Triathlon bikes/gear?

Question

HI Everyone,

My brother and I are planning our 1st triathlon next year. We have a few questions about gear, though.

* Bikes: Are mountain bikes ok? There's not a big budget for triathlon bikes here.

* What gear do we really need? We're feeling a little bombarded by the vast amount of gear out there. For first timers in a sprint triathlon, what do we really need?

Thanks!

Answer 1

Assuming you and your brother are not out to conquer the triathlon world in your first outing, your gear should be fairly basic. I would highly recommend you rent a wetsuit for the swim portion making sure you try on the wetsuit ahead of the event. Your bike can be just about anything provided it is mechanically sound and you are familiar with it's operation. Helmets are required so consider yourself warned. Lastly, make sure you have good running shoes. All the other gear can come later if and when you decide to dive deeper into this level of athletic sickness. Hope this helps and good luck!

Answer 2

Hey there - I'm going on intuition here as I've never attempted a triathalon... but I do ride and have raced on the bike side so...

You'll need some clothing that you can swim, run and cycle in first of all as 2/3 of the event doesn't even deal with the bikes.  I imagine they make something like the swimmers in the Olympics wear akin to lycra or spandex.  It would probably suck to run or swim in padded bike shorts, so toss modesty to the wind and go commando in spandex.

Then you need some good running shoes - I'm thinking you can ride in the shoes with pedal straps - or simply kick them off if you have bike shoes with clips.  I've seen some triathaletes do this and their bike shoes are already clipped in.  They just hop on the bike, stick their feet in and tighten the velcro straps on the shoes.

I guess you could use the Mountain Bikes, but I would get some street tires - the thinner the better to reduce rolling resistance.

All you really need is a decent set of road bikes (classic "10 speed" style like Tour de France) which you could probably rent for the day.  Be sure that whatever you ride is fitted to you properly and tuned up prior to the race!

I don't think you'll need much more than that.  You want to streamline as much as possible - you are racing and your transitions from the water - road- bike all count against your time! Review:  Clothes, shoes for running and either pedal straps or shoes with clips.

Oh yeah - helmet and gloves for the bike might be nice!