Probably a stupid question but . .

[rach]

Looking to by a new bike, what are the advantages of a tri specific bike over say a road bike with tri bars fitted? What do you recommend for someone competing in olympic and sprint races?

Thanks

[duncan74]

If you live somewhere flat I'd definitely go for a tri specific bike - more comfortable to get low.

Being a lady you'll have to think carefully about fit. How tall are you?

[rach]

Hi

Well I'm 5'8 slim build and live in oxfordshire. I have an alu bike at the moment but am looking at up grading to a carbon frame for competing on.

Any suggestions would be greatly received.

[chris]

If you are going to be doing short races then an agressive setup will probably be ok, bearing in mind that if you want to race it well you need to train on it.

People would have suggested, in the past, the Planet X Stealth, but I think your options are pretty open - it really depends on price as much as anything else, and P-X have often been the best value for money.

Advantages - the geometry is is designed for that set up so you have a dedicated tool for the job. Arguably you can do it either way with the right choice of seat post, bars etc.

[younggun]

You're quite tall for a girl so you've got plenty of choice. Girl's leg length tends to be longer as a ratio so just be careful it's not too long for you.

IMO it's well worth putting some time into getting this right. This is a good article by Dan Empfield. He's the king of tri-bike setup: www.slowtwitch.com/mainheadings/techctr/bikefit.html