Suggestion....what ever you do keep a reasonable upbeat attitude. Explain to them the health benefits and upside of training and racing. But, above all, do not cop a defiant and pissy attitude with them.

Use psychology, in a mature adult manner and I am sure that they will see your point of view.

Believe me I know....I have two children a boy and a girl and have been through it all. My son is now a lawyer (28), my daughter is an interior designer (25), and they still whine when they want something. ;-)

Give it a shot, you may be surprised.... ;-)

Why not ride on an old mtn bike? Sure you wont be as fast as you want, but you will still be doing tri's. You will get experience swimming and running in a race.

Believe me...I've tried that already. They know how much I ride (60-80 mpw) and the benefits of riding. I've even tried the early birthday(21st)/Christmas combo approach, yet that didn't work either. The price tag I think is the biggest factor. They didn't know how much new road bikes sold for these days. My dad bought his 30 years ago for $150, and that was a top of the line French racing bike. I'm looking to buy a mid level bike, one that will last me forever...or at least until I have a full time job and can afford a new one. Right now I'm looking at the Cervelo S1(my #1 choice) or the Specialized Tarmac Elite(close #2).

get the bike. why? because it's your money and that's what you want.
the bike will not be cheaper next year....that's ridiculous.

I'm VERY competitive when it comes racing. I ran track/cross country all through high school and was always top 4 on the team and sometimes top 5 overall. I would need to do a major overhaul on the mtn. bike anyway, as the front derailleur broke, the chain is stuck on the small ring, and the rear derailleur is VERY temper mental. Sometimes it gives a quick, smooth shift, other times it takes a couple seconds and it's a jerky shift.

I put it like this... "would you rather me spend my earned money on a bike to help me train and be healthy and competitive or booze and pot?"

They got the idea pretty quickly, now I love my Scott Plasma :)

Maybe try and compromise a little. I would love to have an brand new argon 18 e-114 but I ride a two year old scott plasma. Before that I rode a 10 year old gt vengeance. Am I faster on my plasma than my gt, a little but I had a blast on it and it cost me less than a $1,000. You can find a used bike for well under a grand on ebay that is better than a mtn bike and will get you through a few years until you can buy the bike of your dreams ;-)

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Donate now to the war on ALS

Throw a tantrum. Toss your sorry ass on the floor and kick and scream, beat the ground with your fists, crying and yelling incoherently.

Then when you're done, HTFU and go out and find a decent used bike that you can afford and that has a price tag that your dad can swallow. You don't need a new bike, or a sexy hip model - you just need a decent road bike that fits you and is in good shape with components that work. $300-600 ought to do the trick.

As for that trip, how were you planning on paying for it?

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<If you're gonna be dumb, you gotta be tough>
Get Fitter!
Proud member of the Smartasscrew, MONSTER CLUB
Get your FIX today?

I say, "where there's a will, there's a way". In your predicament, I'd go buy a $175 road bike at Walmart and race that if I had to, but then there's the issue of entry fees for the races!

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My business-eBodyboarding.com

Ok, I gotta ask... how old are you? Anything over 15 and you do what you want.

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I know I'm promiscuous, but in a classy way

 
Regardless of whatever you choose to do about the bike, I'd suggest you pull that silver spoon out of your ass- it makes riding a bit less comfortable.

"Poor me- daddy won't pay for my trip to Paris, and he had the NERVE to suggest I use my bike money to pay for it!" LOL. HTFU indeed. There are people literally dying of hunger, and you've got your panties in a bunch over a bike. You don't want to race tri's- you just want a shiny toy. If you wanted to race, you'd do it on whatever you could get your hands on.

He's wrong--- bike wont go down in price. I've never seen so many bikes being sold as are right now.. it's insane.

Have you ever thought about asking for donations for your choir trip? I'm not sure if this is a church type choir, but ask for help with the trip.

What your really saying is that you really just want to look COOL on your new Cervelo instead of actually competing with whatever equipment you have. Which is fair enough, but have you looked at a used bike?

Have you thought about renting a bike, as it seems you train on your mt. bike.

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@brooksdoughtie
USAT-L2,Y&J; USAC-L2
http://www.aomultisport.com

Let's set a couple things straight.
1) I'm turning 21 the week before I return to school if u missed that post
2) Parents are paying roughly $30,000 of my $36,000 college tuition...hence why I need their OK
3) Chapel choir trip is through school...we sing for weekly masses/baccalaureate and travel every other year (2 yrs ago was Rome)
4) I'm getting a full time summer job. That's where the trip money would come out of
5) I want to race. I just don't want a new shiny toy. I have hopes of racing mainly sprint tri's, but and olympic late this year early next, a 1/2 IM late next year, and an IM the summer I graduate. I would keep riding the mtn bike but I can only do about 20 miles of road riding before the fact that it is a mtn bike and it isn't built for the road kicks in.
6) I only say Cervelo S1 b/c it would be the closest to a tri geometry when clip-on aerobars are added.
7) I have been looking on Ebay/Craigslist for the past 6 months plus. I'm looking for at least 105, yet all of those that are in good condition have bids that are too high for what I feel they are worth. I have been out-bidded numerous times in the last 30 sec.

Any other Q's?

"Parents are paying roughly $30,000 of my $36,000 college tuition"

I would be happy with the parents paying the college tuition....Thank your lucky stars for that......

I would suggest you drop out of college, join the military, learn to be a MAN and get off the parent TITTY!

your 20 years old????

your racing sprints and maybe an olympic. get a cheap road bike. i saw people on mountain bikes on the half IM i did last year.

I suggest you continue saving, but add JOB and I repeat JOB to the list of your income sources. Also, as Khai pointed out, you don't need a shiny new bike to be competitive in triathlon. For close to what it will likely cost to fix your mtn bike, you could get a good enough used road bike.

Any other Q's?

1. Have you checked out the ST classifieds? There are plenty of deals from good people trying to unload gear without dealing with e-bay/craigslist.

2. Have you tried putting slicks on your mtn bike? You can go pretty darn fast on slicks with a seat slammed all the way forward and clipons.

3. Have you tried putting new cables on the mountain bike? They're like $15 for cheap ones that work great, and it just might fix your shifting issue assuming you derailleur isn't bent from trying to land that rad double jump your friends set up in high school.

4. What are your bike splits like? For sprint triathlons, a road bike would maybe save you a couple minutes over a tricked out mtn bike.

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Ignorance is bliss until they take your bliss away.

Prices won't go down, so I say get it!!! go for it! Stick it to the man!! unless your living under his roof, then don't stick it to him but try and convince again in a few days..

Unfortunately they do own your ass while they still pay for a large majority of your education. Compromise is in order here.

Just because you are supported by them also doesn't mean you have to roll over.

Talk to them. Find out what kind of budget they'd be OK with. I don't know what kind of numbers you are dealing with but be prepared to go into the conversation with several options. Ya gotta talk man to man about this. I don't know what your relationship is like but if you want to be respected for your decision making abilities you have to talk to them like an adult. Whining and complaining won't get you anywhere. Do some research based on the bike suggestions you've gotten here. That should give you a solid number for a good used bike that will get you through the first 2 - 3 seasons. I did my first two IMs on a Biachi road bike. I couldn't justify my carbon baby until this last one. And, I'm 40.

Lastly, stop reading all the "Isn't my $7000 bike cool?" threads on here. It will only drive you nuts. It is clear some of the people who post those have either skipped some mortgage payments to buy it or have too much disposable income for you to even dream about right now.

A P4 with Zipp 808s aren't necessary for 95% of the athletes on here but they all want them anyway. Figure out what you really really need, not what you want because you can't afford that right now, figure out what it will cost then talk to your parents.

EDIT TO ADD: Its not about the bike.

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Jen

"In order to keep a true perspective on one's importance, everyone should have a dog that worships him and a cat that will ignore him." - Dereke Bruce

dude I was in your position. I bought a giant ocr-3 off a friend for $200, bought some clip in pedals and shoes and used that. I was 20 as well and had no money. I did my first tri (olympic distance), did pretty well, even beating a guy with a p2c in my age group.
One year later I am glad I bought that bike. My advice is to buy a cheap bike and get a tri bike or something when your a bit older. thats what I plan to do. Sure having a cheap bike looks "lame", but put in the work and any bike can go.

One additional recommendation.... change #4 to read: Getting a full-time summer job at a bike shop, so I can simultaneously make some dough, and reap the benefits of the INSANE Employee Purchase deals that they offer.

Seriously, anyone in ST that has ever been a shop employee will tell you how insane EP deals are. But, you gotta put your time in!!

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MS: Exercise Science
Your speed matters a lot, sometimes you need to be very fast, where sometimes you need to breakdown your speed.

Well, on the bright side... You won't have a lot of college loans to pay off when you graduate so you will have more money from your job to use towards a bike. I have also seen a dude ride pretty fast on a mountain bike in a sprint tri.