Getting aero on a roadbike

StravAsshole

So I took up cycling about a year ago, but recently I've been totally addicted to KOM hunting, to the point that I get out on my bike purely for the sake of taking a specific segment.
My daily ritual is as follows:
Step 1: https://www.mywindsock.com/ which helps me plan my route
Step 2: See this load of crap when I upload my ride.
Felt AR3 is in the pipeline, but for now I'm stuck on the 9-speed Sora.. I hope maybe to be racing next season or so

To my point.. looking for marginal gains here, what is best position on a road bike to sustain a 1/2/8/20 min effort? 1 min is usually done at about 48-52kph, 2min at 46-48 ish, 8min at 36-40 ish depending on wind+gradient
What are the best positions to get into (no TT bars cheating)? On the drops, or by putting your hands together where the stem touches the handlebars, face 10cm from the garmin?

I found some data that suggests that the latter is more aero on decents, perhaps where you don't have to focus on pedalling too much, but how about on flats?

Looking for genuine advice here, if you get offended by StravA$$holes, please click 'back'

guy.spartacus

Get fitter and ride faster...

imposter2.0

As above. Or just wait for a major tail wind, like everyone else..

StravAsshole

Well I'm trying to get fitter but doesn't hurt trying to get as aero as possible when I attempt the segment..
As for the wind, looks like I'm in the wrong month for that :oops:

fenix

If you've only been cycling for a year then you're up against people with decades of fitness. Without a powermeter we can't really tell you what your best position is. If you get too low you can lose some power.

I'd really not stress too much about it. Cycling is far more than strava segments.

StravAsshole

Fenix wrote:

If you've only been cycling for a year then you're up against people with decades of fitness. Without a powermeter we can't really tell you what your best position is. If you get too low you can lose some power.

I'd really not stress too much about it. Cycling is far more than strava segments.

I have a power meter, just don't have the bike yet, as the PM is 170mm I can't fit it on my 172.5mm bike :oops:

Both are valid points... Pretty sure racing is out of the equation for now as from what I've seen on YT, no way in hell would I be able to keep up in crits.

I guess I'll have to wait for that PM and do a bit of experimentation then

PS: Strava segments are, as far as I know, the closest I can come to racing, without racing

jlloyd

Surely, if you're chasing strava segments with a strong tailwind you'd want to be less aero?

imposter2.0

StravAsshole wrote:

PS: Strava segments are, as far as I know, the closest I can come to racing, without racing

hardly...

fenix

StravAsshole wrote:

PS: Strava segments are, as far as I know, the closest I can come to racing, without racing

You've clearly not experienced the trauma of the burn up to the cake stop on the club run then.......

fat daddy

or commuting

shamrock134

Caleb Ewan sprint...




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsB_Ad_0p9g

StravAsshole

JLloyd wrote:

Surely, if you're chasing strava segments with a strong tailwind you'd want to be less aero?

Well if I'm travelling at 55kph and there is a 20kph tailwind (doesn't get much more than that according to wind reports, http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather ---> looking at london, max wind speed this week is 18kph, not quite 55+?) then there is still an effective head wind of 35kph, prividing air resistance, which I'm trying to minimise by getting aero.

Fenix wrote:

You've clearly not experienced the trauma of the burn up to the cake stop on the club run then.......

Good point I should probably join a cycling club, maybe they do some full gas rides!

StravAsshole

shamrock134 wrote:

Caleb Ewan sprint...




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsB_Ad_0p9g

Good lord, I'll have to practise that, not sure I'd be comfortable putting that much weight on the front wheel straight away

thanks!

Bobbinogs

StravAsshole wrote:

PS: Strava segments are, as far as I know, the closest I can come to racing, without racing

Nope, they are called sportives.

If you want more Strava segments just edit your profile to become a female, works for me every time.

Nice to have you back, btw.

jlloyd

StravAsshole wrote:

JLloyd wrote:

Surely, if you're chasing strava segments with a strong tailwind you'd want to be less aero?

Well if I'm travelling at 55kph and there is a 20kph tailwind (doesn't get much more than that according to wind reports, http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather ---> looking at london, max wind speed this week is 18kph, not quite 55+?) then there is still an effective head wind of 35kph, prividing air resistance, which I'm trying to minimise by getting aero.

Stick a puffa jacket on and give it a go. Worth a go innit?

StravAsshole

JLloyd wrote:

Stick a puffa jacket on and give it a go. Worth a go innit?

Bobbinogs wrote:

StravAsshole wrote:

PS: Strava segments are, as far as I know, the closest I can come to racing, without racing

Nope, they are called sportives.

If you want more Strava segments just edit your profile to become a female, works for me every time.

Nice to have you back, btw.

Never heard of sportives... I guess that's what you come to a cycling forum for

Looks interesting, I will investigate

cld531c

hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

imposter2.0

Something not right about this one...

cooldad

Probably

Bobbinogs wrote:

...
Nice to have you back, btw.

imafatman

Find a cosmetic surgeon willing to chop a few inches off your legs. The lower on the bike the faster you will go.

kesa

For some reason cyclists hold higher values to certain segments and completely ignore others. Maybe targeting segments that are not as popular would be a good strategy.

simon_masterson

Forearms perpendicular (I.e. elbows at 90 degrees) on hoods, head down, shoulders tucked in.

fat daddy

SKIN SUIT !!!!!!!

StravAsshole

Simon Masterson wrote:

Forearms perpendicular (I.e. elbows at 90 degrees) on hoods, head down, shoulders tucked in.

fat daddy wrote:

SKIN SUIT !!!!!!!

sounds to me like TT to me



okay without actually getting a TT bike maybe I can get hold of a skinsuit+shoecovers that still puts me in roadbike territory?

Kesa wrote:

For some reason cyclists hold higher values to certain segments and completely ignore others. Maybe targeting segments that are not as popular would be a good strategy.

Actually, the first KOM's I got were probably the easiest, town centre at 3 am where there are usually 1000's of tourists, but now moving out to the country side and things are getting a lot tougher, open fields are susceptible to v.strong winds, and the ocassional TTT clubrides that rip up all segments (I am 1 second off a segment set by a TTT )

Also, last week I took a KOM in the country side, beat it by 2s, same evening the guy comes back and beats it by 7s, clearly he got the email

ayjaycee

If you want to see the ultimate aero position, check out that of the late Juju Pepe in the Tour de Pharmacy / Pharmacy Road which, I think, is released by HBO today.

simon_masterson

Join a (CTT registered) club and do some actual racing - eg a 10 or 25 - but be prepared to have your ar$e handed to you.

fat daddy

Simon Masterson wrote:

but be prepared to have your ar$e handed to you.

oooooh a posh club ..... the club I ride with you have to go get your own arse .. but then we are more the "anti club"

chippyk

Is the kid from Essex or something who used to claim he could knock out 400W for an hour and Steve Abraham's rides were easy?

bendertherobot

Twice as aero

sloppyschleckonds

You need to up your game if you want to get anywhere close to some of these obsessives

This is the most important thing in some of their lives

http://www.cyclingweekly.com/news/lates ... ava-173238

Palladium

SloppySchleckonds wrote:

You need to up your game if you want to get anywhere close to some of these obsessives

This is the most important thing in some of their lives

http://www.cyclingweekly.com/news/lates ... ava-173238

The guy has 217 KOM's?

There's a guy I follow on strava, owns probably 30% of all local segments with more KOM's than mentioned in the article.
But then again his strava maps look as if he has some software that analyses easy nearby segments for him or something, because his strava maps look like a child has been squiggling over a map with a crayon, which so happen to coincide with segments which seem to be (just numerically) fairly easy to pick up (e.g 10k loop at 33kph)

But yeah got your point.