Telemetry Schlemetry

I need a bike.  To ride for exercise and for the Triathlon next year.  I googled "cheap Triathlon Bikes" and found an article in Cycle Review titled "Best Tri- Bikes under $2000"  Evidently the "Geometry and Telemetry" of tri-bikes is special and you need carbon fiber frames and all kinds of other specialized shit. Triathlete, please; I'm not racing, I'm finishing.

A real tri bike can go $5,000 and up.  Those guys running the IronMan on TV are on cycles in the low 5 figures.  I'm just a fat guy who needs a bike that will hold my weight.
So I went to Walmart to look for a road bike.  Now of course this is a huge no no in the tri world. A WalMart bike is just not an option on any tri site I found. In fact there is considerable digital real estate devoted to encouraging you to NOT buy from WalMart.   But I'm a rebel, and broke, so WalMart it is. 

The big problem is not WalMart it's road bikes in general.  A road bike is not set up for triathletes beacuse ride then run.  The muscles you use riding a road bike are stressed differently then when you run.  Tri bikes are designed to change the line of leg effort an therefore allow you to ride a long way, get off and run without muscle strain.  That's the telemetry and geometry of the bike rearing it's expensive and ugly head.  I understand the basic principle and I did find a few good articles on Frankenstein-ing a road bike for Triathlons.  I'm going to make it work.

I found my bike; a name we all know and love, Schwinn.   My bike is a Schwinn Varsity 1200, straight bar road bike. $249.95, assembled (if poorly) at my local WalMart.  



Aero Bar add on

It's really light (to me it seems light I guess the Carbon Fiber ones weigh much less).   I'll be putting about $150 in aftermarket gear on it.

I'm going to add clipless pedals. These are the ones you need the special shoes that clip in, but their called clipless..... Then I'll add an Aero Bar, and a clip for my phone which will double as a bike computer.  Very cool apps out there for bike riding usuing your phones GPS and computer to track your rides.

I'll make it work till I have to upgrade, which may be never.


Updates on that project and pictures of my busted knuckles after I change the pedals out myself.  Who knows maybe a video of me riding.  We can call it Manatee on a bike and it will go virial for sure.