Bike Diva

Bike Diva's new ride?

When you are a true bike addict, like I am, you can never have too many bikes. Right now, I only own three bikes. That barely qualifies me as a bike enthusiast, let alone a bike addict. I have been thinking about getting a triathlon bike for the past year. I am currently racing in time trials and sprint duathlons on my road bike. Someone of my age, and ability, probably doesn't need a fancy time trial bike to race on, but I'm the Bike Diva - come on!

Bike Diva's Rides

1. 2006 Nirve Lahaina.  3-speed beach cruiser with coaster brakes. A pretty Hawaiian themed bike, which weighs ten tons compared to my road bike. For fun, casual rides in the neighborhood. Mostly used by my daughter's friends when they come over to visit. My daughter rides a turquoise blue, Townie Electra beach cruiser most of the time.

2. 2008 Felt Breed. A single speed cyclocross bike. This bike weighs about 19 pounds, about the same as my very first aluminum frame, Cannondale road bike. The cyclocross bike is used mostly for night time urban rides, and off road riding, such as along the rim canal that starts at the Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee Wildlife Refuge in Boynton Beach.

I sold my Cannondale mountain bike in December of 2008, and bought the Felt from my friends Matt and Julie Goforth, owners of the On Your Mark bike shop. Single speed riding is fun, no need to worry about which gear you should be in, you only have 1 gear!

3. 2008 Trek Madone 6.5 WSD. I ordered this bike the end of 2007 from Bike America in Boynton Beach, and received it February of 2008. It is a full carbon, woman's specific road bike, which weighs only 14.1 pounds - CRAZY! I recently added a set of Reynold's SDV66C deep dish carbon clincher wheels to this bike.

I've been having a recurring problem with the bottom bracket of this bike, and have had to change the bearings 3 times since purchasing it. Trek has finally agreed to send me a new frame. I could get a 2009 frame ASAP, or wait a month or two for a 2010. My LBS says to wait for the 2010 frame, which is supposed to be lighter, stiffer and have a better bottom bracket than the 2009 frames.

Race Bike Diva Race
I started racing in time trials on the Trek, the beginning of 2008. In 2009, I started racing in duathlons. I LOVE duathlons; run-bike-run. Kind of like a triathlon, but while the triathletes are swimming, duathletes are running. The biking and second run of duathlons are the same course as the biking and running section for the triathletes.

There are quite a few sprint races in Florida, which can be done as either a triathlon or a duathlon. Sprint duathlons are typically a 1 mile run - 10 mile bike - 3.1 mile run distance. On November 8, I will be competing in my very first half Ironman duathlon at Miami Man. That will be a 1 mile run - 56 mile bike - 13.1 mile run. OMG - I hope I can finish the half marathon before getting swept off the course. I'm not worried about the first run, or the bike portion, but running a half marathon after doing 56 miles on the bike - YIKES!

Time for a Triathlon Bike
Since my main racing focus is on duathlons, I have decided to bite the bullet and purchase an entry level triathlon bike. Well, maybe more of a mid-level bike. My budget was $3000 or less, so even though the 2010 frames have been released by most bike manufacturers, I was hoping to score a good deal on a 2009 frame.

Since tri bike geometry is way different than road bike geometry, I decided to spend the money and go to a high quality bike shop that specializes in custom triathlon bike fits. On Tuesday, October 6, I went to the Racer's Edge in Boca Raton for my preliminary fit. This was simply to see what size bike I would need, and then find a frame that would fit me, and build it out according to my measurements.

Although I am only 5' 5" tall, apparently I have very long legs for someone my height. Based on my height, a couple of other bike shops thought I would probably need a size 48 frame. After being fit on the Serotta system, John decided I needed a size 54 frame, with shorter crank arms. My road bike is a size 52, so I always thought a tri bike would be much smaller, but I trust the expert to get me in the optimal riding position.

Cervelo P2C
John gave me three options for triathlon bikes in my size and price range. I decided to go with the Cervelo P2C tri bike, using a 2009 frame. I didn't know that was going to be one of the bikes he recommended, but I had been doing quite a bit of research on this exact bike during the past week or so.I decided to take that as a sign that this is the bike I'm supposed to ride. It was also the least expensive of the 3 options. The Cervelo P2C is shown in the photo at the beginning of this blog post.

I'm going to move the Reynold's SDV66C deep dish carbon wheels from my road bike to the triathlon bike. I'll put my Bontrager Race X-Lite wheels back on the Trek. I got the Reynold's wheels, barely used, from the owner of Bike America. He was selling them for a racing friend of his. They were only $1400, pretty sweet considering this wheel set retails for $2400-$2800 online.

Uber triathlete Chrissie Wellington used to ride a Cervelo P2C, so it must be a pretty decent bike. She now rides a Cannondale Slice triathlon bike, but I guess they made her a sponsorship deal she couldn't refuse.

Here are a few reviews of the Cervelo P2C:

Chrissie Wellington's Cervelo P2C

Cervelo P2C; Cervelo Hits a Bullseye

2008 Cervelo P2C

Take care,
Lynn Smythe AKA the Bike Diva