Which TT bike seems like the better buy?

[zoom-zoom]

I've been doing sprint and olympic distance dus for several years...quite possibly my favorite way of combining my 2 sports. I can hold my own on the bike and it's definitely my stronger leg, but quite often I wish I had a dedicated TT bike. I can ride in the drops for a fairly long while, but after busting my right wrist in 2 spots nearly 3 years ago it gets a little achey.

Yesterday I competed in a tri/du...one of only TWO women in the oly du. Frustrating to put that kind of work in and have no competition. The woman who won was on a serious TT machine and 3.5mph faster. She's still a somewhat faster runner than I am, but she's also not lugging a spare 20#s. I know that reaching my goal weight would have me at least matching her run speed...but no way will I ever touch her on my road bike (Cannondale SuperSix).

And next year I'm seriously considering a Powerman du (10k-60k-10k). I think that would be a much more enjoyable on an actual aero bike. I'm also thinking I need to consider some local time trials. I'm about to sell my 29er, because the wrist business has made me far too gunshy to go off-road anymore (with the exception of CX).

So, I'm sorta eyeballing this Bianchi. I believe it's about a grand cheaper than a BMC I'm also considering...with very similar components (105). The primary difference appears to be aluminum frame vs. full carbon. Both have the same cheap wheels. For that $1k savings I could eventually upgrade the Bianchi's rims.

I really love the road smoothing ride of my carbon road bike. My previous bike was aluminum with carbon fork and rattled my bones. Granted, we lived with primarily chip-sealed roads at that time. I guess my biggest concern is comfort. Most TT bikes on the market appear to be carbon...would I hate the ride of aluminum, or am I better off spending the same and upgrading wheels? Could upgraded wheels even smooth a potentially harsher ride of alum. and/or make up for any added frame weight..?

[Owlie]

The wheel thing: Probably not. Wheel upgrades go for aerodynamics and weight, really. Bear in mind that I have no clue what I'm talking about.

The frame thing: I've found that relaxed geometry aluminum frames are awful, but the aggressive ones are fine. Perhaps not carbon-comfortable, but then I haven't had the opportunity to test much in the way of carbon frames (that actually fit me, anyway).It's really hard to tell because everyone labels their specific carbon or Al tubing differently. Granted, geometry plays a role in how the tubing goes together and how it transmits vibration, but: Take a look at the same company's road bikes (not the endurance frames), and then if they have a "crit"-oriented road frame, take a look at that too, and compare. While I never had to deal with tri/TT bikes, I'm willing to bet that the carbon used in a TT bike is all about stiff and light, so it may be a wash.

No way to try one, huh?

[zoom-zoom]

The wheel thing: Probably not. Wheel upgrades go for aerodynamics and weight, really. Bear in mind that I have no clue what I'm talking about.

The frame thing: I've found that relaxed geometry aluminum frames are awful, but the aggressive ones are fine. Perhaps not carbon-comfortable, but then I haven't had the opportunity to test much in the way of carbon frames (that actually fit me, anyway).It's really hard to tell because everyone labels their specific carbon or Al tubing differently. Granted, geometry plays a role in how the tubing goes together and how it transmits vibration, but: Take a look at the same company's road bikes (not the endurance frames), and then if they have a "crit"-oriented road frame, take a look at that too, and compare. While I never had to deal with tri/TT bikes, I'm willing to bet that the carbon used in a TT bike is all about stiff and light, so it may be a wash.

No way to try one, huh?

Yeah, no real way to try one...our LBS doesn't really do much with TT bikes. They have a couple of BMC and Bianchi in stock, but too big for me. But we can get a killer deal, because we're part-owners. But DH isn't totally sold on the idea. He thinks TT bikes are silly, but he doesn't actually to TTs/tri/du. My wrist and I think mountain bikes are silly!!

That thing about relaxed geometry and aluminum...I suspect there's something to that. I hated my aluminum synapse. So friggin' buzzy. But I'd rarely be going further than 60k on a TT bike, so I'm not sure the carbon expense is worth it if I can upgrade other things on a cheaper frame. The wheels that come with both bikes are pretty low-rent aluminum ones. I'd love to look at deeper section carbon, but there'd be no $$ left in the bike budget if I went with the $$er frame.

[smilingcat]

TT frame is all about getting speed. Comfort is fairly low on the must have list. Comfort does have effect on the performance of the rider but some how it seems to get left out of TT bikes. Less flex more power transfer is going on here. Less flex generally means harsher ride.

I've never ridden a pure TT bike except for Litespeed blade years ago. It was no fun. I still have my Specialized Transition Pro that I like. I like the ride. It's not as harsh as pure TT. Wheels I have on it are rolf prima echelon with bladed spokes. The three spoke wheels create more drag. prima with bladed SS spokes less so. I'm not all that convinced of the deep dish wheels. It adds too much rotation weight. And amount of turbulence reduction behind the wheel seems more of a hype.

Aluminum can be made super buzzy and so can a carbon. Its all matter of how the material is used.

If you want pure speed get the stiffer frame. Use good light weight wheel. You may want a set of training wheel and a set of ultra light weight wheel for race. drag in the hub is important too so you may want to use Campy Chorus or above, Ultegra or above or Phil Wood parts. I don't think 105 will cut it.

Spend the money on where it counts. Just my 2 cents.

[OakLeaf]

I know technology has evolved a WHOLE lot since the last time I rode an aero wheel - but 30 years ago, they were talking about aerodynamics but the real benefit was in stiffness. Going from my traditional wire wheel (I want to say 28 spokes x 2 - it was a lightweight wheel intended for roadracing, with what were aero rims at the time) to a disc, the difference in power to the ground was ENORMOUS. I never knew how much my rear wheel was flexing under load until I borrowed that disc.

[zoom-zoom]

I know technology has evolved a WHOLE lot since the last time I rode an aero wheel - but 30 years ago, they were talking about aerodynamics but the real benefit was in stiffness. Going from my traditional wire wheel (I want to say 28 spokes x 2 - it was a lightweight wheel intended for roadracing, with what were aero rims at the time) to a disc, the difference in power to the ground was ENORMOUS. I never knew how much my rear wheel was flexing under load until I borrowed that disc.

These are the wheels that come with all 3 bikes I'm considering. I think they may be the same wheels that were on my first road bike, too...which were really low-rent. I had a spoke bust while pedaling along flat, smooth pavement. I'm thinking that as long as the aluminum weren't a super harsh ride or excessively heavy vs. the 2 carbon frames that I'd be better off throwing money into wheel upgrade. I wish it were possible to test ride, but no one wants to order a small frame that won't sell if I don't end up buying it. Even if aluminum weren't super smooth, I have no sights set on any epic Ironman distances. Longest I'd likely do would be about half that far. It's just far enough to be inefficient and uncomfortable long-term in the drops on my road bike.