Cervelo vs. Trek?

[silver]

Well, why do I want a tri specific bike....(warning long discussion ahead)

Of course it's the engine, not the bike. But some bikes do some things better. Yes? You wouldn't ride a mountain bike in a time trial. None of this bike stuff makes any difference if you are not working, training, pushing the engine to achieve more.

The way that I look at it...a true road bike is a lightweight bike that handles well, it's light weight so it handles different terrain well, climbs well, accelerates well out of turns, handles with stability when riding in a pack, etc.

A true time trial bike has every aerodynamic advantage to give it the most advantage on a flat all out, nondrafting race. a trime trial bike concedes on issues like weight and handling to achieve aerodynamics. For instance, the aerobars. You lose handling but gain aerodynamics.

I think in tris you have to look at the terrain of the tri that you are competing in. Your best case scenario is to have a bike to fit every different situation. For instance, if you will be competing in a hilly, curvy tri, you would pick the lighter weight bike (leaing more towards a road bike configuration). If you have a flat tri, you would lean towards the time trial bike...more aerodynamics.

The pros have that advantage of a bike for every situation.

Most of the rest of us compromise.....we put clip on aero bars on our road bikes. Or we ride our road bikes on flat courses, or we ride our time trial setups on hilly courses.

I have the Trek madone. I love it. It has nothing tri on it. It' is pure road bike. No aero bars. It's a lightweight carbon fiber bike. Great on hills, rapid acceleration. My local tri is hilly and curvy and I feel that I have had an advantage over some of the expensive time trail setups that come in. I have better handling quicker acceleration, faster climbing.

People have suggested that I put clip on aero bars on it. They say using aerobars and riding in the aero position will gain you 1 mph. I've seen some research that supports this. But I just personally don't like the idea of putting clip on aero bars on my road bike.

With aero bars, I want the bar end shifters. The time trial set up is a little steeper to make the aero position a little more achievable.

But I still want a light weight bike....I want to feel the quick acceleration and hill climbing that I feel on my road bike.....therefore I want a lightweight tri bike and am looking at carbon. If I was only going to be using it for flat courses, I might consider heavier (less expensive) aluminum.

Well that's the answer the way I see it......please feel free to poke holes in my logic.