Mark Threlfall: Will a time trial or a triathlon bike really make you that much faster? Well,
we all know the claims that it is thought that the triathlon bike is the fastest option,
it's the most aerodynamic, but let's be frank, very often,
they are heavier. They may not handle quite as well and they’re less versatile. Now,
we have challenged the triathlon bike on numerous occasions before
with the good old road bike but this time, we are upping the game. We're bringing the road bike’s
more aero sibling. That's right, we are pitting the triathlon bike up against the aero road Bike.
[music] Let's take a look at
our competitors for today's battle. On one side, I've got the FELT AR Aero Road Bike. It is your
typical road bike setup with road bike geometry, drop handlebars, et cetera, but with a big focus
on aerodynamics. You can see that with the two profiles, yet still being UCI legal and all in
all, weighs in an oppressive 8.3 kilograms. Now, the main reason behind comparing these two bikes
today other than for you guys to enjoy watching me suffer is that a triathlon bike is a triathlon
bike. It has been designed primarily to do one thing well and that is to be ridden fast in the
aero bars within a triathlon or a time trial. Now, of course, it can be used for many other
things, but let's be honest, that is where a road bike tends to be better placed. A road bike has
been designed to be ridden well in groups, climbing, descending, cornering, aggressive
crit racing, cafe rides, the list goes on and that is where the big question often arises.
It's often the thought that you either have to own two bikes, a road bike, and a triathlon bike
or you have one bike and you compromise between race day speed and training day functionality.
Now many of you likely already have a road bike, but perhaps you're looking to upgrade
and maybe get a triathlon bike or maybe your budget only allows you to get one bike.
Which do you choose? Triathlon bike or road bike? Well, that is where
I'm hoping to step in today, help out and answer some of the most common questions as well as put
the two bikes up against each other over a couple of different routes, and terrains.
Before we put these bikes through their paces, let's look at a couple of fundamental differences.
The triathlon bike has a far steeper seat tube in this case, around 79 degrees which allows
you more comfortably to lean forwards and use the aero bars. That in turn helps to reduce
your frontal area, make you, the rider, more aerodynamic, and therefore faster.
Due to its geometry though it does mean that your weight as a rider can be a little more over
the front end, that can make the bike’s handling a little more difficult particularly on the sense.
The tubing is big for a reason and that’s so the airflow over the frame sticks to the frame
and flows more smoothly for longer, therefore, reducing drag and whilst technically, that makes
it faster in crosswinds due to a sail effect. It can make it a little uneasy for everyday riding
if you're experiencing strong side winds. This extra material, obviously, adds weight which
might be felt on steep climbs, but also might make the bike feel a little less responsive and agile.
Whereas the aero road bike has a seat tube angle of around 73 to 74 degrees. It may
not sound like much, but that's enough to make the position feel far more relaxed, of course,
in addition to a few other geometry changes. Once the tubing is larger on an aero road bike
than a standard road bike, I think you'll agree it's nothing compared to the triathlon bike,
therefore, making it quite a versatile bike. That's enough of that. Of course, you're here
to see them being cycled fast. Time to bring in our very able cyclist, Sam, the machine, Pictor
Camera Person: He’s gone for lunch. Mark Threlfall: What do you mean he's gone for lunch?
I’ll have to give it my best shot then. What better place to start than with straight-up a flat
TT? For this particular battle, I'm actually going to hold the same power
for both runs 300 watts. That way we can see how the aerodynamics stand up against each other
by comparing the average speeds and the times that they produce for the same effort. I'm going
to be doing that over a four-kilometer course which is nice and flat from point to point.
Serious stuff now. I've got the business helmet out, let's have some fun.
[music] Round two, aero road bike time. Ready.
[music] Not at all surprised there, the TT bike Triathlon
Bike is 15 seconds quicker than the aero road bike which is actually closer than I expected it to be.
Don't worry, I'm sure some of you are screaming at the screen right now. It's all right. I've thought
about it already. I've got some clip-on aero bars on the aero road bike now so one more test
on this bike and a bit of advice to you if you are adding aero clip-on bars to a road bike,
is just to raise the height of the saddle touch, and bring the saddle forward a little bit,
and that will just help you get a little bit more comfortable in the aero
bars. [music]
Some good news, the clip-on aero bars on the aero road bike work quicker than without. They were
still around 10 seconds slower than the Triathlon TT Bike, although, far more sustainable holding
that position than on the air robot without which is why obviously so many of us opt for it,
and obviously it's quicker so why not? Now a quick bit of math so to compare the difference
between the triathlon bike, and the aero bike with the clip-on bars would make it
around 4.5 minutes difference over a70.3 and around 9 minutes over an Ironman. Obviously,
that's a bit rough and ready but does show you the benefit of the triathlon bike.
Obviously, that's just on the flat so now let's go and find a climb and see if this weight difference
and the agility, the responsiveness of this road bike makes difference. Next up it's got to be
the hill climb. Hasn't it? Now aerodynamics, climbing and weigh is a huge topic in itself.
Unfortunately, we do have a video on that already so if you want to learn a little bit more on this
and go into some depth and detail, then do head on over and watch that video after this one,
but in short, aerodynamics becomes less of a factor at speeds under 15 kilometers an hour.
For an elite good cyclist, that tends to be at gradients of around 7.5%. but for most
everyday amateur cyclists, that's typically around 4.5%. I have picked a suitably hard climb today,
it's just shy of a kilometer long, and an average grade of 7.5% but it does kick up to over 20%
on a couple of occasions and I'm going to have some fun on this one because I'm going to go
all out on these efforts, and you'd be interested to know I have left the clip-on aero bars on the
road bike purely because well, that's probably the set that most of you will go for despite it adding
weight, only seems fair. Let's give this one a go. [music]
Hill climb here we come.
[music]
[music] That is one tough
climb. I've got to say the times were actually a lot closer than I was expecting, I went 2:43
on the triathlon TT bike, whereas I went to 2:40 on the road bike, which may not sound like much,
but that is certainly something to separate the two bikes and it definitely felt a lot
different on the road bike, it just felt far more agile and responsive,
I could just throw that bike around when I was out of the saddle, whereas on the triathlon bike,
it just feels a little bit more cumbersome, it's a lot harder to throw from side to side.
That's coming from someone that spent years, hours, and hours riding a triathlon bike in the
mountains climbing and descending for someone that may not be quite as used to a triathlon bike, you
may actually see that gap and that time being even bigger. Now for a final challenge, a technical
challenge, I've planned out a short but technical route, we've got a little bit of everything
in there, we've got flats, clients, descents, corners, you name it, something to test them both.
[music] The weather really started to turn towards the
end there. I am back inside, I've showered, I'm warm. I thought I'd start by giving a little bit
of a summary of what I've been up to just there. For the flat TT, the triathlon bike was obviously
quicker than the aero road bike. I was actually really impressed by how quick the aero road bike
was, although it was still a sizable amount of the triathlon bike. I would argue though, the
position I was holding on that aero road bike was quite aero, and it was really quite uncomfortable.
I definitely couldn't hold that for anywhere near the amount of time I could on the triathlon bike,
that was far more comfortable on that bike. Now having the clip-on aero bars on that aero
road bike did help to bridge the gap somewhat, but it's still a long way off the triathlon bike. Then
on to the climb, the aero road bike was actually quicker, but only marginally a very small amount.
Again, I'd argue, how much climbing and for how long do you climb in most triathlon courses,
unless, of course, you're doing an extreme race something like outdoors triathlon.
For the technical section, while the aero road bike was quicker again, but only marginally.
Again, I would argue how much technical features are there in most triathlon courses.
Yes, okay, you might lose a little bit on a triathlon bike through some twists and
turns and small descents, but I'd say that those flat sections, the gains that you're making on
those with the triathlon bike far outweigh those small hill climbs and technical bits elsewhere.
Back to the original question, which should you choose? I really think it comes down to
your personal needs. If you aren't financially restrained and budget isn't an issue, then I
would certainly recommend a triathlon bike. They are super fun and they're super fast, but they
also come with a ton of integration for storage hydration, which is a big bonus. It's also worth
pointing out that the faster you are, the faster you go, then the more aerodynamics come into play.
If you are looking to be competitive or win things or maybe just get on a podium,
then a triathlon bike is certainly going to help you without a doubt. Alternatively,
if you are looking to save a little bit of money, or perhaps you're new to the sport,
you just want to try things out first, then an aero road bike with
aero clip-ons is a very, very good option. As I've shown, it's really not a million,
million miles off a triathlon bike and the speeds you can get there. Another bit to throw in here,
if you actually pass off of the triathlon bike due to the position and comfort and how
aggressive it might look, I'm going to argue again here, and I've been arguing a lot today,
but actually trying to get comfortable on a road bike with clip-ons is far more difficult
than trying to get comfortable on a triathlon bike that has been designed to be used with aero bars.
There's an interesting one to leave you with. I hope you have enjoyed today's video, if so,
please do give it a like, give it a thumbs-up. Don't forget to give us a follow over on social
media and give us a subscribe just down below. [00:14:52] [END OF AUDIO]