack, and haul butt through th transition area. I did this for my first two races.
Bar ends are nice to give you a variety of hand positions, and if installed with a low angle, can lower your profile quite a bit. I wouldnt spend too much on em, but if you can get a deal, snag em. Remember you cant put em on carbon bars, tho.
Life is short. Play hard and get dirty doing it.
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little.dipper posted 1 year ago.
Thanks for all the feedback. I'm probably going to get some shoes to go clipless because it's something I'd been intending to do with MTB anyhow and I only have platforms currently. I have a little trouble when I hit a downhill and my feet start spinning a little faster - once in a while I'll slip a pedal and it drives me nuts.
I'll probably look into some tires too and pass on the bar ends. Thanks for all the advice.
Dave
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hakadoru posted 1 year ago.
For what it's worth, I know a guy who did his first tri a couple of months ago. He had a beater Schwinn MTB that looked more like something you'd see the Wicked Witch from Oz riding. He kicked the snot out of a younger guy who was riding a dedicated tri bike.
Although you'll see it written here a gazillion times that it's the engine (you), not the bike, that makes the difference, there is something to be said to making your ride more efficient.
My humble two cents (with change to spare) would be to invest the absolute minimum in gear for your first race. Before, during and after the race, check out what everyone else is doing and what direction you may want to go with your upgrades.
This is coming from someone who has a history of not following his own advice. ;)
hak
The Outdoor Journey: Exploring the multisport life through the crucible of endurance
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qb ant posted 1 year ago.
I agree with hakadoru - spend the minimum on this race. I did my first race on a mtb, then the second on the same bike with road tires - then I bought my first road bike. Make sure you want to continue in the sport (I'm sure you will we all do :) ), then start investing in better/more gear.
Good luck on your first race!
"90% of the game is half mental" Yogi Berra
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marathonrunr posted 1 year ago.
Many years ago i did my first sprint..not so pretty..i used my mtn bike shoes with laces and velcro overstrap. This took alot of time in transition both going and returning. I would have to say that had i had better shoes it would have been more enjoyable..but at least i tried (no pun)...good luck in the future...
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RV posted 1 year ago.
Welcome - think the questions were all pretty well addressed so won't rehash that. Good luck with your training - fire off your questions as they come up!
RV
It takes a long time to get good. - Scott Molina
Slow is smooth; smooth is fast. - Rich Strauss
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stewarba posted 1 year ago.
I would echo the sentiments on not spending too much on your MTB. If you have been planning on getting shoes for your MTB already then go ahead. Not knowing much about your background, my recomendation for you first tri is to get comfortable in the water and open water at that. If your not, the bike leg may feel harder than it needs to be.
Pain is the sensation of weakness leaving the body!
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tri-ac posted 1 year ago.
i have a sidi mountain shoe with three velcro straps that have been great. i commute, train, and race in them. i would think you could invest in the shoes and not worry about transitioning them to a road or tri bike.
slicks will make a huge difference. definitely upgrade those for this race (even though you may never use them again ;) )
Adam
Tri-ac
Hello, I'm brand new here and brand new to triathlons. I recently began training for a sprint triathlon about 8 weeks from now, so I'm loaded with questions, but I'll just ask a few for now.
Regarding biking: I'm a mountain biker and plan to use my mountain bike for the race. I have clipless pedals that I bought for MTBing, but never got shoes, so I'm considering getting some shoes for use during training and the triathlon. Any thoughts on using MTB shoes and pedals for the race? I can't imagine it would make much difference, but I want to ask. I'll obviously need to get familiar with using them during my training.
Also, I'm considering getting bar ends for the ride, but don't know if there's much of a benefit.
Finally, should I put road tires on my bike? Is there a big enough benefit in doing that?
For now, my only goal is to finish. If I drag my butt over the finish line last I'll be happy, but I'm not afraid to invest in little things that will make the ride easier/more efficient for me.
Thanks for any input. I'm sure I'll have plenty of other questions in the near future.