TT Times

the ferry

I;ve got my 10m TT down to 25mins without tri bars.
Wondering what times were being set before they became popular and if i have reached a standard to warrant getting a TT bike with bars etc?

willbevan

Other people in your club doing the same times with a TT bike? if so why not you won't look out of place, that is if you care?

I would say if its going to give you more inclanation to train and you can afford it, get a TT bike, took me on an underlating course (never done a flat one yet, as my club ones are all lumpy as hell), from 29:05 to 26:44, and slowly grinding it down to low 26s... i wasnt fast, and one of the slowest with a TT bike, but it keeps me training

Found tri bars knocked a good 30 seocnds or more off the first time i used one

Bronzie

I'd reckon you could knock 1 min off if you were all aeroed up (tri bars + good position, wheels, pointy hat)

geoff_ss

My '10' time on a flat relatively traffic free course was always around 25 minutes (pb 24' 50") on a decent stripped down touring bike with sprint wheels. No special equipment like tri-bars, which were hardly popular then and no helmet at all . I think the fast lads were doing longish 22s or 23'.

One of our club members won the national GHS 10 championship in 1985 (the year after a certain C Boardman) riding single fixed 84" on a normal racing bike (not a low profile TT special) and did a 22' 24". I suppose he was about 15 at the time. His dad was a bit quick too and used to follow him on his bike to keep an eye on him.

So you don't need a fancy bike to ride quick time trials though you probably do to win these days. It's the engine that's important but the equipment adds that little extra when you're looking for those last few seconds/minutes.

Geoff

Alex_Simmons/RST

Geoff_SS wrote:

My '10' time on a flat relatively traffic free course was always around 25 minutes (pb 24' 50") on a decent stripped down touring bike with sprint wheels. No special equipment like tri-bars, which were hardly popular then and no helmet at all . I think the fast lads were doing longish 22s or 23'.

One of our club members won the national GHS 10 championship in 1985 (the year after a certain C Boardman) riding single fixed 84" on a normal racing bike (not a low profile TT special) and did a 22' 24". I suppose he was about 15 at the time. His dad was a bit quick too and used to follow him on his bike to keep an eye on him.

So you don't need a fancy bike to ride quick time trials though you probably do to win these days. It's the engine that's important but the equipment adds that little extra when you're looking for those last few seconds/minutes.

Geoff

While smart and hard training is the greatest performance enhancer there is, aerodynamics plays a huge role in going faster. Indeed, on a flatish course more than 80% of our energy output is used to overcome air resistance. So getting the basics right will make you substantially faster for the same power.

daz51

I watched the programme the other night regarding the Science of Lance Armstrong. Although the programme was a little dated i could not beleive some of the time savings they could achieve on his TT bike ready for his 7th tour defence.

Over the first TT stage they would save 1 min on just changing his helmet to be more aerodynamic. AMAZING !!!!. That small little change.

Bronzie

As with any aero tweaks, you get more benefit the faster you go - obviously Lance was pretty much the fastest there was so even little tweaks make a difference at 33mph average

Alex_Simmons/RST

Bronzie wrote:

As with any aero tweaks, you get more benefit the faster you go - obviously Lance was pretty much the fastest there was so even little tweaks make a difference at 33mph average

Actually, the size of absolute time gains due to aero improvements is greater for slower riders. That's mainly because they are on course for longer.

If anyone says you are not fast enough to benefit from aero improvements, then:
1. they don't know what they are talking about and/or
2. they are a negative talker not worth listening to.

roger_merriman

certinaly slowly plodding along on the town bike one can feel the wind far more than when out on the faster bikes

Mark Alexander

Alex_Simmons/RST wrote:

Bronzie wrote:

As with any aero tweaks, you get more benefit the faster you go - obviously Lance was pretty much the fastest there was so even little tweaks make a difference at 33mph average

Actually, the size of absolute time gains due to aero improvements is greater for slower riders. That's mainly because they are on course for longer.

If anyone says you are not fast enough to benefit from aero improvements, then:
1. they don't know what they are talking about and/or
2. they are a negative talker not worth listening to.

Exactly. I added tri bars, lowered the stem and recently added aero wheels. Last night I did a new pb. It was nothing to do with the 1000's of miles of training....

bahzob

Re O? of times, at least one poster here did 20.30 pre aerobar days for a 10TT which is pdg.

I ride TTs on my "normal" road bike because the main reason for me doing them is training for sportives and I like to know that any improvements will translate into how I ride in my main events.

bahzob

PS this link has some pretty well researched suggestions of what equipment will help you go faster on a TT (despite it being a triathlete site).

http://www.tri-talk.com/Top20.asp

Many of the podcasts from the same site go into a lot of detail on specific topics (e.g. a recent one on wind tunnel results http://tri-talk.com/weblog/?m=200805

the ferry

.........thanks for replies and advice, i too only do the 10's for a training session and just don't know if i can go in for all the expense etc. if i'm not that good to begin with.
If riders were doing 20mins on a 'normal' road bike think i've still got a bit to go.... :?

mm1

Without a doubt training makes the biggest diffrence. After 2 months not racing due to health problems, last night's 10 was 2 minutes slower than April and 4 minutes slower than best time last season. Hugely embarrasing as was my first outing on new carbon rims and tubs. Being overweight is not very forgiving, even in a TT.