As a coach I often get asked what should I race? TT or Road bike? 

 

My answer is always “it depends …….” but generally as an athlete myself I would always go for TT bike over road bike. 

It depends and there are many factors to consider such as:  

Are you comfortable riding your TT bike?

Are you confident on your TT bike? 

Are you fitted for your TT bike?

Are you able to climb comfortably on your TT bike?

Is the course flat? 

Is the course technical? 

Can you stay on the bars for the whole race?   

How comfortable are you running off the TT bike compared to the road bike? 

Have you trained on your TT bike or your road bike? 

Are the wheels on your TT bike suitable for the course? (Think windy conditions)

What is the gearing on your bikes – which gearing suits the course better?

Note that most of my considerations are surrounding the suitability of the TT bike not the road bike – most triathletes do not ride their TT bikes enough to be completely confident and comfortable for most courses, in general athletes train 80 to 90% of the time on a road bike. This leads to lack comfort, power and position on the TT bike and thus limits the bikes exceptional advantages over the road bike.  

For me I know that even on undulating and hilly courses I am confident that I am faster on the TT bike than the road bike, this is down to a few things, I train a lot on it, I ride hills on it, I have confidence in the bikes handling capabilities and through many years of experience I am comfortable climbing on the bike. Most courses, unless exceptionally technical and steep will be more attuned to TT riding than road bike.  

Running off a correctly set up TT bike is much easier than a road bike – I will add a caveat that it is my opinion and a badly set up TT bike will have a negative effect on running off the bike.  

To decide on which bike is best for you will depend on many of the factors above and probably more – but I would suggest that you take your TT bike out and ride it more often, become comfortable, in long distance even change position so you are less aero if that helps, if it adds up to been able to hold the position for longer it works. One other suggestion would be to complete a circuit of say 10 miles on your TT bike and your road bike, including some hills and descents, technical elements – try for yourself and see which one is faster.  

Most TT bikes will aid the run if set up correctly and in general should be faster on the majority of courses. I will add that positioning and comfort is key and if this is a difficulty then maybe stick with the road bike, otherwise TT all the way … 

Which wheels blog coming soon ……