The Question

As I start to interact more and more with like-minded athletes, there is one question I always get from people and it's this one:

I want to start doing triathlons but I only have a mountain bike and would like to buy a road bike. What kind of road bike should I buy?

Below is an answer I posted on one of my Tri Groups Facebook page. Shockingly they haven't banned me from the group.


Ok so here is my take on the whole bike thing and it may be different from how others feel and I hope I don't get blasted (doubt it in this group since everyone seems to be really cool).....

Triathlon and cycling is a sport where no matter what bike you own you will ALWAYS have bike envy! A little over a year ago I was asking the same question. I had just started riding and loved it and wanted to do more triathlons. However I had very very little to spend. We had a lot going on in our lives and spending a minimum of 1200  2000 was completely out of the question. So I started searching on-line (against what my local bike shop said) and I found a place called Bikes Direct. I found a couple bikes that I liked and emailed the link to my brother who does Ironmans and knows a lot about bikes and bike components. I knew he wasn't going to knock me for picking such cheap bikes (he didn't). He in turn compared all the components (which I am sure in his eyes, was like comparing crap with crap but he never made me feel bad). He just told me which one he would recommend and I got it. Sure I didn't try it out ahead of time or get fitted but since I wasn't spending thousands I was going to make it work!

One of two things was going to happen over the next year: 1) the bike would sit in the garage and collect dust or 2) I would love doing triathlons and eventually realize that I would need another bike and save up over the next year or two to get something better. To my surprise and (mostly my husbands) I love cycling and am searching for something better. I am happy with my $500 Bikes Direct bike and it's been really good to me. It has been an awesome "trainer" bike. Do I get embarrassed when I roll up to T1 on race day with such a cheap bike? Of course I do but nobody has ever made a comment (at least within earshot). As intimidating as the sport is, the majority of the folks I have met have all been so incredibly nice and are very welcoming to beginners.

So I hope I didn't confuse you and as you can see there are a TON of good brands of bikes. It would be hard to narrow it down to one. That is the problem I am having in my search right now for a new bike (and to throw a couple more names out there for you-what I am looking at Trek, Cannondale,Orbea, Cervelo, Q Roo). My biggest thing right now is deciding if I should go TT (tri) or road. Since I have a road bike already, I don't feel like I need to be in any hurry. Shoot I am even willing to wait until the end of the year when they start reducing prices on the 12's to make room for new models. Best of luck to you and your search. It's all really overwhelming. But the sport is so much fun and so addicting! Hope to meet you sometime. 



As you can see I wrote this awhile back and have since made my Trek purchase and couldn't be more happier!  I LOVE my Trek and I love how it perfectly it performs. 

It doesnt mean that my other bike was horrible. It held up wonderfully and never had any issues. That bike took me many places and it opened up my eyes to a whole new world- a cycling world! I stand by that bike because I sold it to a friend. Had it been a bad bike I would have never sold it to someone I know and would see on a daily basis.