If I were a triathlete who had the pesos to spend on whatever bike I wanted, I would consider the following: Cervelo P5, Trek Speed Concept BMC piece of art and DIMOND.
Over the past few years, I have debated with others about the marginal difference between aero bikes. If I go back to my KOUTA days where I acted as the sales/marketing guy, I still contend that there was not a huge difference between the P3 and the Kalibur. But.....I think I may have been convinced that some of the new bikes actually make a difference.
A few years back, TJ and I started to do roll tests/power comparisons, focusing on his super position and not so much the bike, as he was riding a Parlee at the time. Even today, I say why buy a $10k bike if you have not ironed out your position. While there are many factors when doing our roll tests (wheels, body weight and size, bike etc) it was determined that he was able to roll downhill much faster than myself, even though I outweigh him by 15 lbs. A year later, we continued to do our roll/power tests. As before, he free wheeled down hill much faster and had to produce significantly less power when peddling on flat ground side by side.
He now had my attention on the things I have always ignored. Other than never training on the tt bike with a poor position, the next biggest hindrance was my KUOTA KUEEN K, which I poetically named while I worked with Kuota. He figured I was losing approx 1 min over 40k. That seemed a bit high, but he has rarely been wrong. Time to listen!
Heading into this year's Valley of the Sun Stage race, I acquired one of his bikes to race the flat 14.8mi tt. Although the bike is not UCI legal, I checked to see if this would be ok'd for this event. It was. Time to test! This would be perfect proving grounds, as the ride is flat with similar conditions each year. I set the bike up with the exact position as the slow Kuota.
The results were boggling: Over the years I rode 29:55 as my fastest and 30:20 as my slowest, with 6 years of sampling. This year was the only year with inconsistencies in the conditions. The cross winds were much harder than any of the other years dating back to 2009. SO hard, that I was unable to ride in the aero bars over the last 5k. I rode 29:20 for the distance, 35 seconds faster than my best on the Kouta. TJ assumed I would be 40ish seconds faster on a DIMOND.
Of course there are other variables.....My power may have been a bit higher...different helmet etc.....
Going into Redlands and then Gila this next week, I can not ride the DIMOND. TJ said he the P5 would be a great alternative and that is what I am not resorting to, with great thanks to FASTER.
What I have come to realize: If I were a age group triathlete with the coin to spend on a super bike, I would start with DIMOND and P5. If I were an aspiring pro triathlete without a bike sponsor, I would somehow gather the funds to spend on the speed. Simultaneously, I would consult with TJ on how to aquire a position similar to his (his position is also UCI illegal) I believe it is a work of progress, where it is leaned and trained. It seems like he does a ton of glut/core work in order to hold this position that is just as important as having the fastest frame. If I were TJ, I would sell a package deal with a bike.....buy a bike, come to Des Moines and get fitted.....
At 46 years of age, efficiency is really the only way to get faster with each year. Optimize your position. Even if you are young, don't be a PT of the pst and try to muscle your way top speed!
PT
PS if 40 sec over this distance maths out over 112mi, that is 6min of free time for Stadler's big rides.
Over the past few years, I have debated with others about the marginal difference between aero bikes. If I go back to my KOUTA days where I acted as the sales/marketing guy, I still contend that there was not a huge difference between the P3 and the Kalibur. But.....I think I may have been convinced that some of the new bikes actually make a difference.
A few years back, TJ and I started to do roll tests/power comparisons, focusing on his super position and not so much the bike, as he was riding a Parlee at the time. Even today, I say why buy a $10k bike if you have not ironed out your position. While there are many factors when doing our roll tests (wheels, body weight and size, bike etc) it was determined that he was able to roll downhill much faster than myself, even though I outweigh him by 15 lbs. A year later, we continued to do our roll/power tests. As before, he free wheeled down hill much faster and had to produce significantly less power when peddling on flat ground side by side.
He now had my attention on the things I have always ignored. Other than never training on the tt bike with a poor position, the next biggest hindrance was my KUOTA KUEEN K, which I poetically named while I worked with Kuota. He figured I was losing approx 1 min over 40k. That seemed a bit high, but he has rarely been wrong. Time to listen!
Heading into this year's Valley of the Sun Stage race, I acquired one of his bikes to race the flat 14.8mi tt. Although the bike is not UCI legal, I checked to see if this would be ok'd for this event. It was. Time to test! This would be perfect proving grounds, as the ride is flat with similar conditions each year. I set the bike up with the exact position as the slow Kuota.
The results were boggling: Over the years I rode 29:55 as my fastest and 30:20 as my slowest, with 6 years of sampling. This year was the only year with inconsistencies in the conditions. The cross winds were much harder than any of the other years dating back to 2009. SO hard, that I was unable to ride in the aero bars over the last 5k. I rode 29:20 for the distance, 35 seconds faster than my best on the Kouta. TJ assumed I would be 40ish seconds faster on a DIMOND.
Of course there are other variables.....My power may have been a bit higher...different helmet etc.....
Going into Redlands and then Gila this next week, I can not ride the DIMOND. TJ said he the P5 would be a great alternative and that is what I am not resorting to, with great thanks to FASTER.
What I have come to realize: If I were a age group triathlete with the coin to spend on a super bike, I would start with DIMOND and P5. If I were an aspiring pro triathlete without a bike sponsor, I would somehow gather the funds to spend on the speed. Simultaneously, I would consult with TJ on how to aquire a position similar to his (his position is also UCI illegal) I believe it is a work of progress, where it is leaned and trained. It seems like he does a ton of glut/core work in order to hold this position that is just as important as having the fastest frame. If I were TJ, I would sell a package deal with a bike.....buy a bike, come to Des Moines and get fitted.....
At 46 years of age, efficiency is really the only way to get faster with each year. Optimize your position. Even if you are young, don't be a PT of the pst and try to muscle your way top speed!
PT
PS if 40 sec over this distance maths out over 112mi, that is 6min of free time for Stadler's big rides.
Last edited by:
paulthomas: Apr 24, 15 11:15