Results from spending
Slimbods
Posts: 321
Has anyone ever done a fairly simple test like putting a sub 22 min time trial rider on a basic 500 quid road bike with no upgrades, just to see the time difference all the money spent on bling makes?
Seems quite a simple test to carry out, if a rider was prepared to 'rough it'
Seems quite a simple test to carry out, if a rider was prepared to 'rough it'
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Chris Boardman sort of did it, when he first did the hour record on that Lotus bike and then again on something like Eddy Merckx did it on. Can't remember the times. Sure you'll find them posted somewhere.0
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Happens all the time in club events - fast lads turn up on their road bikes now and again. We've actually got an informal old school challenge going this year where the rule is just standard road bike, no aero lid, skinsuit, tri bars or deep section wheels. On our course (sporting 12.5 miles) I reckon a set of tri bars can get me a minute - that'll differ rider to rider depending on bike set up etc.
it's a hard life if you don't weaken.0 -
Thanks Tom, I'd be interested to see the results. I'm new to our local weekly tens and feeling very intimidated on my 'as delivered' £600 Specialised Allez compared to the full carbon skinsuit guys, and would love to see in figures just how much time their spending gives them and at what sort of time I'd need to start putting cash in to see results.
The Tri Bars are arriving this week, hope they help a bit!0 -
Slimbods, you might as well just ride with normal bars, you are only competing against yourself.
When you have done a few and have seen some improvements it's time to unleash the bars.
All my TTs last year were done on a normal road bike without aerobars or any aero kit.
This year I bought myself a proper super duper aerodynamic TT rig and skin suit...0 -
My experience is similar to NapoleonD.
I have road raced for a few years, decided last season that doing a few 10's would spice things up a bit. So I just rode them on my road bike with tri bars. I have not as yet done any course chasing to find a fast course.
to put it into context I did a 23'35 last season on the regular Wed night course, this was good enough to usually put me in the top 6, course record is 20'51 so certainly not a rapid course.
A mid 22 is usually good enough to win on this course.
So - don't be intimidated by all the guys with the pointy hats and disc wheels.
I have bought the gear for this season to see what I can do on a proper TT rig, pointy hat, skinsuit etc.
I might try and seek out a fast course just to "bag" a fast time, as I'd love to know if I can go sub 22. something like Levens is a rapid course.
Good luck with it and report back on how you improve over the season.0 -
Not really comparable rides,Chris's two rides.Homer J wrote:Chris Boardman sort of did it, when he first did the hour record on that Lotus bike and then again on something like Eddy Merckx did it on. Can't remember the times. Sure you'll find them posted somewhere.
The 'best' figures CB achieved,in the 'superman' position,he did whilst in the form of his life,then when he went for the record,again,the rules had been enforced,so that any aerodynamic assistance was ruled out.
The second ride was done right at the end of CB's career,literally his last Race.
I'm sure he did say it would have been nice to have a crack at the 'athletes hour' pretty much straight after his superman ride (obviousely having recovered first!)so many cols,so little time!0 -
Slimbods wrote:... 'as delivered' £600 Specialised Allez compared to the full carbon skinsuit guys, and would love to see in figures just how much time their spending gives them and at what sort of time I'd need to start putting cash in to see results. !
Have a look at Sheldon Brown's site on aerodynamics, it includes some work done by a german on cost/benefit. Dates from 1990.
Definitive & more recent work was done by Jim Martin at the University of Utah. I can't link to the report but the full title is:
Jeukendrup, A.E. and J. Martin. Improving cycling performance: how should we spend our time and money? Sports Medicine (Suppl) 31(7): 559-569. 2000. R
There is an interview with his co-author here.0 -
There was a video on here a while back where they did testing with a normal Spesh bike, the same bike with aerobars and a full TT setup...
I'll see if I can find it.0 -
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Well here is an example of the difference in riding road bike vs TT bike over same course, very similar conditions and with the same power output:
http://alex-cycle.blogspot.com/2009/04/new-skool.html0 -
In my own experience, the biggest difference is the use of aero bars - standard road bike to clip on aero bars on same bike was worth between 60 and 90 seconds on my local club 10 course. Use of 2 grands worth of TT bike and pointy helmet has so far gained about 15-30s over the road bike + aero bars. Hmmmmmm....
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Alex & NapoleonD: Great links, just what I was looking for!
Got some Aero bars off Ebay today, so hopefully I'll see a difference next week.
As for 'just racing myself', I'm not, I've three mates who started the series at the same time and they're all beating me!0
