Tails2k5

Hi, I'm a new poster here. Thanks a lot for any input, this decision has been making it hard to sleep.

I'm a college student and I bought a hybrid bike a few years ago, ditched it last fall for a much faster 20 year old Schwinn World Tour road bike. Now I'm realizing I really like getting out and riding for a while and I want to buy a new road bike. I've done a lot of shopping, reading around online, etc., and my purchase comes down to two choices:
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New Giant TCR A1, all Shimano 105 stuff. Weight is a little under 19lbs.

https://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-US/bikes/road/1/11459/

I can get this bike at a LBS for ~$1200, retail is 1400. It fits well, it's light, I liked it.

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Used Kestrel km40, 2003 model. Frame weighs around 3 lbs, not sure end weight.


A friend of a friend would be building it up, with Dura-Ace front chainrings, crank, bottom bracket, and ultegra everything else. It's a tt/tri bike. Net cost ~$1050 (this has no tax also). All components/frame have under 1k miles on them. I haven't been able to test ride it but the geometry is quite close to the TCRA1. Wouldn't come with those wheels though.

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So basically the Kestrel seems like it's a lot better value, but I don't know about the tt/tri aspect.

My goals are:
1) Go for fun 15-30 mile rides or so 4-5 times/wk, maybe longer on Sundays or something. These rides would be mostly alone. I live in Madison, WI, so we don't have the hugest hills or anything.
2) I'm thinking of maybe doing a credit-card bike tour to visit my family, around 260 miles each way, maybe some other credit card tours, all most likely done alone.
3) Maybe do a century? Maybe get into racing? Who knows.

In any case, I'm just not sure how the tt/tri frame fits into this. My friend says that since it's all carbon fiber, and with the aero bars it'd be a lot more comfortable for biking long distances. And further, since I'd be biking solo, the Kestrel would be faster. On the other hand I've read online that the aero position really isn't that comfortable for long rides.

I'm really just not sure about how a tt frame works for long distance touring style stuff, and there's not much info online about that.

Thanks again!

schnee

TT frames push the saddle - and your weight - forward for more power. They also assume you'll be holding your upper body on those elbow pads, which is hunched over and very taxing to hold for long periods of time. They're definitely not built for all-day comfort. They're built to gain you a few seconds on a punishing, fast, short race.

Your friend may have the best of intentions, but unless you're doing actual time trials, it's not the style of bike for you, especially when you mention 'touring'.

Touring bikes have long wheelbases, short top tubes, tall head tubes, and relaxed geometry that puts your weight further back and lets you sit up tall. They're built for all-day comfort. Google up some pictures to see what I mean.

sounddevisor

Your friend is leading you the wrong way! A TT bike is not necessarily comfortable for long distances - generally a good aero TT position is going to take some getting used to, and is probably inherently less comfortable than a more upright position. A TT bike doesn't handle very well - they are not allowed in mass-start races and are generally frowned upon in most group ride situations. In addition, that Kestrel almost certainly doesn't have frame mounts for any kind of rack/panniers/fenders, so if long-distance touring is in your future you will be out of luck there, as well. Finally, the fact that it's carbon fiber doesn't mean a whole lot in terms of comfort - that has way more to do with the geometry of the frame and your riding position than it does with the material. Basically, a TT bike is good for one thing and one thing only - riding a TT!

Go with the Giant, it is a thousand times more versatile and will serve you well as an introductory bike whether you end up racing, doing long-distance touring, or anything else. You could even put clip--on aero bars on it if you suddenly (for some strange reason) develop the urge to do a time trial. The Shimano 105 components are excellent quality and value, and if you end up getting bitten by the cycling schwag bug, you'll have a great frame that you can always put Ultegra or Dura-Ace on to take it to the next level.

Most important thing - make sure the bike you buy fits you well, get the LBS to do a fitting with you and help get you positioned properly!

Good luck, and good riding!

krusty

Agreed. This is a specialty bike, and relatively useless as a daily driver. I am in the process of permanently dismantling and parting out my Tri bike. It never saw much use, and I tried setting it up with regular drop bars, and found that it was very fatiguing on the upper body muscles because of the forward geometry, as well as the relatively long TT for the size of the frame. The Kestrel is a nice frame, but only for its intended purpose.