photonick

I'm just curious, I love the look of both bikes, and will be getting into tris and even though i've never ridden a aero bike i just generally feel i'd probably really enjoy the ride so i'm sure sooner or later I'll be picking one up. So whats the diff between tri/tt bikes?

Asian Sensation

the name

photonick

Ahhhh, i figure the tri bikes were teflon coated so that the piss and, spit, snot, and vomit just slid off the frame like water off a duck...thats why the back wheels are solid right...so you don't have to clean vomit out of the spokes...right?

photonick

Would it be out of the question to say that alot of tri bikes are built up cheaper and and made with cheaper carbon fiber to keep the prices down...i know the pinarello tri bike is.

Sprocket Man

Some tri bikes, such as the Cat Cheetah or the Softride bikes, are not UCI legal but they can be used in triathlons.

cslone

Originally the TT bikes were shallow seat tube angle, basically road geometry with aerobars, while the true triathlon bikes were steep seat tubes, 650c even sometimes mismatched sized wheels.

Nowadays, they are pretty much interchangeable with the exceptions SpocketMan stated.

531Aussie

there could be occasional, subtle differences, because triathletes' bikes aren't subjected to the same strict rules as are cyclists's TT bike when competiting in an event sanctioned by a 'cycling' body. In other words, you could buy a freaky TT bike off a triathlete, only to find out it's illegal at a 'bike race' time trial.

photonick

Ah, how are bikes like that, can you do long rides on them comfortably or is that position just terrible.

AEO

TT/Tri don't go long distances so Power and Aero >>>>> Comfort.

Sprocket Man

Last year, when I was training for a 1/2 IM race, I would regularly do 60-75 mile rides with probably 80% of it in aero position. It's not comfortable, but it can be done. Liberal amounts of chamois creme before and a bunch of ibuprofen after seems to help.

I don't know about you, but 112 miles is a pretty long ride for me. That's the distance for an Ironman bike leg.

mezza

A TT bike is awesome. A Tri bike is gay.

AEO

That is a long ride... But Ironman is full length swimming + running + bike distances. right?
I mean, it's not Ironman for nothing

from what I've seen, the bike part of the typical Tri section doesn't even go beyond 40km for most races.

BMonei

TT bikes generally fit more like a road bike, with your center of force being applied directly over the pedals.

A lot of Tri bikes center your force ahead of the pedals, effectively using a lot more of your running muscles, to make that transition a lot smoother and more manageable. Thus, a more effective bike for... Triathlons.

slvoid

I thought a Tri bike would use LESS of your leg muscles so you can save em for the full marathon you have to run at the end of an ironman distance ride.

BMonei

There is no mercy in Tri's. Only urine-soaked carbon.

slvoid

I have no idea what you just said, so I'm gonna assume you have a problem with incontinence.

bikeM3987

Correct. You use less of your hamstrings when you are farther forward of the bb, thus saving them for the running section afterwords.

jccaclimber

From what I have seen, tri bikes can be separated from TT bikes by geometry. A lot of TT guys I know set it up more like their road bikes so that they don't have to take as much time from road training to ride the TT bike. The tri guys have seemed more comfort oriented as they do longer distances than the TT's that the road guys were doing. Also, seeing as this is the road forum and a bit of sarcastic elitism seems standard (please, please, take this as a joke), the TT bike goes down the road strait. The tri bike uses the entire road and wobbles like a cruise missile.

bikeM3987

I guess to answer the op's question more, it's usually a matter of how you set the bike up, vs. the build of the bike (with the exception of the odd couple bikes). Unless they have freakish geometries, they are usually interchangeable.

Edonis13

the steep angle uses different muscles, allowing you to start off stronger in the run instead of having that initial 1-2 mile of noodle legs until you get warmed up to running. this is the theory anyways, my new Tri/TT frame is sitting in the bike stand waiting for the rest of its parts to show up. i went with the Leader 735TT frame and their aero fork, im pretty amazed at how awesome they look considering their price.

oh and basically every TT frame can be used as a tri frame, but not every tri frame can be used for TT's

merlinextraligh

The essential differences for a UCI legal TT bike is that it has to be traditional diamond frame construction (hnece no Y foils, soft beams, etc.) and the seat tip has to be 5cm behind the bb.

There are some other nuansces such as exactly how the aerobars can be set up, but that's basically it.

As long as it's diamond frame construction, most any tri bike can be set up to be UCI legal for TT's (basically by scooting the seat back.)

For example Cervelo P3's are obviously UCI legal, and also quite popular tri bikes.

classic1

1/ Tri bikes generally have food stuck to them by trisexualetes. TT bikes don't
2/ Tri bikes seats smell worse than TT bikes, because trihards compete wearing dicktogs.
3/ TT bikes are faster then tri bikes because they are ridden by proper bike riders, not part time joggers
4/ Both bikes are fugly, but tri bikes look really good when ridden by hot tri-chicks
5/ Tri-bikes are gheyer than TT bikes. No real reason. It just is.
6/ Tri-bike normally have bidon cages mounted near to where your arse goes. This is disgusting.
7/ Tri-bikes are rarely clean and nothing works on them properly, because tritardaletes know nothing about mechanical stuff and struggle to even replace a tube when they puncture.
8/ Some cyclists look classy on a TT bike. No triathlete (male) has ever looked even remotely stylish on a tri bike.
9/ Tri bikes normally have more blood on them than TT bikes because the riders don't know how to ride their bikes properly and fall off all the time.
10/ Tri bikes have more boogies on them that TT bikes because tris don't know how to clean their bikes or blow their nose properly when riding. To be fair, occasionally a boogie might get cleaned off when a tri mistakes it for a bit of left over Powerbar and eats it.

I trust that this information has been useful. Good day.

seppomadness

Gold.

seppomadness

Biggest trisexualete of all time....

wanders

Given a choice between boogies and powerbars, I'd rather eat boogies.