Triathlon & Time Trail racing bikes are already niche, but Lennard Zinn’s Clydesdale Bikes again fills the even smaller overlapping niche of TT & tri bikes for especially tall riders. As a tall rider himself, for 40 years Zinn has been building custom bikes for cyclists who haven’t been able to get the proper fit on a stock bike. And since 2017, his bike brand Clydesdale has been creating tons of stock bikes in titanium for all those cyclists out of the conventional XS-XL fit range.
This bike goes to 4XL!
Now, as the “first-ever triathlon bike to fit tall riders” the Clydesdale Tri is designed to fit cyclists from 6’3″-7’2″ (1.93-2.18m) – just like they’ve done on their giant road & gravel bikes for years. More than just scaling up a smaller bike, Zinn & Clydesdale design everything to fit the bigger rider – from longer cranks, to longer carbon steerer tubes, to wider bars, to wheels built to handle heavier riders. And of course, geometry that is adapted for the larger rider so they get consistent handling, too.
Zinn also specializes in building large bikes that are still light, yet remain stiff for predictable handling, and never any speed wobble. Sure it’s, a limited niche market, but at 6’6″ tall himself, Zinn understands that taller riders oftentimes simply cannot get a bike that fits them off the shelf from conventional bike companies.
Tech details
The Clydesdale Tri is a handmade titanium frame built for riders up to 450lb/204kg (because bigger riders simply weigh more) with oversized shaped tubing, dropped seatstays, a machined straight 44mm headtube, T47 threaded bottom bracket, a 31.6mm seatpost, flat mount disc brakes, 12mm thru-axles, and traditional internal cable routing. It also comes with a Zinn/Clydesdale-exclusive extra-long Enve carbon fork to get a proper bar position for tall riders. Of course, the bike is designed for aerodynamics & speed, but Clydesdale still builds in clearance for 700x35mm tires to give heavier riders a smooth, low-rolling-resistance ride, too.
Clydesdale Tri – Pricing & options
The new titanium Clydesdale Tri triathlon & TT bike comes in three stock frame sizes XXL-4XL, and two standard 2x build kits – 105 mechanical of Force/Rival AXS. The Shimano 105 complete bike build starts as low as $5350 complete with aero bars & Dura-Ace bar end shifters, hydraulic disc brakes, and Zinn-approved bombproof wheels. From there, Clydesdale offers plenty of options to customize your build for time trial or triathlon racing.
