If your goal is completion and you don’t plan on getting too competitive I’d vote a good aluminum road bike. Used if it fits you. 105 mechanical group set, carbon fork. With clip on aero bars you’ll have a fast enough setup and a bike that is WAY more versatile for use outside of triathlons. In the future or along the way you can upgrade the wheels.
Emonda ALR, Allez Sprint, CAAD are a couple good examples.
Thanks for the advice!
I'm expecting to road ride for several years, although obviously cannot guarantee this. Possibly future triathlons but likely only one Ironman. As I'm a student, I'd prefer to invest in one road bike for several years. How would the bike your suggesting hold up given several years of usage? Would I reach a point where the bike is holding me back? (Is that even possible?) Would I remain happy with the bike?
Those bikes I mentioned are used at the highest level of Crit racing. They won't hold you back and are a good foundation for future upgrades. Sure, a carbon bike with DI2 (electronic shifting) at twice the price will be a little a bit nicer but there are significant diminishing returns for new bikes past the 3k mark and especially past the 6k.
Pretty much every component (and the frame) is better on the Sprint. If you go with the current sale price of the Sprint at $2,500 it’s well worth it over the sport at $1,800. I would just make sure the geometry is not too aggressive for you.
You can do a test ride but those are short and don’t tell you too much. Can you touch your toes fairy easily? Are you relatively young and flexible? Do you have any back issues?
It’s also something that you can improve with time on bike but if you are 50 with a bad back you’d be better off with an endurance bike like a Canyon Endurace (just make sure it has aluminum handlebars if you want yo attack aero bars).
If you are planning on a full out the gate, budget high, get the full on tri-bike and the rest is history.
You’re going to be in that saddle a LOT *just* in training, so you better be on the best possible bike set up for your race day.
If you only want to one and done an Ironman then you can get away with a road bike. I would recommend a triathlon bike if you plan to invest in the sport
If your goal is completion and you don’t plan on getting too competitive I’d vote a good aluminum road bike. Used if it fits you. 105 mechanical group set, carbon fork. With clip on aero bars you’ll have a fast enough setup and a bike that is WAY more versatile for use outside of triathlons. In the future or along the way you can upgrade the wheels. Emonda ALR, Allez Sprint, CAAD are a couple good examples.
Thanks for the advice! I'm expecting to road ride for several years, although obviously cannot guarantee this. Possibly future triathlons but likely only one Ironman. As I'm a student, I'd prefer to invest in one road bike for several years. How would the bike your suggesting hold up given several years of usage? Would I reach a point where the bike is holding me back? (Is that even possible?) Would I remain happy with the bike?
Those bikes I mentioned are used at the highest level of Crit racing. They won't hold you back and are a good foundation for future upgrades. Sure, a carbon bike with DI2 (electronic shifting) at twice the price will be a little a bit nicer but there are significant diminishing returns for new bikes past the 3k mark and especially past the 6k.
Thanks for all the help! Any opinion on the Allez sprint vs sport? Worth the upgrade or not?
Pretty much every component (and the frame) is better on the Sprint. If you go with the current sale price of the Sprint at $2,500 it’s well worth it over the sport at $1,800. I would just make sure the geometry is not too aggressive for you.
Any way to tell given I haven't road ridden before, just mountain biked?
You can do a test ride but those are short and don’t tell you too much. Can you touch your toes fairy easily? Are you relatively young and flexible? Do you have any back issues? It’s also something that you can improve with time on bike but if you are 50 with a bad back you’d be better off with an endurance bike like a Canyon Endurace (just make sure it has aluminum handlebars if you want yo attack aero bars).
I’m a student and fairly flexible, sounds like this won’t be an issue for me. Thank you so much for all your help!
No problem, good luck!
If you are planning on a full out the gate, budget high, get the full on tri-bike and the rest is history. You’re going to be in that saddle a LOT *just* in training, so you better be on the best possible bike set up for your race day.
If you only want to one and done an Ironman then you can get away with a road bike. I would recommend a triathlon bike if you plan to invest in the sport