sinkinswimmer wrote:
bhc wrote:
Take a look at this picture and it will give you a very good idea about time savings for each item. http://cyclingtips.com.au/...ime-trial-equipment/
What I found interesting is that the shoe covers save more time than an aero frame and disc rear wheel.
This is really interesting. I wonder why it is not more often pointed out that, not only the biggest bang for the buck, but the greatest actual time savings comes from three of the cheapest items on the list. Given that most people cannot generate the speed over a full triathlon to realize the benefits of most of this stuff, I find the ongoing debates, and the expenditures, for the pursuit of aero to be quite amusing. Especially when it seems most people spend over half of the ironman "run" walking. What was that saying about a fool and his money?
Charts like that one that keep adding to the confusion, for several reasons:
- it implies such aero gains are simply cumulative, when they are really only marginally cumulative.
- it quotes times savings for various items, yet the individual variability in many of those things is *very* large and not everything quoted is guaranteed to improve aerodynamics at all (e.g. shoe covers, helmet)
There are two types of aero changes:
- those very few items that are universally applicable to all (generally wheels fall into this category, although fastest wheel choice can depend on a number of factors, including rider's speed and wind conditions). The scale of the improvement may still be a bit variable depending on other things.
- those that are not (which is pretty much everything else) and so what improvement in speed is attained from any given change is individual to you.