no they are thirsty and they need to drink! rather lost a few second with the round bottle than minutes when thirsty.

In TT of less than 20km? Maybe you are right but for me it's hard to beleive in that.

At the end of the day a lot of riders would rather have the penalty of a bottle and not need to drink than have no bottle halfway and really need a drink.

Why it's a round bottle? Possibly just what was around.

---

My Blog - http://leegoocrap.blogspot.com

The extra drag produced by the containers is extremely small (seconds), but a lack of hydration can lead to problems costing full minutes. Take the water, even on a 20k. I did a sprint tri with a 20k bike a few weeks ago and I drank the entire 1.3L contents of my Speedfil while on the bike.

1.3L is way beyond what you need for a 20k bike unless it's taking you 2 hours. The whole race should take somewhere between 60 and 90ish minutes. (De)Hydration really isn't an issue for a sprint unless it's taking place in extremely hot weather or going up a mountain. If you become dehydrated it will be because you didn't hydrate properly leading up to the race. Personally I don't take any water for a sprint and remove all bottle cages.

it's also worth saying that at a pro tour level the TT is often a "rest" day for the vast majority of riders. If you're not going to be in the top 10 or so and have no podium expectations overall there isn't much need killing yourself. Might has well be comfortable.

---

My Blog - http://leegoocrap.blogspot.com

I could understand if the team's water bottle sponsor didn't produce an aero bottle, but Elite do. Considering the small touches mechanics flourish on team TT bikes, just grabbing 'what was around' to fulfil water bottle duties doesn't seem plausible.

It may well have tested more aero. It's not the first time that a rear water bottle has tested faster:
http://www.bicycling.com/...atures/revenge-nerds

---

AndyF
bike geek

One thing to remember is they are putting out 2 to 3 times more power than you.

And at 30% efficiency that means they are churning out way way more heat than you, and churning through a lot more water and calories than you.

---

---

Kat Hunter reports on the San Dimas Stage Race from inside the GC winning team
Aeroweenie.com -Compendium of Aero Data and Knowledge
Freelance sports & outdoors writer Kathryn Hunter

Are there rules prohibiting the bottle from being positioned horizontally between the forearms?

yes

---

My Blog - http://leegoocrap.blogspot.com

Did you throw up with all that water sloshing around in your gut as soon as you started running?

 

>And at 30% efficiency that means they are churning out way way more heat than you, and churning through a lot more water and calories than you.

The pictured team finished in 14'19". Calories aren't a concern.

Movistar, apparently no bottles, toughed it out for 14'13".

It was 86F. So I can see that being a factor. But I'd think no bottle would be the Slowtwitch choice.

That's my choice... or at least it was until last year. I only use a bottle because I have it wedged between my forearms. I took one little sip from it in a 40k.

then...

 

>I could understand if the team's water bottle sponsor didn't produce an aero bottle, but Elite do. Considering the small touches mechanics flourish on team TT bikes, just grabbing 'what was around' to fulfil water bottle duties doesn't seem plausible

UCI rules. Can't use an aero bottle. Standard round bottles only.

On round tube frames. Mark's quote from this article

Then there's water bottle placement: On a round-tubed frame, having a bottle on your seat tube is more aerodynamic than not having one at all, and it's much more aero than putting it on the down tube.

We have never seen a round bottle or round anything do well on a modern TT/Tri airfoil tube bike. They are just too slippery. Also, on our aero tests the round bottles always did worse on the seat tube. I remember the one test at A2 having the bottle on the downtube and seat tube was slightly better than seat tube only. It was an increase through the yaws of 70-150 grams of drag.

---

Hans Bielat
TorHans LLC Co-Founder, Owner, Chief Innovation Officer
http://www.torhans.com

I prefer the "I need 14 water bottles, a bento box large enough for a Dagwood style sandwich and a toolkit large enough to easily overhaul and MD11" look Ted. ;)


Btw, Over Macho Grande?

See you guys in 6 weeks.

Which makes more sense than 'just grabbing what was around', as I thought.

Haha!!!! Always over Macho Grande.

You are correct Kona! Bottom line, if you are not racing UCI and you care about aero....Keep the bike clean! I remember seeing a top female triathlete leaving T1 in Kona with just that. 4 bottles, ~84oz. 5 extra pounds of weight and a whole lot of drag....and with energy gels taped to the top tube.

See ya in Kona. Aloha

---

Hans Bielat
TorHans LLC Co-Founder, Owner, Chief Innovation Officer
http://www.torhans.com

Hopefully being wrong on the internet is the worst thing I do today.

---

My Blog - http://leegoocrap.blogspot.com

My general plan is the aro 20 or the torpedo bottle up front on the P3. 2 toss away 20 oz bottles (filled with Osmo) behind my seat. Spare tube and tools below the seat. Bonk Breakers in my back pockets.

I'll leave the MD-11 tools to the mechanics. I just flew them. ;)

That's as clean as an old semi retired freight dog cares to be.

Can't find the current UCI reg but assuming regs are still the same, aero bottles are permitted within certain dimensions (http://velonews.competitor.com/...ate-revisited_200823
) bottles must not exceed maximum cross-section dimensions of 10cm or less than 4cm. That would rule out current aero bottles from Bontrager and Arundel, which is 11.5cm tall at its largest point. Bottles must also have capacities between 400 milliliters and 800ml.

Still, not sure if the UCI regs have changed or why teams aren't using some type of aero bottle rather than round bottles, maybe sponsorship requirements?

I thought for sure that the ELITE CRONO was legal.