Question about triathlon from a newbie

[olive]

I'm considering registering for my first triathlon this July.  It is a small local race...750m open water swim, 20km bike, 5km run.  Is it "acceptable" to do the bike portion with my standard mountain bike or do I need to use a road bike?  I don't have a road bike but I could potentially borrow one from a friend.  

[Deleted]

You can totally do it on whatever bike you've got. A mountain bike won't be as fast, but if you're comfortable, that's what matters. If you like it, and you will, you can look into borrowing something from a friend.

Good luck and have fun!

[labbie]

Definitely! I've done a few sprint tris on my hybrid bike and it's been fine.

[Susie]

May 16, 2014 8:51:29 GMT -5 olive said:

Is it "acceptable" to do the bike portion with my standard mountain bike 

Yes.

[sadlebred]

You will be fine. If you wanted to spend a few dollars, get some "slicks" for it. Those are mountain bike tires without any tread. They look like big, fat road tires. Your local bike shop can hel you.

[mrs.jacinthe]

One of our local xterra athletes did a road HALF on her mountain bike last year. And won. So, I think it's totally acceptable. Do what works for you - the last thing you want (IMO) is to do your first tri on unfamiliar equipment.