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What are the best women’s bikes, for triathlons?

A rather high-end Scott road bike (with the CR1 forks).

These are sport-centric to triathlons; however, I wouldn’t plan on doing 100 mile distances on a sport-centric triathlon bike.

Also, you might consider getting a size smaller than usual because that makes the frame lighter, and while you can do all sorts of things with the stem (Profile Designs H20, about 90mm) but there’s nothing you can do for a top tube that’s a bit too long.

I can’t really think of any other triathlon sport centric bicycle brand; however, many time trial designs can be appropriate because you’re not allowed to draft in a triathlon.

A carbon Specialized Roubaix frame running Rol Race wheels would certainly be a hot performer at a triathlon. The Roubaix carbon is a bike that 1) has actually crossed the finish line of the Tour De France and 2) has a shorter reach than average, similar to a Women Specific Design, WSD–so you can just ride your usual bike size with these.
Despite the geometry tables matching up with WSD designs, the Roubaix is areodynamic, comfortable, can go a distance, and is blazing fast.
The wheels mentioned to go with it are stronger than usual and were developed in the mountains of colorado for extra sprint and much extra speed uphill, yet these have very high strength due to their Sapim spokes (same as Zip).

If your races allow the use of time trial bars, an Ultegra 10 drivetrain with the 12-27 and R700 34-50 crankset (or Ultegra 30-39-52) can provide a very large powerband for zero gaps in the drivetrain, especially effective with the Dura Ace 10 Barcon shifters on the ends of your time trial bars.

However, if you need standard drop bars, the front indexing nonsense from Shimano blocks the use of large rear cogs from middle and outer chainring positions, causing “chainring dance shifting” trying to work you way around this limitation whenever there’s a hill (at the worst time possible)–so I’d use anything Campangolo if standard drop handlebars are needed because of race regulations. In any case, do use a 10 cog rear drive because it helps eliminate gaps. Gaps are like artificial hills.

If you’re in favor of the Shimano drivetrain with the more-professional Campy shifting, look up JTEK Engineering for their $35 roller that plugs into the Shimano Ultegra rear derailleur and makes this work seamlessly. For reference, Campy isn’t indexed on the front (crankset) so it doesn’t block off gears.

As far as gear selection, here’s available high-leverage cassettes and cranksets:
8 speed 12-21
9 speed 12-21, 11-21, 12-23
10 speed 12-21, 12-23, 11-23, 12-25, 12-27

Compact Double and Triple:
Shimano R700 34-50 (Team Discovery)
Sugino XD600 26-36-46 (Used with the 9 cog 11-21, Un73 bottom bracket, Truvative chainring bolts, Deore derailleur, Campy shifters and the Dura Ace 9 / XTR chain–for rough terrain and mountain racing–can also use it as 28-36-48–not compatible with 10 speed chain–uses the 9 stuff)

Full Double and Triple:
Dura Ace 39-53 (wide range)
Ultegra 30-39-52 (wide range)
Ultegra/105 34-42-52 (replace the 30 with 34 T.A.)

As you can see, that modified triple (above) with the narrow 25% between each of the three chainrings, along with the 10 cog cassette, offers 3 powerbands of hills, headwinds, and flat ground, and there’s very little gaps in the drivetrain.

The previous description of racing gears works for speed by downshifting in very gradual steps. That’s because there will be a hill. A 39-53 double crankset has a sudden 40% loss during a chainring shift on a hill. However, a 34-42-52 triple has only a 25% loss, so that is an important factor in the selection of both front and rear gearing.

At-hand shifting is an equally important factor, so either choose a reach (fit) that puts your hand onto the shifter, or choose a shifter that can be located at your hand. By using the shifter to keep your cadence up at a constant, unbroken, speedy rate, you can minimize uphill/wind losses to maximize your average speeds.

Well, I hope I gave you some ideas. According to Titus, a man’s bike will fit if you get one size smaller than normal and then use the Profile Designs H20 (the only performance centric riser stem) to correct the front height (end result = shorter top tube). You can also use the naturally short reach of the Specialized Roubaix carbon frame (available as a frameset). A shorter top tube and a different paint job is the only difference in a Women’s Specific Design, WSD frame. There’s also the Bianchi carbon WSD, and there’s nothing like “Is it blue? Is it green?” to inspire panic in your competitors. Ah, considering that, perhaps you should look at the purple model instead.

Have fun!

P.S. Also take a look at Giant’s website for the articles on compact frame geometry. This applies to nearly all modern bikes, and it can be helpful to fitting and sizing.

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