I have two loves in cycling. Time trialing and sprinting.
So I have some money saved up, €2000.
I want to race in TT’s and do races where I can win with a sprint.
The thing is I only have experience in time trialing no road races yet.
I have an ftp of 320 now and can build that out hopefully to about 380-400 during this season.
My max sprint power is 1600 watts during of season and no sprint training for 2 months.
So for the actual question.
Should I get a Giant Propel rim brake and slap on a set of tribars and be able to do semi well in TT’s and be setup in sprints or should I go for a something like a Giant Trinity or Canyon Speedmax CF 7.0 and wreck everyone in TT’s and not be as good in sprint races with my current road bike?
I did TT’s with my Giant content sl 2 disc with tribars(not always last ) and it’s my only bike.
I hit 336 after my first season off cycling ever so weighing in at 210 pound with 15% body fat I think 380 is within reach.
I am using a 4iiii single sides powermeter. I did use to cycle to school 6 years back and overtook cyclist for fun.
I’m not saying I’m like Bauke Mollema but I kinda am dutch engines .
As a roadie I’ve sort of evolved my position on my TT bike (as far as set back) to be the same compared to my road bike. It’s not apples to apples as I use two different saddles which measure 1cm different, but very close. The thinking is to recruit muscles I’ve trained the most on the road bike while riding the TT bike which I ride much less.
So, if it were me and I could only have one bike it would be the Propel with the temporary clip ons. Just more versatile and safer in sprint/mass group settings.
If you can get your FTP to 400 and you can sprint at 1600 you should go pro. These are close to pro level numbers.
Are you in a road cycling club? If not I would highly suggest joining one and doing there races. You then can go from there to regional and national level as an amateur.
Well I am going to join a pretty fast cycling club and will start racing. At what level I don’t know yet ill see where I’ll end up. I’m big an have a decent engine so maybe a bit of pulling on the front to start with.
You do have a valid point. What you are saying is exactly why I put up this topic. I would really like to get good and win TT’s. But isn’t it more then a bike? Wheels, suit, helm ect.
You can het a decent suit for €100 like the Velotec that is only a few watts behind the specialized one.
I have found a Giro aerohead for €180 on sale right now. Wheels are still stupidly expensive.
What I mean by this is that I can get good kit and a pretty decent bike with 45-60mm wheels for the same money as just a TT bike with training rims.
Buy/build a second hand TT bike/frame with a pair of aero (middle section) wheels.
Race on your Contend, TT on your new TT bike, and swap the aero wheels between them.
A good racer can win on any old road bike. Body position and pack position are way more important than the frame. But the aero wheels might just help for the sprint or in the breakaway.
Buy used on the wheels. You can get a decent aero helmet and skinsuit for €200 -250 total. I’d also buy used on the TT bike - you don’t need a super light bike, just a super aero one
Sounds to me like you have a TT bias, go for a TT bike and start your road racing on your contend. Road racing is more about the engine and tactics anyway, imho.
Thanks for the responses. Do you guys have any suggestions what to look out for. Second hand marked is a bid dry here at the moment and I don’t really know what is important in 2de hand tt bike.
I’m from the Netherlands and I don’t really want to ship 2de hand bike part form overseas. I have found a facebook group and we have a very large 2de hand website called marktplaats.nl.
Thanks for the advice!
I got a Stevens crono TT bike, 60mm zipp 404 and a disk wheel for €1200!!
With that I will be focusing on TT’s this year and do some road races on the side.
) and it’s my only bike.
dutch engines 
.