Road Bike or Tri Bike for Dummies - The Freelance Files MMCLXXV

Triathlon bike

It's been instructive to wander the pages of the DifferenceBetween twins (.net and .com; apparently fraternal instead of identical) while searching for DotD nominations. Truth be told, so much of the content is bogus that it's difficult to decide which one to feature. The chief problem both sites have is that any real difference can usually be discussed in a sentence or two, but that amount of verbiage wouldn't create enough page space to fit in all the ads. Thus, their contributors were forced to pad out their explanations, a practice fraught with bullshit when the writer doesn't understand the topic... which is all too often the case. Take admin¹ at DifferenceBetween.com, here caught attempting to explain the "Difference Between Road Bike and Triathlon Bike."

We talked to people who know the difference, and they told us that there's a big difference in frame design and less dramatic differences in components. The big difference is that a tri bike has a more aggressive geometry allowing a steeper angle in the seat tube. In traditional road bikes, the seat tube angle² is about 78°; in a triathlon bike the seat tube is "raked" backward to around 73°. The shallower angle places the seat further to the rear, thereby allowing a rider to lean forward and achieve a more aerodynamic position. Tri bikes always include aerobars to provide arm support for this forward lean.

The "smaller" differences are in the shape of the tubing, which – in high-end tri bikes³ – has a more aerodynamic profile. Tri bikes are generally sold with wheelsets also designed to improve the bike's aerodynamics.

Admin got the seat tube angle information more or less right, although we strenuously object to the claim that,

"...the design of the [road] bike is such that the rider sits upright..."

That's utter bullshit. You sit upright on a comfort bike, a hybrid, or a mountain bike – not on a road bike. We also found a lot of the other padding to be rather... doofus; comments like,

"It is not that you cannot take your triathlon bike on the road for a round of biking..."

Is anyone stupid enough to think that triathletes never ride their tri bikes except in a triathlon? Or how about this rather moronic comment about road bikes:

"Road bike is [sic] more or less a general bike that is designed to handle a lot many [sic] circumstances like cornering, climbing and competing with other riders in a race."

Wait: you can't corner or climb with a tri bike? Only ride in a straight line on level ground? Sounds like a drag race! And finally, there's this:

"The rider sits in an upright position in [sic] a road bike... This gives rider more control when required in the case of pedaling and braking and also when he is trying to get ahead of other riders."

More control in braking? So triathlon bikes are inherently more dangerous? Or is this just more bullshit padding? We think the latter.

So, admin – who likely has never seen a triathlon, never met a triathlete, and perhaps had never even heard of a triathlon bike before – found him- or her-self attempting to explain the difference between tri bikes and road bikes. Is it any wonder that our Dumbass of the Day never mentioned aerobars and aerodynamic wheelsets?

Again, we think not...

¹ We aren't certain which of the native Hindi speakers at the allegedly Australian company is "admin," but we think it's probably Olivia Dawson (and we also think that name's a pseudonym).
² The seat tube angle is the angle between the seat tube and the chainstays
³ Is there such a thing as a low-end tri bike? (rhetorical question)

SE - BICYCLES