This is a Trek 1.0 Pilot, not sure on age.
The seller wants $300, he said the bike recently had a tune up and new tires.
I like that it already has Triathlon handles and includes the speed device.
With that being said, will this bike be good enough for training and the race. I don’t have a huge budget $400 is my absolute max.
I’m aware I’ll need to buy extra gear like helmet, clip in pedals etc.
by Revolutionary_Mix472
3 Comments
Based on the age of the components, it’s 15-20 years old. Depending on your area and what the bike market is like, I think you might be able to negotiate a slightly lower price, closer to $250.
As for the asking price, the seller’s cost for the tuneup and tires are probably controlling what he/she thinks is fair. The GP5000 tires that are on there, if actually new, are at least $100 for the set.
All told, if the bike fits you well and it helps you get into cycling/triathlon, I’d say go for it. If you discover you don’t like triathlon, you’ve got a perfectly serviceable road bike for not a lot of money.
To answer your question directly: I think that’s high. That bike is literally decades old and was a basic bike even then. Old cheap bars, a rickety speed gauge, and a little tuneup aren’t going to fix that. I would offer $100-$150.
Onto the longer post:
Let me preface this with the fact that I’m a long-time MTBer and just came over to the world of road/gravel this past year and haven’t done a triathlon (yet – only duathlon).
Starting with terminology, this bike isn’t really a “triathlon” bike, but an old road bike you are going to do triathlons on. Semantics, and completely fine, but they are distinct.
That all out of the way, this bike would absolutely “suffice” for a short distance (sprint) triathlon type event. It’s my understanding that until you get to things like the 70.3 or full Ironman… You often see lots of bikes like this at local sprint triathlon events. I saw bikes just like this for a duathlon event. You see a huge mix from $250 bikes to $12,500 bikes at local events.
What I want to focus on is the rest of your $400 budget though. If you spend $300 on a bike it doesn’t leave you much (only $100) towards other gear. Please get a safe helmet which fits well even if it eats up that $100. That said, again, I don’t think the bike is worth nearly $300… So if they sell it for less you can spend more on other goodies.
Getting clipless pedals/shoes/cleats is not going to add much to a bike like this and would likely put you over budget for all 3 (helmet, pedals, cleats/shoes). I might even go so far as to say at this stage, clipless pedals might even slow you down due to the extra time during transitions (from bike to run) versus any time gained from having clipless pedals. Just using your flats with the shoes you will run with might be faster at this stage.
You will also likely need some swim goggles if you don’t have those, so factor those into the $100 as well.
That’s not a tri bike, it’s just an old road bike. I wouldn’t pay more than $150 for it.