From bike to bike

gdh250467

I currently have a hybrid that I use for commuting, shop runs etc, and out with the little one, and probably spend about 3 to 4 hours on it a week in total, with a maximum of about 30 minutes each ride.



I also have a road bike with aerobars, that I use for training rides on weekend and racing, with a maximum of 3 hours each ride.



On top of that, I also do about 3 to 4 hours of spinning classes in the gym, with the longest class being 1 hour.



Then, when time commits, I also ride a mountain bike, for a change, and to hone bike skills etc.



This is my first season of triathlons, and am only undertaking sprints and hopefully an OD race.



I am conscious that I am spending a fair amount of time per week on differing bikes, each with a slightly different riding postion, and style of riding. I was wondering if this slight change in riding position from one bike to another will substantially affect my cycling performance, or ultimately does the act of cycling on any type of bike bring benefits.

ris

i would have thought that as long as the bikes are comfortably set up and not going to cause/agravate an injury then any bike time is fine.



i suppose you might not get the most benefit from all of it as the set ups might not work all the muscles you need for racing. i'm sure that relaxed smooth riding would be a useful balance to hard pace sessions - just you do it on a different bike.

treefrog

This is a good question.

In my experience if you want to get into a fast/aero (initially uncomfortable) riding position you must get out and train on it and train at race pace. This gets you used to the position, allows you to maintain it and enables you to overcome the initial discomfort.

I think commuting etc on a flat bar will do you no harm in fact it can only help, but as far as getting the most out of your race bike you cannot depend on the commuting bike - you should get out and do race training on the race bike