Where are you seeing those estimates? He went further than expected and I believe was targeting 360 watts.

Things that are going to sell out everywhere ^^^

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I find it really hard to believe he actually used GP5000 TT tires. That makes no sense at all... https://www.bikeradar.com/...ur-record-pinarello/

That was striking to me as well. I'd love to know the specifics of that actual tyre they used and the rational behind it. It seems impossible. Surely it is some type of prototype and not the stand GP5000 TT.

Turns out he went 55.2 in June during training too.

I would guess these are publicity photos taken after a test session. The actual tires are likely designed to last 60k and not much more. Unless they went the opposite direction and built a super hard compound rubber since there is so little grip required. He says "higher than you'd think" for pressure. Not unheard of for indoor track tires to push 200psi, but that was back in the day of high pressure everywhere.

Very weird. Conti has a long history of giving pros different tires than what they sell to the general public, so it wouldn't surprise me that the tires the pros are using in road races are quite fast. But this is a track hour record on a smooth track where high PSI should be another benefit. And the Conti clinchers max at 109 psi according to their spec. Smaller tires are better for aero, and these are 25mm. Plus, it's strange that Princeton would make fancy track discs that are clincher specific.

Maybe the aero of the clincher/wheel mounting interface with that disc wheel and that tire at that pressure provides a better presentation to the wind? Eliminates variability of a glue job for CRR and aero.

Spitballing.

He's definitely punching above his racing category, but I disagree with your characterization. Bigham has raced professionally at the UCI Continental level, and has a multi-year history of being competitive against WorldTour guys in ITTs at National and World champ events.

I don’t think it’s standard. The use of gp5000 thing has been an ongoing source of public ribbing on social media since the sub 7/8 record when the same tyres were used and it’s obvious now they are prototypes of some description. How good, who knows.

Any evidence that they are prototypes?

Even then... I don't understand using them on the track for this sort of effort. Maybe they are good in aero; at least the flow direction is well known and turbulence nil. But it seems like a small high-pressure tire would be more optimal.

No direct evidence but observational evidence based on what we know from current data. In the past I've seen Continental mark the tyres to indicate prototypes.

Dan mentioned surprising pressures for the ride, but left it at that. I'm not sure what to make of it.

I should have said "top" WorldTour, or something to that effect. He's only raced Worlds ITT once (last year) and was 16th. He was 2nd at nationals this year and last year.

Any reason for the massive drop basebar? Not like he is using it in a TT. If there is a minimum bar width, you'd present a lower frontal area is it was straight.

Rominger did 413 watts. Indurain was 500.

https://www.53x12.com/rominger-s-hour

Thank you. My forgetter is stronger that my rememberer at this point. 1 for 2.

Whoever it was commentating on YouTube talked about it constantly.

His coach. I thought he suggested 360W and that Dan said he was going faster than plan.

The Conti prototype tyres that I have seen have a numerical code on a white label like this. Possible the overall CRR/CdA package with the Continental GP5000 TT was the best option especially when tied to the prototype frame & wheels. Or it was a sponsor requirement and he had enough spare power to allow for it. For SUB7 Cadex allowed us to exceed the recommended maximum pressure for the wheels, I expect he ran his tyres way past the suggested safe maximum.

Guesstimated, not measured values. And lots of EPO back then...

My guess is it would be the optimal position and ability for him to get a massive 64x14 gear from a standing start away and up to speed before transitioning to aero. Time gains there would offset any minor aero penalties for the base bar.

For a number of reasons of I've gone full deep-dive into this record attempt the last ten days. This was actually one of the most interesting aspects to me as I've won (juniors, and now masters) US National Championships with what I would consider very experimental, and with hindsight probably fairly dangerous set-ups. (Think suicide bars, on the road, on fixed gear, with just a single front brake!)

In one of the youtube videos I watched, Bigham said that he's experimented with no base bar at all because (and I'm paraphrasing) it would "make sense to be faster" but it turns out they've tested, and tested again, that the "wave" the basebars create for the legs actually makes for a lower CDA. That explained why the WattShop basebars on stock bars look a bit thicker than some others, and makes me think they (Bigham, INEOS, & the 3D printer) looked at this extensively when shaping these bars for this attempt. Probably any shape he can manage to start on, that also lowers his CDA at ~56 kh is what they had in mind. It looks like the newer INEOS road TT bars are doing this too as they have an odd shape that doesn't appear to be overly bio-mechanical nor minimal frontal area.

Aren’t all hour record power values guesstimated? Rominger and Ferrari had SRMs, so they probably measured...

And yeah the power is a lot lower than it was 25 years ago.

There are no guestimates now really. There is enough transfer of knowledge to know almost exactly what is going on from multiple sources.

The orange juice was flowing from Spain and they pretty much knew exactly how that helped too. Science and math could work out the details then and now just much more easily these days. Tech now makes it all more convenient though and we are far more capable of knowledge being shared and in turn further refined.