Triathlon - What should I do...

..with my madone?

I love the bike. The ride is soooo awesome, so smooth and fast and it seems to beg to power up hills. I even seem to coast down faster than the other people I ride with!

The thing is, I'm now riding almost exclusively in triathlons. No more road races and just a few century rides a year. I'm also getting a lot better at the Tri (took 1st in my age at the Central Park Tri this past weekend!).

I think I could advance more if I was managing my power better, and everything I read seems to suggest I need a tri bike to maximize my triathlons.

Thing is, I'm saving up for a wedding, and my fiance would not be too happy if I spent $3,000+ on a new bike.

Also, my madone is a couple of years old now, and despite it being in mint condition, I don't think I could get a tonn of money for it if I sold it to get a tri bike.

So, what would you do in my position?

The good news is that today, you don't need to spend $3000 to get a really sweet tri bike. You can get a very, very good bike for $2000 or less, if you wanted. Many major bike manufacturers make bikes at or under $2000 that are 98% as good as the $3k bikes.

The reason that I am suggesting the $1500-$2000 bikes is that I imagine that, if your 06 Madone is in good condition with good wheels and components, you could probably sell your Madone for pretty much what you'd pay for an '08 Cervelo Dual, '08 Quintana Roo Kilo, '08 Felt S22, '08 Giant Trinity Alliance A2, etc.

Your other, much cheaper option, is to buy a forward seat post (Profile makes one called the "Fast Forward" seatpost), clip-on aerobars, and use the Madone in triathlons. You'll be able to get into a decent position with the forward seatpost, but handling may be affected (though in tris, handling isn't a huge deal). While you won't get the aero frame of the dedicated tri bike, you'll be 95% of the way there.

----^

thanks for the advice. I already have clip on aero bars (air force or something line that, I forget). Would it be worthwile to swap out the handle bars entirely for tri bars? Is it even possible to do this?

Also, my concern with a lesser bike is that I want to make sure I keep a carbon frame, since I've gotten so used to my madone (which is all carbon). Can I get a carbon frame and at least Ultegra components at that sub 2K price point? I've ridden bikes with less than ultegra components, and I'd never race with one. The gears skip, chain falls off, etc. I 've never had a single problem with my ultrega set.

Hmmm... I've now won 4 races overall on 9 speed 105, with a crankset that was created in the same decade as me(80s). However, I don't want to tell you your business.

I will tell you the following...
Rahzel breaks this all down in the "what bike should I buy" thread fairly well with the exception of the option of "riding not so steep" say at 76 degrees.

Carbon bikes around two grand...

steep - http://www.trisports.com/20qrsetribi.html
slack - http://store.tri-sports.com/2008-kestrel-talon-triathlon-bike.html

Neither are exceptionally aerodynamic but neither are bad in that regard either.

I agree with Triguy. There are just not a lot of options for tri bikes around $2000. I also personally think that 105, or even Tiagra, is just fine for most people, but again it's not my business :)

However, if you're willing to try an Aluminum frame, or 105 components, you may have more options.

You can put tri bars on a road bike frame. It's not really ideal (since the Madone was designed to be used in a drop bar configuration), but you could make it work.

Though Triguy and I disagree on "steep" (78+ degree st) vs "slack" (76- degree st), I think we would both agree in saying that exactly one of these would probably work better for you. If you can ride your Madone in an aero, comfortable aero position *without* using a forward seat post, then you may be better off staying with the Madone in a tri configuration, or buying a bike with a 76 degree seat tube. If you ride your madone in the afforementioned position but really want to get farther forward, you may want to buy a tri bike with a steeper seat tube angle, like the Quinana Roo Seduza.

Thanks everyone!
Also, I'm not trying to diss people on Tiagra or 105, I'm sure people's experiences vary quite a bit. I'm just speaking from my experience (my old Allez had a pretty basic crankset and I found it wonky). Last week, on the way back from the tri, my fiance and I were riding to brunch. Her chain fell off twice (she has 105). It does that a lot. She's had it tuned up at various shops and even VERY recently. I could not afford to even risk the chain dropping on me in a race. I beat the second place guy by around 15-20 seconds. A dropped chain would have cost me my win. I'm just sayin.