Why there are differences between triathlon bicycle wheels and racing wheels

This article about triathlon bicycle wheels is going to be rather technical as it will explain you briefly and in simple words why we triathletes use certain triathlon bicycles and no racing bicycles.

To understand this peculiarity of the triathlon sport we need to understand how the triathlon was originally designed: A race of an athlete against the clock. In classical triathlon races drafting was and is not allowed. Only the desire of the triathlon community to include this fantastic sport into the Olympic Games let them sacrifice some of the typical rules in order to attain the permission of the Olympic Committee (Seemingly they thought that triathlon without the drafting would become too boring...kismet).

Since drafting is not allowed you can't gain any advantages by slipstream. So in order to offer the least possible contact surface for the wind, triathlon bikes need to be lower than their bigger counterparts for street races. Maybe you also noticed that there usually are certain tops mounted to the handle bars. These tops are called aerobars or tri-bars and they are there for the same reason: To lower the position of the athlete on his bike and decrease the contact surface for the wind.

Now, one big disadvantage of those small bicycle wheels in triathlon is that the gear transmission ratio is suddenly disordered. You needed to pedal at a much higher pace to achieve the same distance as you would do with higher wheels. To compensate this negative effect you have bigger chain rings mounted on triathlon bicycles than on street racing bikes.

Return from Triathlon Bicycle Wheels to Cycling

Return from Triathlon Bicycle Wheels to Triathlon Adventures