Triathlon - Blade as a road bike ? - Need advice

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Guy Yinon
03-11-05, 03:27 PM
Hi All,
There's a rather 'old' Ti Lite speed blade that I saw (among other frames ...).This frame uses 650c wheels.
I really like the Ti frame :)
And its cheap. Really CHEAP (well comparing for the road frames ...)
Can I ride this bike as a road machine (not for races !) ?
I understand that the sitting position is not so great when climbing, is it ?
I might use this bike for Tri, but that will take me some time ...
What do you say ?
Thanks,
Guy

audiojan
03-12-05, 12:00 PM
You COULD you use if as a roadframe, but I wouldn't necessarily recommend it... The seat angle is steeper, which means that climbing will be a bit of a hazzle... If you live in an area that is predominantly flat, this is a non-issue. Another issue to look at is the Blade is designed to very stiff to allow max. power transfer, something you need in tri/du/time trials, but not on a true road frame. This increase in stiffness will make the bike "less comliant", i.e. you will get more fatigued from riding it.

With all this said, if you are seriously thinking about tri/du's, this is an awesome frame!