what is it with triathletes...?

[ave]

Thriathlon is about running, regardless of distance. (sprint, olympic, half-iron, iron)
The other sports are just about warming up.

I know one guy who is not a pro, but gets occasional podium places in international ironman races.
The always rides on his TT bike at a painfully low cadence, 53x12-13 even for smaller hills. It looks bad, but it works for him. So, I guess I should not criticise him.

[limba]

Be careful if you draft them, they're just as bad as mtn bikers on the road.

[MarkTwain]

other than that he seems a nice guy, didn't say my seat's too high, neither treated me with other regular roadies' patronizing BS talk that's pretty common during the meet&greet phase

So if I have read this thread correctly, you've started off by slagging off triathletes. But now after meeting (and naming) said triathlete, are now having a go at road cyclists?

You seem like a swell guy.

[davidalone]

I'm a runner who dabbled in triathlon and has now switched fll time to ccycling. I do the occasional triathlon or running race, but road racing is my main thing now.
my team sponsor sponsors both a road racing team and a triathlon team, so we get to hang with them quite often, in fact we cycle with them pretty often too.
Don't sniff at triathletes. the really good triathletes who do non-draft legal racing (ironman, half iron, etc.) have monster engines. have joined them on some of their serious training days and these guys are going on the front averaging at 35-37kph all day for 120km with no stopping. how many of you can do that? I know I couldn't. these guys are amateurs, too, not pros.
and those that take part in draft legal racing ( ITU) , if they are at a high level , have to be pretty fit, too. ITU racing is a lot like cycling in it's ability to take pain, and some of the higher level ITU racers can more than hold their own in our local world champiuonship rides.

of course, you have the usual D-bags who think they're real fit because they do triathlon and all, but hey, you have D-bag cylists too.

no matter what sport, if you're doing it seriously, you have my respect.

[tymon_tm]

errr, i don't think triathlon needs any defending. i myself secretly admire those people, their focus and dedication, not to mention the fact they're overally far more fit than those who just pedal.. i'd very much like to try racing as a triathlete too, only thing is i can't really swim.. and i hate running..

the initial question i asked was whether the way they race/train on a bike makes much sense, given pro and amateur cyclists, who spend a lot more time on their bikes compared to triathletes, use totally different approach and equipment. some of you might try to get of your high horses (@MarkTwain, come on...) and try to take things less seriously

[jever98]

@tymon: the training long distance triathletes need to do is much like an endurance cyclist - steady long sessions, since the race is very steady, you don't need accelerations, and a sprint isn't needed at all. In short distance drafting triathlon it's different, due to the race dynamics.

Big gear work makes quite a bit of sense because on the long distances many people are strength limited towards the end of the run.

Cheers
Jever

[H0RSE]

If its not about sport, what is it apart from character assassination of some poor anonymous public who we know nothing about?

[HillRPete]

Be careful if you draft them, they're just as bad as mtn bikers on the road.

If you draft an MTBer, you have bigger issues than needing to worry about triathletes

[limba]

I meant a mtn biker riding a road bike. They all ride anywhere they want whenever they feel like it.

[DrGalactus]

'they', straying a bit close to the 'one cyclist jumped a red light so they should all be run over' territory.
I ride XC, Road and sometimes enjoy a swim beforehand and while novice triathletes may lack bike handling skills so do novice roadies whereas riding offroad requires good bike control that transfers rather well to the road.

[limba]

This whole thread is kinda just poking fun at "them" whoever "they" are. If I had to define myself as a cyclist I'd say I'm a commuter. I'm capable of riding/racing road, XC or cross but what I do every single day is commute.

but if you want to be serious, I ridden with age group world champion triathletes and their road GROUP skills are bad. If I see a guy riding on aero bars in a group I stay as far away as I can from him. The mtn bikers are bad on the road just because they don't get it. They don't understand drafting, not letting a gap open, riding single file or double paceline, etc.

[kbbpll]

The OP has an interesting point. A "real" triathlon has a 112 mile/180 km ride, so why are they mostly on TT bikes? Other than "they're different", I'm not sure we've gotten any good answers here.

[hansonator69]

Something to do with geometry of TT bikes (steep seat tube angle) being easier on the leg muscles to they can do a run after the ride.
Then there comes rider position, aero position being faster than standard road bike position etc.

[prendrefeu]

The steeper seat tube angles makes the motion of cycling closer to running. Not entirely the same, but much closer. What I've heard is that this makes running immediately afterwards much easier, as hansonator69 mentioned.

I've tried doing a BRICKS workout once - 80mi ride, 15mi trail run immediately after without break except to change shorts - and it was incredibly painful. I used a regular road setup.

As for the cadence, jever98 has a salient point: the ride like endurance riders, not TT specialists. It makes sense.

[si1ver]

Be careful if you draft them, they're just as bad as mtn bikers on the road.

I beg to differ as Mountain bikers are some of the best bike handlers on road that includes drafting