- Morning Trainiacs.
Just finishing up a group swift ride
that we're leading with Team Trainiac
and in the comments,
'cause we're chattin' away as these are happening,
a lot of people are talking about
how they got a new bike, got a new trainer,
got their first tri-bike
or thinkin' upgrading from a road bike to a tri-bike,
and there are a lot of really good
first time tri-bikes out there
for under $3000 but there's a lot
that you've really gotta consider
about getting the best bang for your buck
and what can resell because I guarantee
you're gonna want to resell that
first tri-bike at some point.
So today we've got five tri-bikes,
that if you're looking for
your first tri-bike in 2020 or 2021,
these are gonna be really really good options for ya'.
Everyone's talkin' about how they're ready
for ice cream now, good call.
(upbeat music)
So all right, Trainiacs, let's say you are
in the market for you're very first triathlon bike,
maybe you're in your first season
or your second season,
but you're ready for a proper triathlon bike.
Well, what we're gonna give you here today
is a small system and it's a system
that we kind of outline here in our book,
"Triathlon Bike Foundations" that you can get
at triathlonbikefoundations.com,
or on all of the Amazons all around the world,
about basically the types of triathlon bikes
that you should get and what I did was
I actually went and used that system
to look at all of the entry level
triathlon bikes available out there in the world
and picked the five best triathlon bikes
for people making that first purchase.
Let's start off with the assumption
that you're looking at the entry level price point.
So for that we're saying $3000 U.S. and under.
At that price point, the first tip that I would give you
is to go for a used bike over a new bike
because those entry level bikes are a dime a dozen.
Everyone gets them and everyone eventually
moves on from them, so what you end up having
is this huge market with tons and tons
of entry level triathlon bikes,
that makes the resale value lower.
So if you can buy one of those used bikes
you're gonna get a much better bang for your buck.
Second thing you want to look for,
if you're buying new or used, is the groupset.
You want Shimano Ultegra, Shimano Dura-Ace,
SRAM Force, or SRAM Red.
Those are gonna be the groupsets
that are going to maintain their value
because they're the more higher quality,
and yes, Campagnolo, a lot of people
might be saying, "Well that's a really good quality set,"
but for somebody that's in that entry level price point
you're gonna want a groupset that isn't so
super specific as Campagnolo
because parts are really hard to find
and frankly, you're probably not going
to see the value in that Campagnolo groupset
which a real high-end road cyclist would.
Finally, as we outline in here,
a tri-bike is one of the down the list things
that you should get, you really only need
to buy a tri-bike once you know
that you're committed to doing triathlon
for a few years.
They can really only be used for triathlon
whereas a road bike can be used for training,
you slap a pair of aerobars on it,
you can use for triathlon,
you can use it for riding in group rides,
you can do long endurance rides.
It's just much more versatile whereas a tri-bike,
really really specific and unless you know
you're in the sport for awhile,
you're not gonna really see the enjoyment out of it.
But, let's assume that you are committed
to the sport and let's assume that you don't
want to used tri-bike that somebody else
has been on, you want something
that's brand spanking new and is your own.
Here's some guidelines for that.
First, you want to stick to the more
common bike brands out there
so it's easier to access parts,
easier to find a service technician
who knows how to work on it.
What we've got outlined in this book here
is the list of the top ten most common bikes
at the 2018 Ironman World Championship.
And that's a really good starting point.
Those bike brands are gonna be easy
to find parts for and, let's just face it,
all these bikes are kind of hard to work on
so you need the support of a local bike shop person
or somebody, when you're traveling,
who knows how to work on it quite easily.
The second guideline that we use
to create this list of five bikes to purchase
is that it has to be easily available.
You have to be able to buy it
without tons and tons of searching
and have a one-off thing
that maybe one of you can buy.
It's gotta be easily available
and it has to be not on sale.
And then, very importantly,
one thing that I need to get across
is with your first tri-bike you have to
go into it thinking that you want to
be able to resell it and not take a massive loss,
because anyone can just go and buy a tri-bike,
they're in every bike shop that supplies tri-bikes.
But, you are going to want to upgrade
from that first tri-bike within, probably,
two to four years, I can guarantee it.
If you stay in this sport it's just what happens.
So, I want to make sure that whatever you buy
and what I've recommended here
is going to hold it's value.
So, let's get into the list.
First on the list is a Cervelo P2.
For a lot of people this was
the go-to entry level tri-bike.
I've actually used this tri-bike
to qualify for a Half Ironman World Championship.
This bike is coming in at 28 to $2900 U.S.,
but the thing about it is
that it has Shimano 105 groupset.
Now that Shimano 105 groupset,
of the Shimano lineup for road and tri-bikes
goes Shimano 105, slightly better is Shimano Ultegra,
even better, Shimano Dura-Ace.
Those entry level groupsets,
they tend to lose their value a little bit.
So while this is a decent bike at 28 to $2900,
it is going to lose it's value a little bit
quicker than some of the other options on this list.
But, add on a pair of race wheels and basically
you're gonna get yourself the bike
that I qualified on, so yeah, it's a great bike.
A great option, very aerodynamic,
handles really well at a great price.
Next is the Ventum Z.
Now, the Ventum Z is actually
what I have on my trainer back there.
It doesn't have a downtube
so you're not gonna get as much rattling
up in the front, your shoulders are going
to be a lot more well rested after the end of the bike
and this is coming in at $2699,
but again, with Shimano 105 groupset on it.
So, a little bit less costly than the Cervelo,
little bit nicer ride up front,
but I think that if you're going for
a really good value that's going to end up
holding it's value and something that,
right off the shelf, shows up at your doorstep done
and you can race on it, is actually
the Shimano 105 build with deep ENVE wheels,
aerodynamic wheels coming in at $3499.
This is a really good build, but again,
just has those entry level Shimano 105 parts.
Third on the list and winning the absolute price war
is the Felt B, the Felt B is a triathlon bike,
it's coming in at $2299 and it even does that
with some Ultegra components, a step up.
So what you're getting is a triathlon bike
that is cheaper than the first two options
that we mentioned while giving you
a little bit better component build.
It's going to hold it's value better
but the one thing that you're gonna have
an issue with with this bike is reselling it.
Because the design of this bike
isn't keeping up with the current new design
of the Felt triathlon bike, it's not as aerodynamic,
the tubes aren't as deep so people
are gonna look at it and they're gonna think,
"Well, this is a bit of an old bike."
If you're just looking for really good
bang for you buck, you want to add some
race wheels onto it and still not break the bank,
this is a very good option,
but expect that you might have
a bit of a harder time selling it.
I think perhaps, kind of a,
I don't know if it's a better option or not,
is actually the entry level Felt IA
with a Shimano 105 build.
The reason that I'm not sure
if it's a much better bang for your buck
is because it just has that entry level
Shimano 105 groupset and it is getting up
to the pricier $3299 and then you still
have to put race wheels on top of that.
So, I don't think that that's a super great value.
Now the final two bikes, I think,
are tremendous values.
When I actually found these I was like,
"Wow, this is really cornering the market
"for entry level triathlon bikes."
And the first one is the Canyon Speedmax CF 7.0.
This bike is coming in at $2999,
but at that price point, under $3000,
it already has your deep Reynolds wheels
that you can go and race on.
It has a Shimano 105 groupset
so I actually think a slightly better purchase
would be the upgraded model,
and that being the $3499 Shimano Ultegra,
Full Shimano Ultegra, right, from tip to tail
with those same deep section Reynolds wheels
and at this price point
you're getting a really good groupset,
you're getting really good wheels,
you're getting a really aerodynamic bike,
all of the things integrated with storage.
Basically you can race on this bike for years,
resell it and it's still gonna look
like a very high end triathlon bike,
so the resale value is going to be quite high.
Last on the list, which I would say
I equally good but not as tip to tail,
done up well, but I think it's probably
the strongest option because of the value
that you're getting at the price point,
is the Argon 18 E-117 triathlon bike.
It has a lot of Ultegra parts in it
but the main thing that I like
is that it is their up-to-date frame,
looks very high-end and the price point is $2500.
I think what you're getting
is a really good bang for your buck
because Argon is a Canadian company
and the U.S. Canadian dollar,
with our monopoly money up here,
I think allows that bike to be less expensive.
So you're gonna get a $2500 bike
that looks really nice and high-end and sharp,
a lot of Ultegra parts so it's gonna hold it's value
and you've still got a fair amount
of room in the budget to add-on some deep race wheels.
So these five bike brands that I outlined for ya',
I think are the best bikes out there
for the beginner triathlete
looking for that $3000 bike.
Now if you have a $3000 bike
and you've just been watching this
outta sheer curiosity, go check out
triathlonbikefoundations.com.
This is our highest rated book out there
between swim, bike and run foundations.
I want to say it's got like 50 five-star reviews
and it's only been out for a few months.
Yeah, it's great.
So that is it, Trainiacs.
If you don't want to buy a bike,
if you don't want to buy a book,
if you don't want to do anything like that,
hit the subscribe button below
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Later Trainiacs.