New To Triathlons!

[hskrzfan34]

Hey, I have never done a triathlon before. I am wanting to begin training for one and was hoping to find some guidance here. Does anyone have advice on where to find a great bike for a noob? I don’t need top of the line, but Target doesn’t work either. Would love to hear your thoughts on this. Thanks.

[Tim Kelley]

@hskrzfan34 84322 wrote:

Hey, I have never done a triathlon before. I am wanting to begin training for one and was hoping to find some guidance here. Does anyone have advice on where to find a great bike for a noob? I don’t need top of the line, but Target doesn’t work either. Would love to hear your thoughts on this. Thanks.

Welcome to the forum! Was that you who had originally reached out over Twitter? You’ll get lots of good advice here!

[brendan]

@Tim Kelley 84327 wrote:

Welcome to the forum! Was that you who had originally reached out over Twitter? You’ll get lots of good advice here!

Spend several weekends trying out bikes at all the different bike shops in your area. Test rides, 10 minutes each, at least. Bring your own helmet.

Let the bike sell itself to you, not the salesperson. Also, you’re trying out the stores to figure out which one you want to be your repair and maintenance shop.

B

[dasgeh]

Also, think about what other kind of riding you may want to do. For example, if you could see running some errands on a bike, or going out for a long bike ride and carrying a picnic, you might consider a cross bike or a road bike that can take fenders and a rack. Again, a good shop will be more helpful than us, because they can have a real discussion with you.

And before you say “but I just want to spend as little money as possible – I was thinking Craigslist”: buying from a shop will include at least some maintenance – usually a tune up before you buy, and another within a year. That’s $200 in savings right there. Plus, good shops will fit you on the bike — another $100. Plus, you’re more likely to get a bike you like to ride. The more you like the ride, the more you ride. The more you ride, the better value the bike is.

If you tell us where you are, we’d be happy to recommend bike shops

[acc]

@hskrzfan34 84322 wrote:

Hey, I have never done a triathlon before. I am wanting to begin training for one and was hoping to find some guidance here. Does anyone have advice on where to find a great bike for a noob? I don’t need top of the line, but Target doesn’t work either. Would love to hear your thoughts on this. Thanks.

You want to do this. http://www.restonmasters.com/jmls-lake-swim/

The bike only needs to be good enough. I’ve seen everything out there. Hybrids, flat pedals, high-end tri-bikes, there’s a wide variety on the course.

If this is a once-in-a-lifetime event, good enough is fine.

Here’s an entry-level tri. Short swim, flat bike course, flat run course. http://www.setupevents.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=event_detail&eventID=2569

[Greenbelt]

I’ve done exactly one triathlon — a sprint — so take my advice with a grain or pound or salt.

I’m a much stronger rider than swimmer or runner, so the bike part of the tri was huge fun. It was great revenge blasting past all of the swimmers who chummed me up in the pool.

For funnestness, and if you think you’d like to do more tris, I’d recommend a road bike or at least a cross bike with slick tires. But you don’t need a fancy road bike, and you can save money on shifting components if you’re on a budget. For example, I didn’t shift much for the bike part, I just put my bike in the highest gear and pushed through the uphills (not everybody can do that, but like I said, I do have one strength.)

Unlike a road race, less precise shifting isn’t such a problem if you’re just powering one gear after the start up, and unlike a long ride, you don’t necessarily need the smoothest bike in the world, since you’ll be back off the bike and on the run before road fatigue sets in.

[TwoWheelsDC]

If you get desperate…

http://grist.org/list/this-awesome-athlete-used-a-bikeshare-bike-to-compete-in-the-nations-triathlon/

[n18]

@hskrzfan34 84322 wrote:

Hey, I have never done a triathlon before. I am wanting to begin training for one and was hoping to find some guidance here. Does anyone have advice on where to find a great bike for a noob? I don’t need top of the line, but Target doesn’t work either. Would love to hear your thoughts on this. Thanks.

I haven’t done a century, let alone a triathlon. It’s hard for others to give accurate advice without knowing your fitness level. How much workout do you do per week, and the type of activity, and if you used a bike, for how many miles per ride, and do you go to a gym? Weight and height would be nice.

Doing strength training at a gym grows your muscles faster and strengthen your bones than doing the real live activity, but you still need to do the real live activity later because gym equipments target specific muscles and not as many muscle groups as the real live activity. Case in point, 3 years ago I couldn’t run for more than 2 minutes due to bone pain(It’s what first time joggers feel, it’s not really muscle only pain). After using a gym for two months, particularly Leg Press machines, I was able to run for 10 minutes. It was substantially easier in a gym because I have 5 lbs increments. On the road, it’s either zero pounds(no exercising), or my full weight(185 lbs), and nothing in between. The same applies to pullup bars that you could buy from CVS for $20. You either pull your full weight up, or nothing at all. In a gym, you could select how many pounds you want to left. Our ancestors only had the full weight option. Fortunately today, we can use half or quarter our own weight in a gym, or even twice your own weight if you wanted to.

Hope this helps.

[Author]

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