#1 - Tight fitting clothing.

#2 - DO NOT add a Tri bar to your road bike, for many reasons.

#3 - wheels, but if money is a crunch rent race wheels and save for your new bike.

#4 - if you are comfy, get a fit now, and arrange for a free re-fit for when you purchase your bike (presuming you are going to get the fit and the bike at the same place).

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What if the Hokey Pokey is what it is all about?

Definitely get an aero helmet - best bang for the money.

I'd say buy anything that will help you get in the most aero position. After your position is dialed in, get other goodies.

Forward seatpost might be needed, tough to say.

Post a pic of yourself on your bike in the current aero position to get feedback on what you need.

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Want: 58cm Cervelo Soloist. PM me if you have one to sell

Vintage Cervelo: A Resource

Aero helmet WAY WAY WAY over race wheels. You get 3x the drag reduction using that over road wheels.

Unless of course he is not in an aero position, nor able to properly wear the helmet. Then there is the cooling aspects (or lack there of). While for some folks it is a smart buy, he is much better off saving for a new bike. Aero helmet is the icing on the cake...he does not have the cake. (to quote an ST'er).

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What if the Hokey Pokey is what it is all about?

Fit, tight clothes, aerohelmet, disc cover, deep front

1. Tri suit
2. Free Slowtwitch fitting
3. Aerohelmet
4. Quality tubes/tires
5. Aero wheels that can move to the tri bike

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I have deceptive speed.........I'm slower than I look!

this is not true.

I believe the basis of this was from the Triathlete mag graph/article a while back. They were quoting the guys at MIT, who at the time based that estimation off of 0 degree yaw testing. And the article was speaking on a bang to buck basis.

An aero helmet for most people saves on the order of 1 minute in a 40k TT.

Aero wheels will save in the range of 60-90 seconds in a 40k.

The drag savings are actually fairly close in magnitude depending on the helmet and wheels you choose. Obviously a helmet is way cheaper.

I can't remember where I read it but you're probably right.

Where are you getting your info? Would love to read.

Post a video and/or pics... and you'll recieve plenty of suggestions. Some of them might even be good ones.

Short aerobars are near tops for bang for buck. More reliable data than aero helmet too. Id get a road style aerobar setup first.

Aero helmet
Bontrager R4 Aero tires + latex tubes
Disc wheel cover

That should run you <$400 right there

http://www.cyclingnews.com/...res/how-aero-is-aero

I've seen other aero helmet data but this was a pretty thorough look at things.

In the end from Specialized road helmet to aero helmet was 8.6 - 9.4 watts

They roughly generalize aero wheels to save 10 watts.

Take the $1000 and save it for a tri bike. Anything else, other than tight clothing or small (less than $50) items may be wasting your money.

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Hasn't this topic been beaten to a pulp enough?

There is a search box ;)

The question is aero

Tribike
Learning to stay aero!!!(a fit will help you stay aero)
Tight clothes
Aero helmet
Front wheel
Rear Wheel
Get rid of bento box, water bottles behind the seat that are not aero (need to be perp to the ground)
Racing stripes or any cool stickers

Well I know triathletes love their brand new carbon stuff, but a radical idea is that $1000 is enough to buy a very fast used tri bike. I got a cervelo p3alu with Ultegra for $1100 shipped a few years back.

55cm Cervelo P3alu for less than $1100 link

if it was good enough for these guys it's probably good enough for you:

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Want: 58cm Cervelo Soloist. PM me if you have one to sell

Vintage Cervelo: A Resource

I recently went through a similar process of prioritizing purchases in order to get the most out of my aero road bike. It went something like this:

1). Tight-fitting race suit. This is a given.

2). The best fit you can get, given your circumstances. And that doesn't necessarily mean paying someone to look at you. If you have the time and patience, ST is a great place to start. You can become knowledgeable and *I think* get a pretty decent fit without spending a dime. But if your bike is like mine, you may be somewhat limited in what you can/can't do. For instance, I wasn't able to find a compatible seat post that got me more forward. So instead I invested in a saddle with a sizable forward extension that I was comfortable riding way out on the nose. Just problem solve and try to make the most out of the situation.

3). Aero helmet

4). Race wheels. But I would encourage you to get wheels that you will be happy to carry forward to your new bike. So don't buy a cheaper wheelset just because it's better than what you've got and you can afford it right now. Rather, wait until you can afford something you'll be happy to ride for awhile, even when you finally do get that bike upgrade. I found a Zipp disc and a front 404 from 2008 and was able to get a pretty good deal. Keep looking and they pop up.

You're off to the races! Have fun and good luck.

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Follow me on twitter @andrewlangfield

Follow my fourth year in the pro field at http://andrewlangfield.blogspot.com/

I love when people make comments like this.

1st place's bike split in kona:
2011: 4:24
2010: 4:31
2009: 4:37
2008: 4:37
2007: 4:37
2006: 4:18
2005: 4:25

That's 6 years of 'improvements' to bikes.

Golf is even more famous for bogus improvements. The statistical longest driver on the PGA Tour for the past 10 years has always been 315-319 yards. YET, every single year a new driver comes out and that pro says he hits the ball 10 yards further with it. If that was true, that pro would be hitting 400 yards now.

chris legh averaged 23.9 mph over the 112miles that day

http://www.sportstats.ca/...ode=38077&bib=30

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Want: 58cm Cervelo Soloist. PM me if you have one to sell

Vintage Cervelo: A Resource

Are you just adding to the fire? I was agreeing with you.

i know you were. My point is that 24 mph on Ironman Canada is fast ----- a lot of people here would probably doubt it could be done on [gasp] aluminum.

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Want: 58cm Cervelo Soloist. PM me if you have one to sell

Vintage Cervelo: A Resource

Going with the flow.

A helmet is a biggie and you can use it when you upgrade your frame.

Same with a skinsuit. I highly suggest a one piece TT (not tri) suit. No need for pockets and they basically cost the same so rather than going halfway with tight two piece or 3/4 way with a trisuit, get the fastest option.

After that you should have 700 or so left. Go with wheels and tires. FLO is in your budget as is a number of other options, including a disc cover and used or older gen front. If it was me I'd get a cover and look for a non FC 808, preferably tubular. At low yaws its a very fast wheel and you should be able to get one cheap now that its not the latest thing.

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Styrrell

I think Jeremy is going down the right track.

Take the $1000 that you have and sell your current road frame, forks and shifters. Take the money that you make from selling your frame, forks and shifters and use that towards the following items.


Carbon aero frame from Ebay or a good used frame.
Basebar, barend shifters and aero levers.
Take your existing cage and put it between your aerobars
Wheelcover for rear wheel
Aero front wheel and Flo is your best bet.
Aero helmet

You should be able to do this with little problems.