[agarose2000]

Hi all. I'm a current marathon runner that plans on making the jump to the triathlon at some point in the next year. However, I'm a total noob with regards to cycling. I've mountain biked a bunch, but have never ever even owned a road bike.

I've been doing some stationary bike riding in a gym over the past 2 weeks, and have really enjoyed it - no boredom problems here, interestingly enough.

I was planning to buy a magnetic bike trainer and put a smooth rear wheel on my mtn bike to use for indoor training, but I'm suddenly considering buying a high-quality upright stationary bike (Vision Fitness) being sold locally on Craigslist for $120. (It's a $600+ unit.)

I'd hate to "waste" money though - if the mag trainer will ultimately be a better tool, I'll spend the extra money and get that instead. Any thoughts?

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[Travis_M]

IMHO biking for a triathlon is not going to be that hard to pick up if your currently a marathon runner. Reasonable practice on either machine should suffice as long as your swimming and running are strong.

What distance Tri are you thinking of doing... sprint, olympic, 1/2 ironman? For sprint races practicing transitions and swim technique would probably give you more of a time gain then the +3-4 MPH average speed on the bike portion.

For me riding a bike trainer is much less interesting than the upright stationary bikes at the gym. Something about sitting in one place on the bike I am used to riding outside makes it nearly unbearable. Working out at the gym seems to "trick" my brain into thinking its still fun and new. I have no idea how riding a gym quality stationary at home would be, but I don't think it would be as "realistic" of a feel as the bike trainer gives.

Just some thoughts,
Travis

[agarose2000]

Thanks for the heads up Travis.

The LONG term goal is the Ironman, but I'm nowhere near that level of performance right now - I don't even own a road bike! I'm hoping to do a sprint and an Oly in the upcoming year just to get my feet wet. No grand plans of high performance/placing, even though I do hope I can train seriously at least for it. (I do train pretty hard for marathons - I'm hoping to run sub-7 minute miles for my next one.) In terms of pure time gains, there's no doubt that my best bang for the buck would be to ditch biking and running, and just focus on the swim - I haven't swam in YEARS, and would probably knock of minutes just from improving my form!

Alas, I don't have time (or money) for a swim membership around here in busy SoCal with my already full running (80-100 miles per week) and biking, so I'm just going to fit what I can in for now, and add the swim later.

[Carbonfiberboy]

Trainer! A lot of biking is all about fit and using your muscles efficiently. You want to train on the same bike you'll use in your sport, same saddle, same position, everything. So go get that Cervelo TT bike you've been coveting and mount it on a good trainer. You might think about a fluid resistance trainer rather than magnetic. Or better yet, buy a set of rollers, preferably with a resistance unit. Lots of rollers vs. trainer threads on here. Ride on! You'll have to ride after you wear your knees out anyway, so why not start now? :D

[agarose2000]

Noob question here before I go search on trainers as well - liquid better than mag in general?

[UmneyDurak]

Wait your are in SoCal? Why do you need a trainer? Just go out and ride outside, the sun is out. :)
Thanks for the heads up Travis.

The LONG term goal is the Ironman, but I'm nowhere near that level of performance right now - I don't even own a road bike! I'm hoping to do a sprint and an Oly in the upcoming year just to get my feet wet. No grand plans of high performance/placing, even though I do hope I can train seriously at least for it. (I do train pretty hard for marathons - I'm hoping to run sub-7 minute miles for my next one.) In terms of pure time gains, there's no doubt that my best bang for the buck would be to ditch biking and running, and just focus on the swim - I haven't swam in YEARS, and would probably knock of minutes just from improving my form!

Alas, I don't have time (or money) for a swim membership around here in busy SoCal with my already full running (80-100 miles per week) and biking, so I'm just going to fit what I can in for now, and add the swim later.

[agarose2000]

I unfortunately spend most of the daylight hours at work (I'm a doctor), and then if there's any daylight left, it's usually spent running anywhere from 90-150 minutes on a daily basis. Biking would be "bricked" on after the run in general. Also, despite the loveliness of SoCal weather, I'm in Westwood, where there's a mob of traffic from 4PM-7:30PM. Weekends are really sweet for riding though - I do a bunch of mtn biking on wknds.

[Carbonfiberboy]

Noob question here before I go search on trainers as well - liquid better than mag in general?Google "which fluid magnetic trainer"
Though as I said, I prefer rollers with a resistance unit, either fluid or fan

[ericgu]

Thanks for the heads up Travis.

The LONG term goal is the Ironman, but I'm nowhere near that level of performance right now - I don't even own a road bike! I'm hoping to do a sprint and an Oly in the upcoming year just to get my feet wet. No grand plans of high performance/placing, even though I do hope I can train seriously at least for it. (I do train pretty hard for marathons - I'm hoping to run sub-7 minute miles for my next one.) In terms of pure time gains, there's no doubt that my best bang for the buck would be to ditch biking and running, and just focus on the swim - I haven't swam in YEARS, and would probably knock of minutes just from improving my form!

Alas, I don't have time (or money) for a swim membership around here in busy SoCal with my already full running (80-100 miles per week) and biking, so I'm just going to fit what I can in for now, and add the swim later.

I have friends who do tri's. The biggest gains for most novices come from working on their swimming, as stroke technique makes big differences in times.

To answer your original question, a trainer is a better choice. You will want to work on something that feels like the bike you will compete on, and exercise bicycles are not at all like road bicycling. This will be especially important when you go to clipless pedals.

Oh, and exercise bikes can be sortof bad on the knees - they're hard to make fit the way a good road bicycle fits, and you can't do cleat adjustments or anything like that.