Aerodynamic Equipment

old codger

Hello,
Are there any threads that might give information about frame and equipment comparisons regarding the best aerodynamics,obviously costs come into it but it would be good to have a starting point.

Thanms for looking.

Bobbinogs

What are looking to achieve and why? They may sound like stupid questions but the answers may affect the advise given, e.g., hoping to squeeze the last 10 secs off to get a PB on a 25?

There is a strict pecking order to aero gains, BR has a few good guides on TT aero basics. I forget what the order is but frame is somewhere near the bottom (position, bars, helmet for example give much better returns for the money).

marcusjb

Quite old data now (and I am not sure how legit it is in the first place):

http://cyclingtips.com.au/2010/04/bigge ... equipment/

But aerobars are 'cheap' improvements and, as bobbinogs says, frames are expensive! Wheels are also fairly expensive.

Position and clothing are where I am looking as I venture into the world of TT (to ride the 24hr next year).

Grill

Marcusjb has touched upon it, but the most aerodynamic equipment accounts for sweet F-A if your position is rubbish.

Monty Dog

Position (including aerobars) is first and judging by some I see riding TT's losing a few lbs around the middle will help improve power to weight ratio and enable them to achieve a more aero tuck - it comes for free too, albeit with a little sweat and discipline ;-)

racingcondor

Not in any particular order but if I remember it right-

Position
Helmet
Skinsuit

Then you're on to things like -

Wheels
Frame
etc

Pretty sure though that position is #1 by a mile.

old codger

Thankyou for an excellent response to my 1st post.
To answer some of the above questions here is a little background and info for what I am trying to achieve.
5'5" Tall/short
64 kgs Down from 73kgs in March
Age 58

Last raced 18yrs ago and decided to try again due to being overweight,I have managed to loose 9kgs and I am about 1kg over my old racing weight.
My times at 40yrs old were 10m - 20:50, 25m - 53:40, 50m - 1:53:?.

So now I have the bug again and been getting some decent training in and track sessions and I am looking to get a TT specific bike so any aero advantage will be appreciated.Hence the question about frame and equipment comparisons . Back in the 90's I had decent wheels and tri bars on a road bike but now there are so many TT specific frames out there,the other problem is finding one small enough.

Cheers.

Grill

Those are ridiculously good times for a road bike 17 years ago.

To be fair, the actual advantage gained from one TT frameset to another is negligible (despite this I still upgraded from a Plasma 2 to 3). Really what you want to find is the correct geometry and from there you can go wrong in terms of frames. After position, skinsuit, pointy hat, and bike are sussed, you'll want to look at wheels. Rear disc and at least 50mm up front is all you need, although I'm a big fan of a tri-spoke up front.