Triathalon Bike More Comfortable????

[wnyrider]

Here is one from the minority. I have a multi-sport bike that has a 76 degree seat angle with all-in-one aerobars. This happens to be my everyday bike. I did add an adjustable stem to bring up the height of the handlebars to increase my comfort. I do have some back,neck and joint issues, and for me this bike has been incredibly comfortable to ride. I like to go for long rides and at times I like to go fast. I have climbed some steep hills too. Only caveat, I almost wiped out taking some corners too fast. My old road race bike had become too painful to ride for any length of time. I am not promoting buying a such a bike in general, just wanted to add my experience.

I brought up this question here before, and it came shortly after I started researching new bikes. I noticed the difference in seat angles of the same model bike, but in the different sizes. For example, the Trek Madone 5.2-- has a seat angle of 75.5 and head angle of 70.2 in the XS (47cm) size. Whereas the L (62cm) size has a seat angle of 72.5 and head angle of 73.9. Makes the XS seem almost like multi-sport in geometry. I know I have to take the bottom bracket into consideration along with all the other parts, but I am just throwing it out there for thought.

[Tri Girl]

I too, skimmed the article.

I'm the oddball, I suppose.
I first started out with a road bike, set up for triathlons. It was OK, but was never really comfy. I did multiple centuries on that bike (and an Ironman triathlon) before upgrading. When I got my tri bike- it felt like it was *made* for me. I can ride that thing for hours and hours without one iota of pain/discomfort. I've done multiple centuries on that bike, and even did a 3 day supported bike tour on it.
Personally, I disagree that climbing is more difficult. Could be because my tri bike is lighter than my road bike, and even with the compact double vs. the triple on my road bike- I still feel like I have significant more power (but don't know if that's the bike, or the rider who is probably stronger).

Since I don't have a road bike anymore, I ride my tri bike on all the group rides/t-shirt rides. I'm smart enough to know not to go down in aero when others are around. I ride the bullhorns unless I'm all alone. I'm FAR more in control on that bike than I was on my road bike. Considering I spend more time in aero than not, I'm very stable and in control in that position. I can eat a sandwich, drink, and even sleep in aero (ok, not sleep), while holding my line on the road. I can reach my brakes for a quick stop if need be while barely moving from aero.

Just a different perspective from what's already been said.

[colby]

When I ride my road bike, I do want to "relax" into the aero position. When I ride my triathlon bike, I don't ride aero ALL the time, because it's just not comfortable to sit in one position for hours on end. I do all of my interval work and mid-week rides as aero as possible, I climb hills as long in aero as I can, etc. For my long rides, I ride as much as I can aero, but it takes me several weeks to build up to more than 3 hours of aero riding. At first, 2 hours is about all I can take. During triathlons, the truth is that I ride aero as much as I can, but rarely is an event long and flat and perfect for riding aero ALL the time - there are hills, other riders, etc, even over multiple hours.

My road bike isn't as high-end as my triathlon bike, though, so I try not to make exact comparisons. I think I have adjusted to the geometry, but I could certainly adjust to riding a road bike, too. It's just weird sometimes to not have aero bars.