Duathalon

Slowcoach,

I have done a few over the years, granted I am close to 50 yrs old so my glory days are behind me. Runners will do well when the bike is not very long and the run is. The biggest challenge is running after cycling, your legs will be very heavy so it is good to ride an hour+ then go for a 3-5mile run to get use to it. I bike 80-100 mpw and run 15-25mpw. The better the bike for me the better I place since I have been a runner for 30+ years and that is my forte.

Most of all have fun with it.

Monty

I am coming from the other end of the spectrum. I am a young athlete. Cycling comes pretty easy to me, but I am a runner by trade. When i have told other duathletes I am a runner first, they are like "Oh, s---." The fact is the running is a bigger portion of the race more times than not (add average total time), and it is easier for runners to run with heavy legs than cyclists. Runner also tend to have the aerbic capacty needed to bike, and strength is pretty easy to come by, where as cyclists with strength have a harder time getting their aerboic capacity up.

The last run hurts pretty bad but you will be alright if you train correctly for it. Make sure to do some brick workouts on quality days, not just easy days. Train yourself to run hard on heavy legs. When I qualified for the World Team, i ran almost identical run times. One more thing is, make sure you have a nice bike but remember as long as it is a comepetive bike you will be alright. It is the rider not the type of aerobars that wins the race.

Thank you for your input.

Any idea what the difference between a $700 bike and a top of the range model is over 30K? Is it just like buying the best racing shoes for the run or is it serious time?

slowcoach wrote:

Thank you for your input.

Any idea what the difference between a $700 bike and a top of the range model is over 30K? Is it just like buying the best racing shoes for the run or is it serious time?

My 2 cents. I agree with the poster above who say runners have an advantage. Most of the time, I can make up alot of running time on the second run. Alot of bikers tank on the second run, whereas I try to run close to my first running leg time. I began doing duathlons about 4 years ago. I bought a Trek road bike w/Ultegra components (aluminum frame) for around $1500. After a few years, I bit the bullet and bought a tri bike. (Another Trek w/DuraAce & 105 components) for $2K. The tri bike cut off about 3-5 minutes over a 30K course for me. You can do races on mountain bikes and cheaper bikes. The mountain bike will be slower (although some races may have a mountain bike or "fat tire" division). The cheaper bikes will work, but if you stick with it, you'll probably want to buy a better bike at some point. It definitely is a sport the you need to lay out a little cash to get into. But right now, some bike shops are clearing out their last year bikes. I would suggest you get fitted for the bike. For my first bike, the shop eyeballed me and set up the bike. After riding it for 6 months, I went back and paid about $100 to get a professional fit. When I bought my tri bike, I went in for a fit first, then they took the measurements and figured out what bikes would be best for my body. That ran around $150, but some shops may apply that towards the purchase price of the bike.

As far a differences in the prices, when I bought mine, the bike shop said the cheaper 105 components are good, but won't last as long as Ultegra, which won't last as long as Dura-Ace. (As I said before, I've had my road bike for about 4 years and have had no problems/breakdowns with it. Just the yearly maintenance costs which you can do yourself if you are handy with bikes.) The higher end bikes are usually carbon bikes, as opposed to the aluminum bikes which are cheaper. My felling is the bike is as good as the engine pushing the bike.

my friend, if you are fast, don't worry too much about the amount of money you spend on your bike. i have competed in triathlons and duathlons since 1989 on the same specialized allez. god only knows how much i paid for it. i have updated the components, seat a few times, rims, etc., but really not a whole lot of cash. the most satisfying moments of my racing career have been flying past those spend vs. train type of guys on kestrels and similar high end bikes, grinning at their lack of "engine" as the guy above says. Don't fork out the money unless you have achieved serious results. I've placed in the top ten 3 times from sprint to ironman distance on that allez, so the bike is not necessarily the ticket.

as long as you get a decent bike you'll be fine. don't get the really cheap ones. I recomend looking at like a Giant TCR 1 or 2. Both a good, very affordable bikes. But whatever fits best for you. The like the other guys have said, if you get good, by all means you will get faster with tri bikes. However I do suggest getting a fit, I had far less back siffness after I got my fit, and I know I am young. If you find a friend who knows what they are doing have them fit it for you (my coach who is a fomer pro fit mine).

I would however suggest getting a pair of aero bars, those help a lot. Then one thing ot think about, when upgradiog your bike, reduce rolling weight. If you don't have enough money, like me to pay for an expensive bike, look for a good set of wheels. When you do the physics on it, rollling weight helps you a lot more than weight off the frame.