Question Should triathletes be allowed on bikes?

[TheDude]

I've entered

I'm under strict instructions to only use my road bike, without aerobars and to be seen visibly laughing at every TT Bike with Aero helmet I pass

Do MTB shorts count? Boardies might get a little chafey after 90kms...

Yeah, it is maintaining the right attitude that matters. I was only thinking board shorts for the swim - anything but the lycra wetsuit thingy in neon colours.

 

[BroDeal]

I've entered

I'm under strict instructions to only use my road bike, without aerobars and to be seen visibly laughing at every TT Bike with Aero helmet I pass

Do MTB shorts count? Boardies might get a little chafey after 90kms...

You could go the other direction and rock it like Faris al-Sultan. The dude is like triathlon's Cipo.

 

[delbified]

what is it with the high seatposts? one guy came steaming past me - i'll give him credit for that - on his tri bike, with the seat so high he was all but falling off it with each pedal stroke. he looked like tommy voeckler attempting to defend the yellow jersey in the mountains. i didn't catch his facial expression.

 

[mewmewmew13]

I have never seen any of those. If I do then I will laugh. They'll probably be right next to someone's 10K or 26.2 sticker on a back window.

What I really want to see is someone with century tattoo. That would be hilarious.

LOL
true


Granville...the one that says "I Rode a Century"....'100 miles'
that is my favorite...spell it out there to make sure EVERYONE gets it

 

[Flash-in-the-pan]

Looks like they're on to us.

http://forum.slowtwitch.com/gforum.cgi?post=4614991#4614991

 

[joebednar4]

I love the way you all separate the sports and act like a bunch of pompous ********. A cyclist is a cyclist.

I love how none of you have ever made a mistake. I wish I could be an elitist god among athletes like all of you.

Triathletes get excited about being triathletes. Plain and simple. Everyone here likes to jump on the bandwagon and bash them for it. Whether it's because you are jealous that you can't keep up, you don't know how to swim, you suck at running.....etc, it still just makes you look like a jerk. Being a jerk for the sheer pleasure of being a jerk, no thanks.

I started as a cyclist, and now I'm a triathlete. The single sport wasn't hard enough. Never have to push yourself. Never have to try that hard. You just suck someone else's wheel the whole time, pull for a few minutes here and there at a pace we can sustain for an hour. All in all I wanted more. I'm sure the same goes for other triathletes. Some, I'm sure, just want to be better athletes than a roadie can be.

I don't want to start a ****ing match now, because it will get nowhere fast. We're all cyclists in one way or another, I don't understand the animosity.

Joe

For what it's worth, don't get mad at the "tri-geek" who can climb the hill in aero, while you are standing, pushing your heart out, trying to keep up.

 

[Ripper]

blemmy blammy blommy

More concerned about some (not all) triathletes handling skillzzzzzz.

I actually started as a triathlete. Not hard enough p). Too much of a personal TT instead of the dynamics and different types of road racing (not to mention MTB and Cx).

FYI - the only time I've been passed by a triathlete on a training ride is when I've been taking it easy. I have noticed they never tend to say hi (even though I do).

 

[spalco]

I laughed at this comment:

Among cyclists maybe, and that is a pretty small group. The general public is much more impressed with someone who has done a triathlon than a cycling race. I am talking about people who have done neither, which is 99% of the population.

Dear Mr. Prevost: I guarantee you 99% of the population is impressed by neither unless you make money off it and even then it's a dubious claim.

 

[BroDeal]

Among cyclists maybe, and that is a pretty small group. The general public is much more impressed with someone who has done a triathlon than a cycling race. I am talking about people who have done neither, which is 99% of the population.

This sounds like the stereotypical modern triathlete whose main concern is whether people will be impressed.

I bet this guy has an M-Dot tattoo, a sticker on the back of his car, and a closet full of finisher gear that gets worn whenever possible.

 

[elapid]

I love the way you all separate the sports and act like a bunch of pompous ********. A cyclist is a cyclist.

I love how none of you have ever made a mistake. I wish I could be an elitist god among athletes like all of you.

Triathletes get excited about being triathletes. Plain and simple. Everyone here likes to jump on the bandwagon and bash them for it. Whether it's because you are jealous that you can't keep up, you don't know how to swim, you suck at running.....etc, it still just makes you look like a jerk. Being a jerk for the sheer pleasure of being a jerk, no thanks.

I started as a cyclist, and now I'm a triathlete. The single sport wasn't hard enough. Never have to push yourself. Never have to try that hard. You just suck someone else's wheel the whole time, pull for a few minutes here and there at a pace we can sustain for an hour. All in all I wanted more. I'm sure the same goes for other triathletes. Some, I'm sure, just want to be better athletes than a roadie can be.

I don't want to start a ****ing match now, because it will get nowhere fast. We're all cyclists in one way or another, I don't understand the animosity.

Joe

For what it's worth, don't get mad at the "tri-geek" who can climb the hill in aero, while you are standing, pushing your heart out, trying to keep up.

Joe, we're just having a bit of fun pointing out some of the funny things that a minority of triathletes do while cycling. You don't think that not knowing what a chain ring is is not funny, or how to replace a rear wheel is not funny, or wearing your helmet backwards is not funny? Stop taking life so seriously and laugh a little, even if it is at yourself or fellow sportsmen and women for some of the funny things you/they do. Same goes for any sport, road biking included. Cheers.

 

[triscott1]

what is it with the high seatposts? one guy came steaming past me - i'll give him credit for that - on his tri bike, with the seat so high he was all but falling off it with each pedal stroke. he looked like tommy voeckler attempting to defend the yellow jersey in the mountains. i didn't catch his facial expression.

Could be just a bad fit but most triathletes TT bikes seat post a higher then a road bike or a bike set up for just a TT because once off the bike a triathlete has to run. A higher seat post allows for a pedaling cadence that's closer to a running cadence.

 

[Fatclimber]

I love the way you all separate the sports and act like a bunch of pompous ********.....

..... I wish I could be an elitist god among athletes like all of you.

.... Whether it's because you are jealous that you can't keep up, you don't know how to swim, you suck at running.....etc, it still just makes you look like a jerk. Being a jerk for the sheer pleasure of being a jerk, no thanks.

The single sport wasn't hard enough. Never have to push yourself. Never have to try that hard.... Some, I'm sure, just want to be better athletes than a roadie can be.

..... I don't understand the animosity.

. Most amusing post I've read for awhile. Excellent job of accomplishing the underlined. I would say you understand quite well the final bolded comment. Lighten up my friend.

 

[burning]

If some dude thinks that he's a Cancellara and pulls all day long, I'd definitely suck his wheel.
Or I dont because there is a possibility that I might die because of some random crash

I loved that post
They don't care much for us because they think they are faster on the bike. On average they are probably right. Next time one of them falls into water, a triathlete may be pulling them out. Also, guess who will outrun them if anyone ever yells "FIRE" in a public place.
Well, even though I am a horrible swimmer, I dont think that a triathlete will be able to pull me, he will probably crash

Edit: Why the f*ck some of the posters post links to their twitter or their website?

 

[Fus087]

FYI - the only time I've been passed by a triathlete on a training ride is when I've been taking it easy. I have noticed they never tend to say hi (even though I do).

It's the same here. I get passed by them regularly (I'm not that good), and they never acknowledge my greeting.
To each his own, I guess. If they want to be that kind of person...

 

[Granville57]

I don't want to start a ****ing match now, because it will get nowhere fast. We're all cyclists in one way or another, I don't understand the animosity.

Joe

For what it's worth...blah blah blah I'm better than you.

OK, so which is it?

Prior to the arrival of this new crop of forum "members" I was going to say...

The main difference between them and us would appear to be the fact that if a bunch of triathletes, on a tri forum, were start teeing off on the habits and behavioral patterns of road cyclists, no one here would give a damn or take them seriously for one second. And we wouldn't feel need to sign up to that forum in order to defend our honor!

We just don't care.


See the difference?

 

[delbified]

i think some of the tri-athletes who are visiting here have missed the original intent of this serious thread - which was concern for their safety when attempting to ride a bike

 

[BroDeal]

Hmmmm. This is a new one. A "friend" cannot finish anything over Olympic distance because she cannot take her hands off the bars to eat. I guess stopping to eat something is a wee bit too inobvious.

I have a friend who is a great athlete. She's a regular marathon runner, former olympic level swimmer and a solid cyclist.
However, she has a pretty extreme fear of riding in aero and, worse than that, she has problems taking a hand off her bars. this causes obvious problems with getting the necessary nutrition on the bike. as a result, she's not been successful at anything over the olympic distance. anything over that, she runs into problems getting the necessary calories on the bike and then just can't make it through the run.....just dnfed on the run at eagleman.

i know a lot of people, women especially, have these issues when they are new to cycling, but this is not the case for her any more. this has been a pervasive issue and it's not getting better.

have you had any experience with someone with a serious problem with these issues and what have you seen work to counter them?

at this point, i don't even think something as extreme as hypnosis is out of the question. could it be some kind of strength imbalance that makes it difficult? i'm at a loss.

 

[delbified]

+ blender

 

[Bala Verde]

+ blender

Needz moar aero design.

Oh and the food needs to be "lite" otherwise you might lose too much speed

 

[delbified]

that's just a concept. i was thinking the food could be stored in the tail of a sperm helmet. just need to figure out an appropriate means of delivery

 

[Archibald]

I laughed at this comment:


Dear Mr. Prevost: I guarantee you 99% of the population is impressed by neither unless you make money off it and even then it's a dubious claim.

he's just p**sed that the TdF if far bigger and better known than Kona... and not triathlete is a household name...

Needz moar aero design.

Oh and the food needs to be "lite" otherwise you might lose too much speed

cans on the brim and wear the hat backwards. Should do the trick. it works with bidons on their saddles and wearing helmets backwards


Have to say that nothings says "i don't care" than actually posting it as a statement. If they really didn't care they'd just move on instead of posting, no?

 

[Bala Verde]

that's just a concept. i was thinking the food could be stored in the tail of a sperm helmet. just need to figure out an appropriate means of delivery

Was thinking the same thing. Perhaps you could install something like a "piston" that pushes the blended food out of a storage cyclinder inside the tip of the helmet and into a rubber straw, when activated by pushing the feeding button (obviously somewhere on the srm panel)

I mean wireless shifters --> Wireless feeder.

Biggest benefit of such an automated feeder will be that you don't have to suck.

 

[Race Radio]

I laughed at this comment:

The general public is much more impressed with someone who has done a triathlon than a cycling race.

Hmmm, needed to impress someone has never been a reason to ride. That is just odd

 

[triscott1]

I will be happy to address some of the points brought up in this year old thread.

1. Triathletes that post on slow twitch could care less about this cycling forum. Having seen the average number of people on this forum at any one time it looks like most road cyclist could care less too because the most I have seen is about 10 people. It seems real road cyclist post on bikeforums.net by the numbers there.

2. To talk smack about any cyclist is stupid as if some Euro-poser want-to-be road cyclist is any better than a Triathlete or a Mt. biker.

3. Having raced all three I have to say that being a Triathlete is much harder of the three if that matters at all. To each his own and to compare them is stupid.

4. As to the original point of the thread, road safety, yes it’s not smart to do a group ride with a TT bike. Almost all Triathletes know that and spend the vast majority of time training by themselves because unlike a road race we can’t take a nap in the peloton while drafting. There is nothing more twitchy or dangerous than a Cat 5 road race where nobody knows what they are doing. However if you want to compare bike handling skills Mt. bikers beat everybody.

5. M-Dot tattoo. Yes, it might be silly but no more than any other tattoo. Finishing an Ironman is quite an accomplishment. Doing a century is nothing more than a good training ride. A road race is too short to care about and racing a crit is a joke endurance wise. Yes, I have seen plenty of tattoos on road racers, and Triathletes could really care less so why do you?

6. Fitness. You can’t beat a Triathlete pure and simple when it comes to fitness. We swim with the best, ride a bike like a road racer and run marathons like runners. So why this issue even comes up on this forum is beyond me. I have seen plenty of road racers that do TT worry about the dude that shows up and wins that nobody knows because is usually a Triathlete using the race for training or for fun. Either way experienced triathletes can hang with most road racers.

7. For the number of posts by the same people in this thread one can assume they have no life, no job, or need to train more because they spend way too much time trying to entertain themselves in this forum. I wouldn’t have even known about this forum if someone didn’t bring it up on slow twitch and I had nothing do to for a few minutes. I have to admit this exercise in forum bashing has been mildly entertaining just because of the sad nature of the people in this tread.

 

[burning]

Man, you need to