Do You Need A Triathlon Bike? | Road Bike To Tri Bike On A Budget

So you’ve entered your first triathlon but you’re worried about needing lots of expensive equipment?
Well you’ll be reassured to hear you don’t need to tie yourself in knots about having a state of the art time trial bike for your first swim, bike and run, and Fraser will be explaining why!

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Music - licensed by Epidemic Sound:
Connected - Brendon Moeller
Pyrite - Sarah, the Illstrumentalist
FBS (Instrumental Version) - Pandaraps

Photos: © Triathlon / Getty Images

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Who's doing their first triathlon in 2020!? Leave us a comment!

[andrewrobbins]

You cant beat the feeling of overtaking some guy with the tri bike and aero helmet while im on my second hand road bike 😂🤣

[stianpollestad]

I've done quite a few triathlons, but only sprint and olympic distances. Still using my roadie with clip on bars and I have an aero helmet. My key purpose of doing it is to stay fit. I'm 44 with no ambitions of going to Kona. If I end up in 89th or 120th on the result board, I don't care. As long as I have fun, meet friends, complete the race and have a few cold ones afterwards. Cheers :D

[firminodias]

This weekend I did my first triathlon on a Mountain Bike…

[heavyhues]

"So the best thing to do, I'd say, is to draw a line in the sand and figure out how much money you're willing to spend"

that's not how it works, that's not how any of this works. First you pick your favorite bike and wheels and then you think about where you can sell one of your kidneys to afford it.

[petel]

Entered my first tri ever, a sprint followed by an enticer. Was changed to run ride run in both due to dangerous seas. Completed both without stopping or walking, so stoked and hooked, going to do another sprint in 2 weeks. Never really run at all in my life and have started training after losing 65 kg over a year and half and at 47 years of age. Never too late, get out and do it!!

[JK-igjp]

I used a hybrid mountain bike for my first triathlon, Olympic distance. I finished and that is all that matters.

[dt]

Actually a good video. People get caught up in all the gear and not really on how you can optimise your current roadie and still be able to do a Triathlon on a budget.

[gregoryvassilakos]

It's a bit of a jump to tell folks they can do triathlons on a mountain bike and then show an "entry-level" road bike with SRAM Red.

[SeabornProductions]

I love how all these guys say you don't need any of this fancy gear, yet that's all they use haha

[ederlikessoccer]

I did my first triathlon (70.3) and firt full Ironman in my trusted steely road bike. I'm doing another 70.3 next year in my entry level road bike.

[timwiste]

Easiest way to turn a road bike into a tri bike is the Switch Aero System. The seatpost adjusts on the fly and the aerobars are quick-release!

[diggerdave]

Just signed up for my first triathlon in May 2020 at Port Stephens, NSW Australia. Gonna be a cold channel btw.

[ahfodder]

Doing my first triathlon in August 2020! Ironman Kalmar. Eeek!

[brandonnielsen]

So happy they started with real life situations instead of jumping to the most “basic” version of high level road/TT bikes

[markosverdhi]

I'm going to do it. It'll be on a fixed gear bike, but I'm going to do it. Definitely checking out those clip on aero bars, thanks!

[JakobPuchmayr]

thanks for this video👍🏻 could you also make a video on using a gravel bike for a triathlon? Regards, Jakob

[patosiegl]

Sram Red on "entry bike" well i havent got that on my racing bike and i am going to 70.3 worlds

[andreizelchenko]

A bottle of water! 👍 Of course.
Thanks for video.

[mfbnutr]

My first triathlon bike was a classic, Soviet 1972 production of the frame of the Kharkiv Bicycle Factory (KHVZ) "Sputnik" (in the USSR, the manufacturer qualified it as a "light road sports and tourist bike" (that is, in fact, at that time it was something like modern grevel, cyclocross and touring bikes, "in one bottle"). It is completely made of iron (not chrome-molybdenum) and has a weight of 18 kilograms (with chrome mudguards-wings, and a rear trunk + an aluminum aerobar nozzle). It was redesigned for modern bushings and a carriage with a square and 3 stars in front (48/38/28) from MTB (I live in the mountains, so 3 stars on this heavy bike are justified), in the back instead of stock Soviet 4 stars, put 8 (12 - 30). At the same time, the shifter system on the lower tube of the frame coped with such an upgrade without changes (native Soviet shifters designed for 2 stars in front and 4 stars in the rear work without problems with a system of 3 stars in front and 8 in the rear, and know-how Chinese switches (front and rear)). On a stock 38 mm wide "ram", an aerobar/sunbed attachment was installed on top. Stock tires were 32 mm, replaced first with 28 in front of 32 behind the "KENDA", then changed to a Continental 25mm, and now there is a 38mm Continental Contact. In 2020-21, about 6, 000 km were covered on it, with 3 collisions (through no fault of mine) with cars, and at the same time the bike is still "alive", and quite in good condition. Used to this day by me, as a household city bike, exercise bike (for training trips), touring / grevel - off-road (without heavy dirt), as well as a road bike for winter and bad weather (it has mudguards-wings). And sometimes used as a TT bike. The funny thing is that so far, in my region, on this particular bike, I have taken several CoM, and some among men and women (this is despite the fact that athletes from all over the country come to my region as a resort to train in the mountains in the autumn-spring period when it is warmer than in the north). In general, I am happy with this bike and still use it (now, by the way, its time is coming, the autumn period with rains and fogs) =)