Rideon77 wrote:
burnthesheep wrote:
jroden wrote:
I was thinking the same thing. I looked at bike reg and saw so few time trial races listed. It's a shame because it's kind of a neat discipline. Having to own a stupid impractical expensive and uncomfortable bicycle to be competitive has pretty much killed it. It's funny all of the dumb crap the UCI has banned over the years when something useful to ban would have been forward facing aero bars all those years ago.
It's your opinion and other's, but I totally disagree.
I hear this, but you show up to a local B group 18mph ride all the way up to the local crit scene and see folks with $4000 road bikes with aero wheels and low CRR tires and aero road helmets. You also see folks at both with discount Bell commuter helmets and classic steel bikes. Many of which are really ill fitted with super slammed stems and really narrow handle bars. So comfort and cost be damned already!
So I categorically reject the notion it's because roadies don't want to spend money. Or buy another bike, when same thing.......so many B group riders up through dedicated racers often own 2, 3, 4 bikes often of the same type. Road, road, cross/gravel, mtb........etc.... C'mon. That's not a genuine excuse.
I think it boils down to folks complaining who prefer to garner skills with repetition instead of thought and analysis and science. You get good at cross doing skills practice, over and over and over. You get fast in TT being methodical with bike fit and testing (which folks like Obree did with a freaking stopwatch and no power meters).
It's mean, but I boil it down to folks preferring "brute force" of "mash pedals harder" and can't be bothered to think to go faster.
That's fine, but don't expect the world to change for you.
FWIW.......our in-town Raleigh "club" TT group only has two folks who show up with TT bikes out of a dozen when we roll the out/back TT workout for PR's. Of those, one roadie is a single speed and several are almost vintage. So it seems to me they aren't turned off to it at all due to equipment or cost.
I think the problem is that so many folks are programmed to want "points" or a participation medal or a winner's medal like you get for all the cross/crit/road/gravel stuff. In a local club TT...........you get a PR and kudos from the crew. I don't think a lot of folks appreciate the journey enough versus having a hankering for the destination. And due to this you get tied up with "well we need a permit, and to certify the course, and have USAC officials, and medals, and registrations, and and and and and....."
With the simple club run, stopwatch and clipboard. That's why our club run is like that for turnout...........the process of showing up and doing it is simple. Has nothing to do with the danged bike.
The British TT series are not UCI sanctioned and don't follow UCI rule sets and is one of the most successful ones world wide.
I've posted this photo before, and will again to prove my point...........world hour record holder in UCI rainbow stripes showing up to a very diverse local club run:
I do see your point but I really do believe that cost is the real issue in the USA. A special bike just to race an hour? Doesn't make economic sense and nobody buys a road bike and say "this is great because I can do a TT too". They do buy gravel bikes and say "this is great because I can use this as a road bike too" as an example. As bike prices go up you will see less specialized racing in the USA....IMO at least.
How long does the typical crit last? A short track XC race? A downhill? Any event on the track?
People buy special bikes for those races all the time.