Spec me bike for half Iron Man

[oneilldo]

A friend has signed us up for a half Iron Man relay team for next June.
I’m either going to do the swimming or the cycling part (probably the cycling).

At the moment I have an old Halfords mountain bike which I last used over a year ago.
I’ve used stationary bikes quite heavily at the gym (again a while back) and at home and play a bit of squash (injuries permitting) so hopefully with 6-8 months training I’ll drag myself through it.

I don’t think the Kraken mountain bike will cut it. However I don’t want to spend £££ for a new road bike that might not be useful. With that in mind I want a bike that could be used for commuting and some routes near where I live. A lot of this use will be on canal towpaths etc. And I will want to use the bike for commuting (5 miles each way)
I’m thinking of something like a cycle cross or adventure bike around the £1000 mark.
I know the boardman bikes get a bit of a rad rep round here but would something like the boardman ADV 8.9 https://www.boardmanbikes.com/gb_en/products/2138-adv-8.9.html
Or the CXR 8.9?
I will then swap tyres out for more road focussed ones for last bit of training and race day.
Or any other suggestions?

Due to time constraints and winter I will likely be doing most of the training indoors so will be getting a smart turbo trainer as well as I think zwift etc. For this reason the lack of gears might not be as much of an issue as all training will be done on the same bike. What else is needed for the turbo to get the most out of it (heart rate monitor)? Ideally I want the trainer to be quite as possible and am looking at direct drive so maybe tax neo.

With regards to this I will be using the turbo trainer in a space with limited head room (log cabin) - how high are you when sprinting on a bike compared to your normal height? I suppose I could use it without standing to sprint?

 

[prj1865]

I’ve signed up for my first half Ironman in June as well.

I can’t help with the bikes as I don’t really know much outside of road bikes. I’m guessing the majority of people will be on road bikes with mixtures of all other bikes thrown in. I have seen mountain bikes on shorter triathlons but they were very much the exception.

(I’ve got a Specialized Allez that I’m using for winter training and an Orbea Ordu TT bike that I’m going to train and race on next year).

 

[Begbie]

So 90km cycle?

I'd personally rather be doing it on a road bike myself.

But the boardman would be fine, I'd throw some proper road tires on it though. Worth looking at the decathlon bikes too.

For reference I got a 2nd hand specialized tarmac for £900 recently. Full carbon, Ultegra groupset etc. So it may be worth considering 2nd hand.

 

[tef]

have a look on bike bargains. they go round different UK websites and share good deals.

there are a few Shimano 105 (drive train) equiped bikes on there under 1,000.

also have a look on ebay, there are some good deals on second hand bikes. Scott Foil and Argon 18 Nitrogen dont hold their value well but they are great bikes (out-and-out road bike tho). Also there is a Canyon Aeroad (all black) going for 1,400 (seller has been lowering the price from 1.8k [half of brand new price] over the last few weeks.) slightly outside your budget, but second hand bike means you can flog it back onto ebay and re-coupe most of your money if you really doesnt get on with road bike). I personally think all road bikes can survive canal paths with some armoured tyres

I'm baised for this next one because i own two. Colnago A1r CX are great and they hover around the 1k mark brand new too. I use 30mm Schwalbe G-one speed (when fitted with normal 700c wheels) or 40mm Schwalbe G-One allround (fitted with 27.5" wheels). Being shimano 105, you can get trigger shifters if you are not into drop bar and want to convert back to flat bar.

or you are not too sure about the money commitment, have a try the decathlon Triban models, i think they are great for the money and have potential to add clip-on aero bars for ironman runs.

 

[oneilldo]

@prj1865 Good luck. My mate said just do it on your mountain bike which I think over 56 miles would be a pretty painful experience and I have fancied a more road focused bike for commuting etc as well. As you say I have seen people use them for the lower distances.

 

[oneilldo]

@Begbie - yeah its a 90km cycle which is probably 80km further than I have cycled in a long long time. Still I do have 6 months to get prepared.
I do keep an eye on Facebook market place and a few other places for second hand but I'm 6ft 4 so the relevant frame sizes don't come up very often and I'll be honest I need to educate myself on running gear and what is good.

Thanks @tef - I will check out bike bargains. The canyon aeroad looks nice but frame size is small and I need XL. I do like the looks of the all carbon black/stealth frames and I'm happy to spend a bit more if needed and its not really the money commitment its just I don't know how much use I will make out of it for a road bike. If I use it for commuting then then majority of the route I would use the canal towpath as its nicer and if I go for a bike ride with the kids again will be along the tow path/through paths in woods. I'll look at the clip on aero bars as well. I'm half tempted to do a bit of training for the swimming as well to help with general fitness.
I'll have a look at the other models you mentioned.

Most (90%) of my training is likely to be indoors on the turbo anyway due to fitting it round family and playing squash still. Once I get the kit I'll jump on the thread on here as well.

Any comments on when sprinting on how tall you are on the bike (when standing and sprinting) as ideally want to do most of the turbo training in my cabin/office which is restricted ceiling height. i.e. I am ~193cm and the internal roof in the cabin is probably 201cm. I suppose the majority of the training will be sat down anyway so might not be an issue and I can always move it if needed.
Need to go and have a look at a bike shop

Thanks,

 

[Begbie]

Can you not move it outside for sprint sessions?

Keep seated sessions for indoors? At 201cm you might struggle.

 

[oneilldo]

Yeah I’ll do that.

 

[tef]

the Triban RC 520 Disc is good starting point. need to check how much tyre clearance it offers tho.

i would take that, then upgrade the brakes to Shimano CX77 (can pick them up for 60 quid once cyclo cross is over, Canyon web shop offered them earlier this year), then wait for Campagnolo Scirocco Disc (19mm internal depth) to drop to around 250 pounds. then upgrade the cables to Shimao Dura-ace Level (arpund 70 quid) and finally some 50 quid on veloflex tyres from Ribble. That's how i would spend 1,000, if it's up to me . or just send abit more on a Scott Foil 30 ex-display on ebay

 

[oneilldo]

Thanks I will look at the Triban RC 520 (just read a review and looks pretty good for the money) and the Scott Foil 30 if I can find ex display on ebay.

 

[tef]

couple of fairly new Scott Foil on ebay at the moment asking around 1.3k-1.4k. one of them even got a Zipp carbon handlebar upgrade. probably can take another 100-200 quid off. but back to the same question, do go and try and see if you are ok with skinnier tyres.

The older Foil is known to give quite a harsh ride, so may be avoid those. The newer ones have dropped seat stay (the rear triangle joins the seat tube lower than top tube.) the older ones have their seatstay joining the seat tube at the same level as top tube.

Old: https://www.evanscycles.com/scott-foil-10-standard-2013-road-bike-EV178617

New: https://www.evanscycles.com/scott-foil-30-2017-road-bike-EV286185

EDIT: sorry guys, looks like i have dominated the whole discussion, please chip in! lol

 

[#Chri5#]

Ribble CGR Al could be worth a look - £899 in base Tiagra spec. Takes 45mm tyres, has mudguard and rack mounts for commuter duties

https://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/ribble-cgr-al/

 

[oneilldo]

Thanks for the advice, I've done a bit of reading and I've looked into this a bit more and I'll had a look at adventure and cyclecross bikes and I think I am going to go for a cyclecross bike as this will get more use and seems a tad more robust than
risking a road bike on canal towpaths and through tracks in woods etc (which is likely the main use it will get after iron man).
With that in mind and the fact I can part chop my old mountain bike for 10% off and get british cycling discount (when I join!) I'm in all likelihood going to go for the Boardman CXR 8.9.
I'll get some narrower road tyres for the actual race.

The bike
https://www.boardmanbikes.com/gb_en/products/2170-cxr-8.9.html

Now in terms of turbo trainers I think for various reasons (connectivity, loudness etc) I am set on the tacx neo. I think a new one has just come out but externally it looks the same.

Does anyone know if this bike would fit on it? It is a 11 speed cassette on the rear which looks to be compatible but its a wider frame due tot his and the disk brakes
(not sure on width). It looks like 11 speed SRAM is compatible but not sure on rear frame width.

https://support.tacx.com/hc/en-us/articles/360000457429-Installation-compatibility


Thanks

 

[rhysduck]

For road riding surely you'd want more than a 1x setup to get you up the hills? Where is the Half Iron Man?

Have you looked at the Ribble CX?

I've seen some great bargains on some cycle groups on FB for 2nd hand road bikes. You'd probably benefit from joining a local Tri club too, not only for the knowledge and information but potential bargains on bikes!

 

[oneilldo]

It’s in the Yorkshire dales but the route is apparently pretty flat. The 11 speed is supposed to have a similar gear range as the adventure bikes etc just obviously a bigger jump between gears. So biggest cog at the back is 42 or 44 teeth I think.

Second hand I’m a bit more limited as I need an XL frame (I’m 6ft 4). Might join a cycle club but not till Easter and due to wine commitments will be mostly training indoors until spring.

I agree a road bike would be more suited for the actual race but I don’t want two bikes and this bike can replace my old crappy mountain bike and I can use it for commuting and on the canal towpaths and wood trails near me.

Surely there wouldn’t be that much in it if I put some skinny road tyres on for the race

 

[tef]

the boardman is pretty good spec. i can see the only disadvantage is that it is on the heavy side (11kg), is suspect most of that weight comes from the wheelset and tyres. but you are a big guy, so %-wise, it's a small different. if you want cheap-ish upgrade, look into Fulcrum Racing 5 disc brake wheelset. one of the lighter alloy option that duck below 300quid. for Triathlon, have a look at Hutchinson Fusion 5 Galactik and Schwalbe Pro One, both very fast without being too prone to puncture.

https://www.bicyclerollingresistance.com/road-bike-reviews/hutchinson-fusion-5-galactik-2017

not sure if you can be bothered, but since the wheels are Tubeless-ready, you may consider running a tubeless setup (basically use sealant instead of inner tube). but only if you can be bothered with messy mechcanical work.

EDIT: In terms of turbo trainer. most Sram 11 speed mountain bike cassetee, they use a SRAM XD freehub body. i.e. not a shimano one. (easy way to tell is what is the size of the smallest cog, if it s 10 or 9, then it needs a XD freehub body. if it is 11 or 12 tooth, then good chance it will be a shimano freehub body). HOWEVER, for training, you dont necessarily have to have the same cassette as the real road one. so just get the Neo as it is, which comes with Shimano freehub body, then you can either get a SRAM NX PG-1130 11-42t cassette which uses a shimano freehub body, or you can get a shimano SLX (M7000) 11 speed 11-40t (or 11-42t) cassette (because most 1x big cassettes uses shimano mountain bike freehub body (which is shorter) you may need a 1.85mm spacer to get it probably fittedonto the shimano road freehub body on the Neo). the only thing you will lose is the 10tooth cog but for training ride, you probably dont need it.

 

[oneilldo]

Thanks @tef for the advice.

Think I'll crack on and get both the bike and trainer ordered when the new neo comes out (which I think is mid December). I received a reply from Boardman as well and they said it should fit fine without needing to remove the rear brake caliper. The cassette on the bike is a SRAM PG-1130 11-42t cassette so I will look to get the same.

I'll look into upgrading the wheelset but likely will leave this till spring time when I get out on some training rides on the road.

 

[tef]

the SRAM PG-1130 11-42t is part of their mountain bike NX range:

https://www.sram.com/sram/mountain/products/pg-1130-cassette

It uses a shimano freehub body design, so you can freely swap for a shimano offerings like their M7000 (SLX) range or M8000 (XT) or M9000 (XTR):

https://bike.shimano.com/en-EU/product/component/slx-m7000/CS-M7000-11.html

M7000 series is often cheaper than SRAM NX range (40/45 quid vs 50 quid) and it's about 70g lighter (or more if you fork out more to get the XT or XTR cassette but not the best way to save weight).

So, my recommendation is to consider getting a Shimano SLX 11-42 cassette, then swap it out so that becomes your real road cassette and leave the NX cassette on the turbo. cheaper and lighter (but it wont be all black set up tho if that matters to you lol).

good luck and report back how you get on!

 

[Roady]

Thanks for the advice, I've done a bit of reading and I've looked into this a bit more and I'll had a look at adventure and cyclecross bikes and I think I am going to go for a cyclecross bike as this will get more use and seems a tad more robust than
risking a road bike on canal towpaths and through tracks in woods etc (which is likely the main use it will get after iron man).
With that in mind and the fact I can part chop my old mountain bike for 10% off and get british cycling discount (when I join!) I'm in all likelihood going to go for the Boardman CXR 8.9.
I'll get some narrower road tyres for the actual race.

The bike
https://www.boardmanbikes.com/gb_en/products/2170-cxr-8.9.html

Good bike for the money, pretty much suited to your canal towpaths and tracks, but won't be as capable as the MTB on real trails. Riding a CX bike on MTB trails much of the capability comes from the rider, on the MTB the bike helps you far more. But it'll still be fun, just don't expect to keep up with your MTB buddies on the rougher stuff. It comes with good trail tyres and good gearing for that & towpath use. Can't see much mention of mudguard eyelets but the fact it has obvious rack mounts (on the rear stays) I would be surprised if it didn't. 33mm wide tyres as standard so certainly clearance for 28mm road tyres and mudguards if you wanted to go that route for commuting (mudguards highly recommended!)

Now for training. That's really not the bike to ride for an Ironman/Tri. It's heavy, stiff and sluggish. Switching out the wheels & tyres goes a long way to solve that but you'll still be riding quite a rough/harsh/stiff ride on the road. 44t front and 11/42 rear is perfect for your mixed terrain but you'll find it very slow on the open road where most Ironman/Tri take place. 44*11 equates to 28mph at 90rpm and that's your absolute maximum. With some basic training on a flat course you should expect to be able to maintain 20+mph, with that gearing that's you spinning out the 15t only leaving you with the 13t and 11t. You'll be basically riding a 3 speed for most of your flat Ironman.

Basically, I see that bike as a compromise for your IM stuff. Especially the price, as you could get a bike which is a better fit to that for far less money (standard road bike). But it works out as pretty good fit for the rest of your use! I'm a gravel bike rider using it almost exclusively as a road bike and commuter. But I'm using road gears and a lighter more comfortable bike than that (that cost me nearly twice as much!)

Now in terms of turbo trainers I think for various reasons (connectivity, loudness etc) I am set on the tacx neo. I think a new one has just come out but externally it looks the same.

Does anyone know if this bike would fit on it?

No issues at all with that, will need a spacer but should be no issue as believe the Neo comes with them. But would comment the Neo is probably complete overkill, personally I would say to balance your costs by going for a cheaper directdrive trainer (Wahoo KCIKR Core, Tacx Flux, Elite Direto) and then put more money into the bike side of things. Get a carbon gravel bike with road gears, extra tyres, maybe extra gear (cassette/chainrings) to cover all your use cases on a more comfortable and faster frame/setup.

<snip>due to wine commitments <snip>

Have a similar problem myself.

 

[oneilldo]

Thanks @tef I'll look into the cassette. Not that bothered about colours matching so no problem there. I'll check the other cogs to ensure they are the same number of teeth

Good bike for the money, pretty much suited to your canal towpaths and tracks, but won't be as capable as the MTB on real trails. Riding a CX bike on MTB trails much of the capability comes from the rider, on the MTB the bike helps you far more. But it'll still be fun, just don't expect to keep up with your MTB buddies on the rougher stuff. It comes with good trail tyres and good gearing for that & towpath use. Can't see much mention of mudguard eyelets but the fact it has obvious rack mounts (on the rear stays) I would be surprised if it didn't. 33mm wide tyres as standard so certainly clearance for 28mm road tyres and mudguards if you wanted to go that route for commuting (mudguards highly recommended!)

Now for training. That's really not the bike to ride for an Ironman/Tri. It's heavy, stiff and sluggish. Switching out the wheels & tyres goes a long way to solve that but you'll still be riding quite a rough/harsh/stiff ride on the road. 44t front and 11/42 rear is perfect for your mixed terrain but you'll find it very slow on the open road where most Ironman/Tri take place. 44*11 equates to 28mph at 90rpm and that's your absolute maximum. With some basic training on a flat course you should expect to be able to maintain 20+mph, with that gearing that's you spinning out the 15t only leaving you with the 13t and 11t. You'll be basically riding a 3 speed for most of your flat Ironman.

Basically, I see that bike as a compromise for your IM stuff. Especially the price, as you could get a bike which is a better fit to that for far less money (standard road bike). But it works out as pretty good fit for the rest of your use! I'm a gravel bike rider using it almost exclusively as a road bike and commuter. But I'm using road gears and a lighter more comfortable bike than that (that cost me nearly twice as much!)

No issues at all with that, will need a spacer but should be no issue as believe the Neo comes with them. But would comment the Neo is probably complete overkill, personally I would say to balance your costs by going for a cheaper directdrive trainer (Wahoo KCIKR Core, Tacx Flux, Elite Direto) and then put more money into the bike side of things. Get a carbon gravel bike with road gears, extra tyres, maybe extra gear (cassette/chainrings) to cover all your use cases on a more comfortable and faster frame/setup.

Have a similar problem myself.

Thanks @Roady I don't cycle much at the moment with Friends. The wood trails I was on about would just be with my son on a cycle (he's 7 so should be fine) and they are mainly gravel/hardish.
I'm essentially after a roadish bike that can go fast and be usable on canal towpaths etc.

Heavy and sluggish - sounds like it will fit the cyclist fine

Good point about the gearing I checked out the range available for the other boardman 8.9 bikes and the CXR is 1.04 - 4, the SLR roadbike is 1.21 -4.18 so not much in it in terms of top speed/ratio but I take the point that I might be limited to 3 gears for a lot of it. Is this inherently bad - I get for a pro they probably maintain a very consistent RPM so more gears helps. I think the average for half ironman is 3hrs so 18ish mph so might be equivalent to a 4 speed.

Still I'll have a look at gravel bikes. Think I just need to get something and get training.
Could always change the single chain ring for a 50T one! Big jumps but would get 5 usable gears for 18.5-32mph @ 90rpm.

I'll look into spending less on the turbo and more on the bike as well but really the majority of the time I will be using the bike indoors and the turbo can replace my stationary basic exercise bike so don't mind spending a bit more here

lol at the wine commitment, I meant time but I do think past beer commitments is why I need to get training soon.