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Wheels or TT bike
bunong
Posts: 49
in General Chat
I have the chance to use the cycle to work scheme. I already have a good (£1500 worth) road bike fitted with tri bars so I have the following dilema.
Should I buy a full on Tri bike for £1,000 - £1,500 (probably Planet X Stealth) OR buy some decent deep rim carbon wheels for my road bike???
Should I buy a full on Tri bike for £1,000 - £1,500 (probably Planet X Stealth) OR buy some decent deep rim carbon wheels for my road bike???
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If you bought a TT bike how often would you ride it?? Probably more than some snazzy wheels.
I would go for the TT frame out of those two choices as it'll be more use to you and, as previosly posted, would benefit you more than some zipps.
BUT I'll just throw in a curve ball of some swim coaching or a VO2 test and a power meter. That would have more impact for your long term speed. Snazzy kit should be second on your shopping list after you've sorted your technique out.
But what the f@#k do I know..........
Think about spending £1500 on TT and lets be honest the frame is crap. If the TT comes with ultegra or above then sit and price it all out and you'll see the savings come in the materials for the frame. At the end of the day a good frame will rip the arse out of a cheaper one and it will last longer. With all intents, you get a good frame and then build the bike around that.
you buy a pair of cheap trainers, yes they look good for a while but soon they're wrecked. The bike is cheap for a reason. Sure it might be good just now, but will you still be saying that a few years down the line when you're needing a new one??? Might be a very opinionated view but seriously think where the savings have been made.
The carbon rim wheels - use for racing only. They will make you go faster, without a doubt. They will be lighter and better than the standard heavy clinchers you use but the fact is if you have nice set of snazzy carbon wheels, then when or if you buy a better bike then you don't the wheels cause you've already got a set that you can put on them or if you want you can flip them between the road and the TT.
For me, buy the wheels. Save your cash and spend a little bit more money, get a better TT and enjoy the fruits that it brings!
Ris : you will find certain bike shops are 'flexible' on what they record for the vouchers spend.....
but then i decided race wheels would just not get the use, both from the fact i am not good enough to use them yet and i have only entered 5 races!...
....and i am not ready for a Tri specific bike just yet...
As this is a 12 month program I am actually thinking of putting it towards a decent MTB (i already have a decent turbo) which will get used on the crappy days and through next winter, and then use next years voucher to put towards a tri bike....
Bottom line, if you've got a max budget of £1500 and you want improvements, get coaching. If you want a TT bike for THAT cash a Stealth or a Focus would be a safe buy. But you can get a decent bike for that money.
In terms of lasting longer, sure it might be conjecture on my part but would you really want to shell £1500 hard earned notes to find out it that essentially it was crap and doesn't do what it says on the tin.
With will all intents with a good set of rims on the roadie then it will be just as fast if not faster than the cheaper TT. I stand by my arguement of the savings been made in the frame. In my view frame first then groupset then wheels.
Well DUUUHH!!! Really???
What a numpty thing to say......"I bet I'm faster on a P4 than on my uni-cycle...."
The point I'm making is if you had the same groupo, same wheels just swapped frames between a P4 or lets say a PX Stealth your times wouldnt be much different. And the PX is a SOUND frame which has MANY race wins under its belt, but hang on...... it MUST be crap its ONLY £500??!!
And yes if I was on a budget the Stealth would definately be in the mix.
the point I'm trying to make is that the saving has to be in the frame, if its got the ultegra groupset, nice wheels, carbon seat post blah blah then the saving is in the frame. So lets be honest here, do you really want to shell out the dosh and later find the frame is done in or have a good frame and then build a good bike around that?
I know which one I'd go for. As I say I stand by my point, get the wheels and add them to a good frame then add a group set. I know plenty of people who bought a PX, and its a nice bike but is it as good as a Ridley Dean or Argon E114 etc? Doubt it, so which one is better the Ridley Dean or the PX.....fight!!
So you'd rather pay £3,500 for a FRAME than less cos in your mind the bigger the pricetag the the better the product?? Strange.....
I prefer to be slightly more scientific, like am I really going to get thebest out of this? Can I justify this? I'll ride it before I make my mind up etc.....And quite frankly I would eat my own eyes if you were SIGNIFICANTLY (5 minutes over 40km) faster on a top line frame as aposed to a more budget option.
PX frames are made from the same carbon as frames 3x the price and in the same factory as some verywell known Italian bikes. And they retail at the cheaper end of the spectrum. Yes a p4/dean/e114 will use higher grade carbon but at a very high price and a price I can't really justify. Just going on pub rumour that cheap means shite will only see u spending more than you need. Do your research and come back with a stronger argument.
Any way back the OPs original question, I would spend my money on some coaching (from reputable coach) a VO2 test (with a training / nutrition plan) and a power meter. Inthe long run you'll be caning past the fat bloke on the ridley dean.........
Anyway posted this a couple of months ago and its based upon some science.
Firstly firestarter, I have nothing against the PX so the quicker you realise then we can move on. I tried to add a curve ball and finally this flamming forum is kicking. My point was based on a rationale between a decent set of wheels or a cheap as chips TT.
If I personally have a decent road bike, then I would rather spend £1k on a decent set of rims and then rest on coaching. I'm not the quickest but I know I've canned it past people on TT's before.
I still standby what I say, if the there is a decent groupset on the a £1500 TT with a set of ok wheels then you do have to wonder where the corners have been cut. I think its a fiar point.
I'm just glad I'm the skinny bloke on the Argon as I cane it pass the guy the TT..
lets not go in the Blowhead's reviews... they're so bloody hypocritical. One month he loves a bike then the nexts its crap. I'm sure I've read in there about the review of the PX or simlar where its loved when they've got in but the following months it slowly starts to drop down the ratings.....
What about the stiffness of these frames, this comparison of the Focus to the P4 was based solely on aerodynamics. When I compare my Alu road bike to my Specialized carbon TT bike on the turbo, the difference in how much the frame flexes is massive....
The Carbon frame is almost rock solid, even when standing (almost) but the Alu bike is all over the place. This is all a whole heap of lost energy!
It's probably pretty difficult to make a comparison based on stifness, but I reckon it's pretty important too.
The main reason for this is that I don't have a fortune to spead - the wife and kids have that. And I only train a max 5-7 hours a week again as the wife and kids have the rest of my time. So £5K was out of the question and I doubt that the extra money is worth very much time as a £1.5K TT bike would give me 99.5% of the gains that a £5K bike would give me, and both certainly much less time than extra training would give me. Also if a £5K bike is so good why do 'cheaper' Planet X, Focus etc bikes win races - its all to do with the rider, thats why the bike companies want to sponser riders that win.
The wheels will get my money - the next question is which wheels.
Come on guys help me out So far I'm with Durarace as there resonably priced and made by a good brand - or do they just sponser the best riders?