I hate to ask....

I really hate to ask, and I'm sure there will be some backlash, but here goes.....

I am doing the London Triathlon in August and so will be needing a bike with gears. As much as I would like to buy myself a carbonfibre two grand monster, I cannot.

So, my question is......can I put gears on my Single Speed? I have a Genesis Flyer Frame with Miche Pista wheels.

Any help or a point in the right direction would be much appreciated.

I promise to change it back after..........

not practically.

borrow or buy a geared bike

Something like this would do you just fine, and not be much more expensive than converting (if not cheaper!)

I would think it would be technically tricky- if the rear is spaced for a track wheel then it will be 120mm OLN, whereas a geared wheel will be 130mm, so finding a hub/casette combination that will fit would not be easy.

Also I do not think that the Flyer frame has a mech hanger?

In conclusion- yes you can, but it will be difficult and expensive.

You could come to the drinks, get to know people, and then borrow a geared bike, or on the other hand make your single-speed Flyer live up to its name on the Tri course?

have a word with eyebrows, he's done/is doing triathlons, so should be able to give you a heads up about whats available.
But if you need gears genesis flyer I don't think is that suitable, as rpm says beg, borrow, buy a geared bike for all your triathlon needs, some god cheap deals been appearing on the bay recently..

what's the course profile like Stuan?

Wow, quick response chaps, cheers!

Guess your working year hasn't really kicked of yet...

I am tempted to get a cheap geared bike, but will the aluminium frame feel sloopy compared to my steel Reynolds on the flyer?

Thanks again!

BDW - it's the London course, so hopefully pretty flat, but I want to save as much energy as possible, so gears make sense. (Sadly)

I am in the same boat as you Stuan. I desperately want to do some traithlons this year but there is no way on earth I can afford to buy a geared bike!

Wow, quick response chaps, cheers!

Guess your working year hasn't really kicked of yet...

I am tempted to get a cheap geared bike, but will the aluminium frame feel sloopy compared to my steel Reynolds on the flyer?

Thanks again!

A budget aluminium frame is likely to be overbuilt with beefy tubes, so slightly heavier but probably stiffer.

Mikec, you can rent, but I want to buy just in case I bugger it up. Are you planning on doing the London Tri? It will be my first one. The swim scares me greatly.

get a lizard, 10 speed shimano sis thumb shift gears. you'll be flying like a bat outta hell.

Mikec, you can rent, but I want to buy just in case I bugger it up. Are you planning on doing the London Tri? It will be my first one. The swim scares me greatly.

Surely you would want to rent in case you bugger it up. That way the insurance will ease your bike wrecking guilt. Buggering up your own bike just means that you get left with a heap of scrap metal.

dude don't drown.

The course is pan flat, but Tri and Run (based in Hainault I think) hire bikes all weekend for the London Tri, afterwards they sell them for about £400 I think. Rent one from them.

If the course is flat then a single speed makes sense. However, do the Tri-regulations allow them?

yeah they do. You have to have a freewheel and two (hand) brakes.

Hmmmmm....

Maybe a single speed will do then.........

Will see how my training gets on.

If you were to buy a 5spd sturmey archer hub, it would be 120mm spacing and would include a shifter and cable and mounting ancilleries. More to the point it would work, wouldn't be the most sophisticated, but it's all they had in the old days (even if it was a closer ratio!).

You have to have a freewheel and two (hand) brakes.

Really ?
Shite...
I'm doing the Windsor one in June, and believed i wouldnae need a different bike.

... Guess 09 really is the yearagears

shoot watches cost of triathalon escalate beyond a new pair of trainers and a swimming cozzie

The course is pan flat, but Tri and Run (based in Hainault I think) hire bikes all weekend for the London Tri, afterwards they sell them for about £400 I think. Rent one from them.

There's a Tri and Run in Wimbledon too, if that helps any.

Julio is on the money. Scrutineers are the omnipotent gods of race day, and if they ban your bike, you have no where to go. I have let single speeds race on days I was in charge of transition, but Windsor is run by John Lunt of Human Race, and the London event is equally safety consious, and they will be thinking of the safely of both you and the other competitors.

You can rent a bike to start with, but I suggest you approach a tri club where members are constantly upgrading their rides, and looking to sell on the old model. £250 -400 will get you a working example, as you will need to train on it, and not just have it for race weekend.

I am a member of Crystal Palace Tri, but there are also other clubs just as friendly and helpful in and around London. With regard to the swimming, get a wet suit (buy, NOT hire) and hit Tooting Bec Lido for some 100 yard lengths that are as close to open water swimming as you will get in any city.

In short, triathlon is a great sport, with wonderful cameraderie, and a wide selection of abilities, but cheap it certainly is not. If you cannot afford to invest at least a grand on membership fees, race entries, swim pool entrance, cycling, swimming, and running kit, and either buy or hire a bike, it will frustrate the hell out of you.

I'm doing the London Triathlon fixed. You can borrow my Pinarello if you want. Though it is a 49cm frame.

edit: I have just seen Julio's post but I'm just going to stick an extra brake lever on my bars, I bet they won't notice

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Quintana-Roo-Kilo-Road-Racer-Bike_W0QQitemZ280299368849QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Bikes_GL?hash=item280299368849&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=66%3A2%7C65%3A1%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318

Worth a look.