In need of advice

[AlexW]

Hi All

I am new to TheHub so hope I'm doin this right. I'm at a crossroad at the moment with purchasing a new bicycle. I am a triathlete and currently have a road bike with Tribars on. My option is either a Specialized Venge or a TT Bicycle that comes within my budget. The Specialized poses as both a standard road bike and triathlon bike which is great for drafting and non-drafting races but obviously a TT bike is completely different and very specific to my races.

 

Can anyone give me some advice on more research I could do and what my best choice is?

 

Thank you

[gpcar]

Venge definitely. you can use it for road races aswell as Triathlon

[ScottCM]

Will you be doing road races such as 947, CTCT, Tour Durban, Amashova etc?

If so go for Spez so you can do them all.

 

If not then get a TT bike if that is the only riding you will be doing.

 

Unless you have the budget to get both at a later stage then buy the one that shines the most

[Eddy Gordo]

I would say TT, and then keep your current road bike

[rudi-h]

TT bike isn't very useful, so I'd get the venge no questions asked. Most people I know (myself included) get a bit over the triathlon thing after a few years and then it's nice to mix things up a bit with some Road and or mtb. Unless you are maybe aiming for a spot at Kona, a venge with tribars would be 99.9% as fast as any tt bike out there.

[AlexW]

Yeah GP I do agree.

 

Eddy I was thinking on your lines but unfortunately I need to upgrade my road bike anyway and then will be stuck with only non-drafting races.

 

Scott I will be doing the 94.7, Argus and a few others that allow drafting and wow if I had the budget I totally would buy both but unfortunately I can't afford to at this present time.

 

Rudi I do believe the Venge is actually a bit quicker funnily enough and also I am trying to get a spot at Kona.

 

Thank you gents for all the advice I do appreciate it. Has anyone ridden a specialized? If so how do you find the bike and is there another brand you may recommend before I purchase the Spec?

[Silverman]

I would say that if you are serious enough about IM to try and get a Kona spot, you should get a proper TT bike... My experience with IM: I was 2.5k/hr faster on P3 than on Soloist and MUCH fresher on the run - you simply cannot get "forward" enough on a road bike...

[AlexW]

Ah Silverman you've lead me to another crossroad haha...if I had to consider a TT bicycle which would you recommend besides the P3 as that is a bit out of my budget.

[Silverman]

The P2 is a great bike - pity about the 105 components... I reckon most major manufacturers have great TT bikes. If you have a fairly standard build most will fit. There are some great buys in the classifieds (an awesome P3 for R29K...) I also find Slowtwitch.com a great reference site for all things tri, and Dan Empfield's knowledge on bike geometry is for IM is second to none.

[AlexW]

I will definitely look into the Slowtwitch website before buying and now I must put some serious thought into this purchase.

 

Thank you to everyone who has helped me you guys are awesome and if there's any other questions I'm quite confident you will be able to help me.

 

Cheers