# first road bike



## chewy812 (13 Feb 2013)

i'm doing my first 1/2 im and i bought a 2012 cadd 10 cannondale should i put any extras on it or just leave as is.. thanks


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## Kies (13 Feb 2013)

What sort of extras are you thinking of?


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## chewy812 (13 Feb 2013)

are aero bars worth it on a roadbike, and maybe some mid priced tires i don't know much about the biking field so any other idea would be great


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## Dan_h (17 Feb 2013)

chewy812 said:


> are aero bars worth it on a roadbike, and maybe some mid priced tires i don't know much about the biking field so any other idea would be great


 
The aero bars depend a lot on the route. If it is reasonably flat then they will make a difference, hilly and not so much. In fact I find on hilly rides I take the aero bars off as they get in the way of some hand positions on the top of the bars. However, once they are set up right and you are comfy riding on them they are worth a couple of MPH on the flat.


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## smokeysmoo (17 Feb 2013)

to CC and good luck for your first 1/2 IM. Two mates of mine are training for the full IMUK this year, one did it last year and this year his twin brother is doing it as well.

Tri-bars, as others have said depend on many factors. The majority of bikes at IMUK tend to have them despite the route being very hilly.

I'd consider them for a full IM, (not that I plan to ever do one ), but doubt you'd get a benefit from them on a 1/2.

Great bike choice by the way, which spec CAAD10 have you got?


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## Arsen Gere (18 Feb 2013)

smokeysmoo said:


> to CC and good luck for your first 1/2 IM. Two mates of mine are training for the full IMUK this year, one did it last year and this year his twin brother is doing it as well.


 
I hope they are not sharing an number ? I think that is called cheating  

IMHO Tri bars are worth fitting, so is a pointy hat.
I use the tribars to hold a bottle, you can wedge a standard water bottle in the middle, secure with a rubber band and use a feeder tube. I put all my nutrition in one bottle so there are no gels to carry, no packets to open and no litter.


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## Ghost Donkey (18 Feb 2013)

Tri bars are definitely worth getting. It's free speed, as long as your comfortable. As said above you can always take them off if they're not required. I went for a reversible seat post to move the saddle forward and increase the hip angle to make it more comfy. I think it improved the handling a bit but that could be mental rather than factual. It made a difference for the better. I've bought a TT bike since then but still use this setup for training on my road bike.


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## Rob3rt (22 Feb 2013)

Just slapping Tri bars on a road bike is sub-optimal, you will need to adjust other settings otherwise you are likely to compromise power output. You need to find a balance between aero benefits and loss of power output. The aero benefit should outweigh power loss else you would be better off without the tri bars.

The basic things you will be doing is pushing the saddle forward (and up a little since pushing it forward reduced the distance to the BB) and lowering the front end. This will rotate you forward around your ankle joint, preserving as best as possible the powerful road position.

As Arsen Gere says, they are a worthwhile addition as long as you put in the time to get them set up right, he is also spot on re. an aero helmet. An aero helmet can result in substantial time savings in a TT or Tri bike leg provided it suits your ride position.


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