The Complete Guide to Triathlon Cycling

Spring’s on the horizon (finally!) and as well as the inevitable return of TV shows charting the progress of daffodils, lambs and baby birds it also means one thing for triathletes – time to get back on the bike. Yep, from now on it’s all about Lycra, aerodynamics and generating the kind of wattage that could light a small village. That’s where The Complete Guide to Triathlon Cycling comes in, handcrafted by the world’s best triathlon magazine – 220 Triathlon. Yes, you still need to swim and run, but now’s the time when your cycling, which has taken a backseat due to flooded roads and iced country lanes, takes centre stage. Now, we don’t mean to spread rumours but, among single-sport cyclists, triathletes have a bad reputation. Cyclists think that we…

MAT BRETT Mat is the former editor of 220 Triathlon magazine and now a regular writer for the world’s leading multisport magazine ROBERT BANINO is the former deputy editor of 220 Triathlon magazine and now one of the most respected bike writers in the country JACK SEXTY is staff writer for 220 Triathlon magazine, highly-acclaimed age-grouper and is aiming to conquer Ironman Lanzarote in 2016 NIK COOK has competed for Great Britain at the duathlon world championships and is a regular contributor to 220 Triathlon PETE BONFIELD is a former national champion at road racing and coached the women’s triathlon team in cycling at the 2004 Athens Olympics GUY KESTEVEN has been testing bikes for magazines for nearly 20 years. In that time, he’s also become a master of the bike workshop ANDY BULLOCK is entering…

CHALLENGE WANAKA WANAKA, NEW ZEALAND, 20 FEBRUARY 2016 3.8KM SWIM | 180KM BIKE | 42.2KM RUN Over 1,500 professional and age-group athletes head to New Zealand for one of the toughest and most beautiful triathlons around. A crystal-clear lake swim and run around the water’s edge are linked by a stunning 180km bike against the memorable backdrop of the Southern Alps and the Te Wahipounamu World Heritage Area. CHALLENGE ROTH ROTH, GERMANY, 17 JULY 2016 3.8KM SWIM | 180KM BIKE | 42.2KM RUN Roth is regarded as the fastest longcourse event in the world, the men’s and women’s records coming in at 7:41:33 (Andreas Raelert) and 8:18:13 (Chrissie Wellington), respectively. The bike is relatively flat aside from the notorious Solar Berg Hill. Thankfully, huge crowds that resemble the Tour de France’s Dutch Corner ease the pain. IRONMAN UK70.3 WIMBLEBALL…

ROAD BIKE ANATOMY For most triathletes, the road bike is their day-to-day machine. Whether it’s for training, commuting or just riding for fun, a road bike is far more versatile than a triathlon bike. Part of the beauty of a road bike is that they’re extremely simple machines and, with a bit of practice, you can easily maintain it on your own. Here’s a clear overview to the key parts that you’ll find on a road bike, and what they do... TRI BIKE ANATOMY If you want to ride fast, you need to get out of the wind’s way. That’s why the triathlon bike is the race-day weapon of choice. It’s packed with features designed to help you cut through the air as efficiently as possible and make the most of the effort…

THESECRETSTUDIO.NET MANGO POINT R – R460 SHIMANO TIAGRA £569.99 WWW.MANGOBIKES.CO.UK Mango Bikes were started by two university students in 2012, with the intent of bringing affordable, fun bikes to the UK market. Following the success of their single-speed and fixed-gear city bikes, Mango first launched a nine-speed model in 2014, leading to the development of the Point R range, as featured here. Mango’s product design manager Brant Richards explained more: “While the bike is aimed mostly at entry-level cyclists wanting to step up to club rides/sportives or sprint triathlons, we feel we’ve also been able to add more adaptability to it, by speccing deeper drop brakes for bigger tyres or mudguards. “The bike is designed around an efficient pedalling position and a stable ride, which will make you feel more confident at high speeds.” We…

FUJI NORCOM STRAIGHT 2.5 £1,900 WWW.EVANSCYCLES.COM It doesn’t matter how aerodynamic, light or stiff a bike is, if you can’t get into a comfortable position, riding it is going to be difficult – which is why Fuji has gone to such lengths to make its range of Norcom Straight bikes so accommodating in terms of fit parameters. There are five sizes available, but the adjustability built into them means even the smallest and tallest riders have a wide spectrum of position options open to them, from aggressively low to almost upright. And much of this is thanks to the bikes’ innovative cockpits. The head tube on the Norcom Straight 2.5, like all the Norcom Straight models, is truncated so that you can run an ‘extreme’ low-profile set-up and have the stem level with…