aecky01

I'm doing my first tri this september and have been training pretty hard. The only thing I really needed was a new bike, so I got a new trek 1500, and some aerobars to replace my old road bike with downtube shifters. I love the bike and the bars, but the reach is a bit long. I've been told I need a forward seatpost to get a position similar to a tri bike, and use the aerobars correctly. My question is should I spend the money on one, or can I flip my seatpost around. I was unsure if it would have problems supporting me, since it is not the position it is designed for. Thanks for the help, can't wait til september 9th.

chrisesposito

I would find a bike shop in your area that deals in tri bikes, and does tri bike fits, as they will be in the best position to assess your position on your bike and how it needs to be adjusted. In general there are several options:

slide the seat forward
get a forward seat post
get a shorter stem
use shorty aerobars instead of full-length ones

kboy25

If it's a sprint or even olympic distance I would just ride your road bike as is without the added weight of aeor bars.

Cervelo makes a seat post where you can flip it to give it a steeper angle and closer to the bars. I don't think you can flip any seat post around like that.
Also like the other poster mentioned, move the seat up to the front.
you may also want to consider a seat with longer rails, such as the fizik arionne or fizik arionne tri.