Road Cycling - Tri-Frame ok For Road?

I am new to Road biking. I am basically a mountain / park rider and have been for most of my life.

Anyway, I am interested in building a road bike. This is mostly for riding around the central park loop and will not be using it for competition. My question is, can you use a Triathalon style frame and modify it to obtain a comfortable road riding position? I like the way a tri-frame is constructed. I am about 6' 235lb and feel funny on a skinny road bike. The tri-frames are a little thicker.

I was looking at the Trek Equinox or Cannondale Ironman. I would rather an underground bulder as I like to shy away from the bigger companies.

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Your size and weight should not be an issue (you are not too heavy for modern road bike frames, not by a long shot). Get the bike that is most comfortable.

Tires and rims may be an issue, but that too is doubtful.

I am new to Road biking. I am basically a mountain / park rider and have been for most of my life.

Anyway, I am interested in building a road bike. This is mostly for riding around the central park loop and will not be using it for competition. My question is, can you use a Triathalon style frame and modify it to obtain a comfortable road riding position? I like the way a tri-frame is constructed. I am about 6' 235lb and feel funny on a skinny road bike. The tri-frames are a little thicker.

I was looking at the Trek Equinox or Cannondale Ironman. I would rather an underground bulder as I like to shy away from the bigger companies.

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

I've never ridden a tri-bike, but here is a link to an article (road vs tri)...

http://www.bikesportmichigan.com/bikes/difference.shtml

Many tri bikes have a longer wheel base. For example, a 58cm Cervelo tri bike is 3cm longer from the bottom bracket to the front wheel axle, compared to their road bikes.
http://www.cervelo.com/bikes/P3.html This is also mentioned in the article posted by Tak962.

This can make the steering feel heavier. I prefer lighter, 'twitchy' steering -- heavier steering (in my opinion) makes the bike feel sluggish, but it definitely improves stability.

Anyway, it's something to be aware of. You might like heavy steering, or you might not even notice.

The article was great. Thanks! As far as steering, I can see how it is harder. I am only going to use this in central park. I have my Brooklyn Park bike for heavy traffic/street riding.

I somewhat have my eye on the Trek Equinox 7. For the $$$, it seems like a good bang for the buck. it has the same frame as the 9 but crappier components... what do you think?

Tri bikes are designed for riding on aerobar extensions. These are inherantly less stable and controlable than std drops, so tri bikes are built to be more stable to compensate.
The whole tri/aerobar position is like a relaxed road/touring position, but rotated forward.The seat-tube of tri bikes is very steep, so its hard to setup the bike in a more conventional position.
If a std bike geometry fits you, and you just want to ride along, not race, then a std road bike will do the job. For a big guy, fat-tubes Al will be plenty stiff enough and strong.
There are quite a few light-touring style road bikes (like Specialized Sequoia), which have a more relaxed riding position than road racing bikes, with easy gearing and room for wider tyres. These can make excellent fast commuter bikes.

I got a good chuckle when reading this thread topic - I'm a regular at trinewbies.com and there are dozens of threads about "whether I can do triathlons on my road bike." Most of the replies say that a forward seatpost and clip-on aerobars are all that you need (along with some seat and handlebar height adjustment.) As for the reverse, you'd probably have to fool with the seat and handlebar heights to get comfortable, and to lessen the degree of the "forward" position. Many triathletes I know get a lot of their training miles on a road bike, because they don't have to stay in "aero" all the time. If you're not planning on doing any tris, I would recommend going with a road frame.

I got a good chuckle when reading this thread topic - I'm a regular at trinewbies.com and there are dozens of threads about "whether I can do triathlons on my road bike." Most of the replies say that a forward seatpost and clip-on aerobars are all that you need (along with some seat and handlebar height adjustment.) As for the reverse, you'd probably have to fool with the seat and handlebar heights to get comfortable, and to lessen the degree of the "forward" position. Many triathletes I know get a lot of their training miles on a road bike, because they don't have to stay in "aero" all the time. If you're not planning on doing any tris, I would recommend going with a road frame.

Yeah, after doing some research on this, I think I'm gonna go with a road frame. I just need one that's in my $$$ range right now. I can always upgrade componentry (that's half the fun) but I want a good frame and it has to be black...