Age Group Triathlon Podcast · Phazon Triathlon

Episode 65- The Best Bike Upgrades For Triathlon

·1 hr 23 min·5 clips

Simon Orney opens with the best bike upgrades for triathlon. He frames it as a topic people love, but he keeps coming back to the same plain truth: the engine matters more than the equipment, and a fitter rider will usually do more with an ordinary bike than an unfit rider will do with an expensive one. That idea stays at the center of the episode. He draws on his bike-shop background to sort the useful buys from the shiny distractions. The early advice is unglamorous. Tires, a proper bike fit, and a good saddle sit near the top because they change how the bike feels and how long an athlete can stay efficient. Clip-on aero bars come next. He says they are a meaningful step, but they also change the riding position enough that a triathlon saddle often makes sense alongside them. The discussion stays grounded in race-day reality. Orney says serious triathletes often benefit from having two bikes, one road bike for group rides, bad weather, and everyday riding, and one triathlon or time trial bike for the locked-in aero position. He does not pretend the compromise disappears. Instead, he treats the split as a practical answer to different jobs, different body positions, and different kinds of training days. Bike fitting matters again here. He recommends arriving at a fit with clip-on aero bars already on the bike, and if the rider has not bought the bike yet, he says the fit should happen first. The spending list widens after that. A power meter and a wider cassette appear as worthwhile upgrades, while improved water storage, electronic shifting, wheels, disc brakes, rotor hardware, and ceramic bearings are treated as more advanced buys once the rest of the setup is already sorted. The tone never gets breathless. It feels like a coach talking to athletes who have real budgets, real jobs, and limited time to fuss over marginal gains. That makes the episode especially useful for age-group triathletes. It gives them a sane order for spending money before they start chasing the expensive edge cases.

As heard by us

A clear spending hierarchy for triathlon bikes that keeps fitness and fit ahead of flashy upgrades.

Age Group Triathlon Podcast uses this episode to sort triathlon bike spending into a sensible order, with Simon Orney returning again and again to the same point: fitness still does the heavy lifting.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

You want the next bike purchase to matter more than the shop-floor hype, with fitness still doing the real work.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

Listen to the show on

Apple Podcasts Spotify

Play clips from this episode More from Age Group Triathlon Podcast