I am a Quintana Roo ambassador and sponsored by their Norwegian retailer JBS Sport. For the Norwegians looking for a new triathlon bike and find QR interesting send a message to Jonas (at) jbssport.no or send JBS Sport a message on Facebook. Extra good prices will be given to those ordering their 2019 bike now. 

After my announcement, in the (Norwegian written) blog post that I am going to build the meanest triathlon bike in Norway using the QR PRSix disc as the base, it was only one thing to do – wait for the bike to arrive.

While the PRSix disc still is awaiting the gears and wheels my brand new QR PRThree arrived with everything it needed to be ridable.

Why getting a PRThree when having a PRSix? There is a lot of reason.

• Riding both bikes will give me the needed experience to know the difference between the least expensive QR Triathlon bike and the most expensive. The price difference between the bikes is nearly $10,000. What does the extra money give you in terms of comfort, handling, weight and aerodynamic performance? For me, this question is super interesting and I am really looking forward to testing it out for myself.
• Having a training bike and a race bike is rather common, but usually, it is a road/CX/mtb-bike as a training bike and a triathlon bike for races. That often results in most of the bike training are not done on your race bike and not in aero position. This often results in painful back and neck and going from aero position to upright position during the bike leg. It is a literally a huge drag. Training as much as possible in aero position, especially for the ones without a huge bike volume, is highly recommended. Having a training bike with close to identical riding position as your race bike is a very good way to ride enough in your race position.
• The PRSix Disc is rather expensive, especially with my top-of-the-range setup. It will give a world-class performance, but also higher maintenance cost. The chain alone costs €139, and the rest of the drivetrain cost much more. High-end tires are also expensive and they should be as new as possible on race day to reduce the risk of puncture and avoid the gradual decrease in aerodynamic performance as the tire wears. Reducing the use of my PRSix Disc will save me money.
• While the maintenance costs are significantly higher the cost of potential part replacement with damage are similarly higher. Hitting the tarmac is always painful, but doing it on your super expensive race bike adds extra salt to the wound, and can cause issues if a part has to be replaced just before a race.
• Having a perfectly working race prepped bike is optimal before a race. Usually, I give my bike a tune up a couple of weeks before the important races. It gets thoroughly cleaned, lubricated, greased and worn parts changed. The gear gets adjusted together with the brake pads for optimal performance. You want to do this in good time prior to the race to ensure that you have time to fix anything if not working and relive the stress of doing it two days before the race. Its only problem is that a lot of things might happen between that the tune-up and the race. Tires can get small cuts, you might ride on a rainy day and get dirt “all over the place” or you can smash your disc wheel on the bad tarmac (like I did before Norseman). This can ruin your race and give unnecessary stress before the race. Having the full tune-up and test that everything is working 100 %, and then not use the bike until race day (or the short ride prior to race day) because you can use your training bike, is a triathletes version of luxury!

As mentioned above – Are you a Norwegian and find a QR bike interesting? Please get in touch with Jonas on Jonas (at) jbssport.no or send JBS Sport a message on Facebook. Extra good prices will be given to those ordering their 2019 bike now.