Monday, March 07, 2005

Couch to Sprint Triathlon - BUDGET

Ok, so here is the budget/actual damage so far...
  1. Bike - I decided to re-activate my 15 year old bike (steel frame, 105 grouppo, look pedals, aero add-on bar). Cost of new tyres, seat, brake pads, chain, and complete servicing = SGD$290
    [On hind sight, could have gone for a brand new Giant TCR for about SGD$1K and then sell it in a few months for about SGD$700 or so, if (when?) I wanna upgrade to a better bike. Would have been the same cost of ownership if I eventually upgrade to a better bike. Oh well, hindsight is always 20/20.]
  2. Biking Apparel - All the old stuff either fell apart or has become too small (OK, OK, I gained weight since then). SIDI shoes, cleats, shorts, jersy = SGD$280
  3. Running Shoes - ASICS Kayano. Budget SGD$200 (probably less, have not bought - out of stock!)
  4. Heart Rate Monitor - May not really need this... Polar S625X with Bicycle Set. Budget SGD$650
  5. Goodwill Contributions - Wireless bicycle speedometer from my good buddy CM.
  6. Others????

So I am thinking that perhaps a total BUDGET of about SGD$2K? That sure is a lot of money to spend to join my 1st Sprint Triathlon! But... I believe the process is just as important (if not more important) than the event itself, and I figure I am going to have a lot of fun preparing for the event.

6 comments:

Kewl Nitrox said...

26/03/2005 [SATURDAY]
Decided to get a floor pump and a pair of gloves. The former because there is no way to get 120psi from a hand-pump,and the latter for protection in case of a spill when riding. Total damage = $40 (for the pump) + $22 (for the gloves).

Kewl Nitrox said...

02/04/2005 [SATURDAY]
Just realised that my budget for the Polar S625X was wrong. It is actually $650 for the watch but $70 for the bike speed/distance sensor, and another $70 for the bike cadence sensor. That's a total of $790! YIKES!!!! More reason to delay getting a HRM.

Kewl Nitrox said...

08/04/2005 [FRIDAY]
Bit the bullet and bought a Polar S625x (SGD$600 inclusive of GST). Will post a full review once I have had the chance to play with it a bit more!

Kewl Nitrox said...

Finally found a pair of "cost-effective" tri shorts. New Balance now has tri shorts for SGD$41, and if you can borrow a TAS card, you get a 30% discount! This is 1/3 the price of a pair of the cheapest Orca tri shorts in town and the material is really pretty good. Been swimming/cycling with it and even though the padding is thin (like a towel), I have no complaints and neither do my buddies who have tried it. Kudos to New Balance for bringing a affordable product to us aspiring triathletes!

OK, a quick review of the Polar S625X. The user manual is typical of Finnish manuals - overly complex. I gave up after a while and decided to go by "trial and error". Have not had time to calibrate it, so not sure if the distance measures are accurate. It is a great toy though and I am having loads of fun downloading and admiring my heart rate and distance/speed graphs. :) Works great for running. Just got the bike components so cannot comment on the cycling function. I simply cannot get it to work for the swim, so looks likr this is pretty much a run and bike HRM. No regrets so far!

Deniel Hopkins said...

thnx for a calculated information.....it was gr8 help
keep tri-ing :)

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