Triathlon - Use Clip on Aerobars w/ Tarmac PRO SL2 or Convert My Scattante R660 to Tri Bike

I upgraded my 3 year old Scattante R660 Triple this spring to Specialized Tarmac SL2 Pro. I'll put in about 6000 road miles mostly in the hills this year, and am now getting into triathlons.

I finished my 1st sprint triathlon end of May. The course was almost all uphill so I just used the SL2 as is. The next 3 triathlons I am entering this summer/fall are flat courses so I am looking at Aero/time trial position options.

At first I planned on just adding clip on Aero Bars to the Specialized. I tried the Profile Design T2 clip ons this week, and they really interfered with a good portion of the handlebars, making it impossible to get in a typical climbing position. Combined with the fact I would need to continually alter my saddle position , I am rethinking my approach.

My latest thought is to convert the Scattante (Ultegra, triple 52-42-30, 12-25) to a time trial bike. If I went with the approach, what should I change out (bars, levers, seat post, triple to double?)? Upside is that I'd have a bike for time trial position, but I assume it's not worth buying new components so it might take some time on ebay/craigslist to find what I need....

Any advice on which way to go, and which changes to focus on 1st? I've poked around on the various threads, including the low cost tt bike, but am looking for more specific thoughts on which way to go.

thanks!

T2 wing base bar: $60
T2+ aero bars: already purchased
Profile Design Fast Forward seat post: $55
Bar Tape: $10
Selle Italia NT-1 Tri Saddle: $60
Dura-Ace bar end shifters: $100
Tektro 4.1 reverse brake levers: $25
New Cables & Housing: $20

TOTAL: $330

Sell your ultegra shifters and handlebars for $200, and your total out of pocket is about $130.

You could also add a $80 wheelbuilder.com wheel cover down the road...

Clip on aero bars don't get you in a good aero position as well as the ability to produce max power. You need a forward seatpost to help. That's the minumum and you might want to stick with that and see how committed you are to tri's and how much you want to improve your performance.

Procrit offers some excellent suggestions to get to the next step. The problem with that is you still have two things that limit your performance - a triple and slow wheels. Assuming your shifts involve the large and middle rings, they won't be smooth, predictable and reliable for racing. Converting to a double cost money and you still have the stovck wheels.

Another choice is buy a used tri/tt bike. You often find some really good deals. Then you could see your Performance to offset some of the cost. I also saw a brand new 2008 Felt in REI for less than $1,000 for example.

Good luck.

Thanks for the responses! Couple of questions/comments.

Wheelset: I blew out my Forte rims on the Scattante, so upgraded those to Mavic Kyrsium Elites a while back with money I got back from performance. I've seen at least 1 entry level Tri bike with Mavic's on them. And while they are not aero wheels, I figured I could also throw on my Tarmac wheels (Roval Fusee' SL) for events for now.

Saddle: Is this a nice to have, or is there a significant difference in tri-saddles vs. standard road saddles? I currently have a Toupe on both bikes.

If $200 is realistic for my existing bars(specialized pro 42")/shifters, than I'm at $170 w/ the triple and existing saddle ($270 + $100 for the T2+ clip on, - $200 in return). That seems pretty reasonable short term cost while I determine just how into the tri's I am going to get.

In the meantime, I continue to look for a TT bike deal. However, I'm thinking new entry level might be wrong for me though, as I could see myself getting much more into it and then wanting to upgrade the TT bike again later :)

The triple is probably my primary concern in the short term, but I don't expect to spend much, if any time in the middle chain ring. I think I'll pick up a Fast Forward seat post and try it on the Scattante with the clip on bars and see how it goes.

Ok, a followup. Tri bike on craiglist. No idea if it's a good deal, although I suspect it might be a little big (I am about 5'11, ride a 56cm road bike). From what I've read, a 54cm might be a better fit for me

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/bik/1268901274.html

I think an adequate conversion can be done much more cheaply and simply.

With the equipment you've already got, the Profile Fastforward SP is the most important of any additional gear. Get it off the bay. I have set up several road bikes as tri bikes with a simple Fastforward SP and clipons. You may or may not want to tweak it with a different sized stem. And, it's not that difficult to slide your right hand over to shift off the brifters. I do it all the time.

Don't worry about the wheels.

And don't worry about the triple. If you wanted to go to the next step, get a used crank to replace it.