Wheels Manufacturing angular bearing is a good and affordable bottom bracket choice. Easy gains are tire choice, chain and lubes. What race tires are you using? Which lube and chain? Easy watts are waxed chain (Silca is a good choice) and good tires, the right width and pressure for your wheels.

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Kiwami Racing Team

I just order a pair of continental gp 5000 for my race tires. My chain is currently a standard ultegra chain. I have been using white lightening lube.

Best Seconds per $ is probably latex tubes. Personally I'm not a fan of the GP5000 for ludicrously outdated bad experiences on some GP3000s, and so I always use Vittoria Corsas. But the latex tube is where the magic happens.

Aero helmet will give you the same sort of benefits as a deep front wheel relative to a standard one.

Then you're probably looking at kit choices - sleeved skinsuit vs cycling top is huge difference. Not saying that you are wearing baggy cycling tops, but it's amazing seeing the million dollars of top of the range uberbikes that go past when you are marshalling or spectating sitting under people wearing parachutes. So worth ruling out.

Chain - I've started waxing mine in last few months. Feels smooth, sounds smooth and love the lack of dirt. But the watt savings are in the tiny margins based on the data / my personal experience. It's actually easy to do and there's lots of reasons to do this, but apologies to Josh@Silca - aside from those at the very front of the field, watt savings aren't the justification.

Do you have a coach? For vast majority of people, a coach is the single most cost effective way of getting faster. And yet the lure of ceramic bearings, oversized pulleys, $1500 bars seems way way more attractive.

Some easy gains right there - I think White Lightening is just about the worst lube tested by zerofrictioncycling.com https://zerofrictioncycling.com.au/...-Testing-Round-1.pdf

And it's not just about the watt savings - a better lube = less drivetrain wear, which saves you $$$. Totally worth this upgrade.

GP5000 good; as others mentioned, Latex tubes for sure. Slice has a great selection with aero valve stems as well. White Lightning not very good, per FF. Molten Spped wax or Silca (my fav) are far better.

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Kiwami Racing Team

Why not buy a Wippermann chain, clean it, and dip it in Gulf wax?

Ahhh go figure. This will be an easy change! Thanks for the article!

What latex tubes are you using?

For my trip kit I am switching to a sleeved kit this year.

Think I need to update my helmet as well. Starting to look at the giro vanquish helmet.

I do have a coach. I have been seeing improvement with this too. Just wondering how I could improve more with a few upgrades.

Define 'worth it'.
Surprised no one has said disc wheel (or wheel cover).
I don't currently use one, but it will certainly be faster than your rear 404.

So then....what’s left for “big” gains.....position, helmet, rear disc (or disc cover for $100 if budget conscious)

.

Because you’re leaving gains on the table. Gulf wax without the premium additives some do is not the most effective.

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Kiwami Racing Team

Budget?

These are some of the high impact items for your bike. But cost is the key limiter...

1. Continental GP 5000 tires
2. Latex tubes
   
3. More aero front brake
4. Waxed chain
   
5. Cockpit
6. Deeper front wheel
7. Disc rear wheel

Which chain do you recommend?

Which additives do you recommend?

How much faster are they?

What about a front hydration system and mounting bottles behind the saddle? Not sure what distance you’re targeting but it would keep you aero. I went with the aeria system on my PR5 (rim brake) and it cleaned up the front end nicely. Not sure what type of aero gains you would get but every bit helps.

Boring answer for the chain is dura ace.
Additives. Ptfe powder, molybdenum sulphate

Maybe tungsten disulphide (micronised) maybe micronised graphite (dry gun lube)

Once you go past ptfe and Mos2 the gains are small but may also improve wear.

Solid advice.

Adding:

• Baby powder your latex tubes. I have no idea what the right amount is.
• Helmet?
• Get your head down lower by whatever means necessary.
• Take bar tape off.

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Dr. Alex Harrison | Founder & CEO | Sport Physiology & Performance PhD
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Why would you choose a Dura-Ace chain over Wippermann?

Does the Dura-Ace chain have less friction? Does it have a longer life?

How much faster are the additives over plain Gulf wax?

Yeah, well I started my lube journey with White Lightening as well. Even if you aren't ready to wax yet, there are plenty of better performing drip lubes.

https://zerofrictioncycling.com.au/chaintesting/

https://zerofrictioncycling.com.au/lubetesting/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zX15XT1qx2U

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Kiwami Racing Team

If I can read between the lines of some of Jim's longest posts ever, it would be to point out that he's focussing on the "worth it" part of the question.
It's not to say that there aren't gains of fancier stuff, but once you go to a good chain and plain wax, the other additives and chain treatments are pretty small numbers after that, and start costing exponentially more.

Sorry for slow response. Vittoria of late, but have used michelin in the past. Riding I can definately tell the difference between standard tubes, but not between brands.

I got an lg-07 helmet few years ago. I like it. There are faster helmets out there but as a package then it was an easy upgrade for me.

I also like the DeSoto kit. Again not the fastest but works well. I did buy twice. First one didn't have enough pockets for me on the IM run and the Forza one ended up during better too. But I'm a long term DeSoto fan anyway.

I think you're bringing the right approach to this. Sound fundamentals and now looking to make some easy tweaks to get most from those fundamentals.

Good list, put in the order of cost.

The points which add most to gain speed IMO are 1,2 6 and 7.
Do not forget tire pressure.

I wonder a bit how many emphasys is put on the chain: I just use motor oil (costs nothing and yes I have studied thoroughly the applicable webpages) and of course I take care for a clean chain at races.

Do not forget body position and clothing: probably more important than the bike on which you sit.

Oddly that seems to be his nature. That said, in actuality the costs tend to be far more when you see that lube/chain per mile costs are lower with some of the suggested items. See the Zero Friction studies and also realize that cassette and chainring wear add to the cost of inferior lubes. Added with the difficulty even obtaining chains lately and higher costs, it's a no brainer. Another good video by Josh is here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wShmwzp5XZY

If you have to use these products anyway (chain, tire, tube) why would one not use one that is faster and saves $$ in some cases as well. Last I knew, our motive was to get to the finish quicker at less energy cost.

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Kiwami Racing Team

1 lb of gulf wax costs about $11 on amazon, and a bag of molten speed wax costs $22. There is no exponential growth there. Sure, the additives are a small benefit, but also a real benefit. On top of that, my first 1 lb bag is well over a year old and I expect it will last me a couple more at least. Long story short, I really don't see why you'd use plain paraffin over MSW unless your only goal in waxing is for cleanliness alone.