Gear

Any bike can cause butt soreness and it is expected that it takes 1 to 3 weeks of frequent riding before it stops hurting from riding. As one gets more into cycling, they can experiment with different saddles and saddle positions before they find one that works for them. While the soreness will never fully go away, the right saddle, saddle position, as well as proper cycling gear will surely make it more tolerable and negligible.

In general, any bike with working breaks and gears can be used in triathlons including a hybrid bike. One does not need a specialized triathlon bike, as they are considered costly. A general recommendation is to start training and competing with any bike available to the individual, and then work their way towards investing in a road or triathlon-specific bike.

Triathlon bikes can climb hills. They may not be as comfortable as climbing on a road bike, but they are perfectly capable of handling the kinds of hills that the triathlete encounter in most triathlon courses.

However, nothing comes close to the comfort and flexibility of a road bike upgraded with aero bars, especially for entry-level Triathletes who plan to be in the sport for some time or would like to make the most out of the two worlds of cycling and triathlons.