With all the talk about aero this and that lately, if you were to build up a new bike from scratch tomorrow what would you have on that bike. Of course all of this would be on a frame that fit the person.
Aero bottle mounted as close to the BB as posible.
Water bottle mounted on the aerobars.
Oval rear brake modified to fit on the front and a cyclocross cable hanger to run the cable done the center of the headtube.
Stem as low as possible on the steerer.
Cables run in such a way that they are hidden from the wind as much as possible.
Nothing hanging of the bike that is not needed. Example being all of your repair items inside your modified aero bottle. Bento box behind the stem more aero?
Aero wheelset with a wheelbuilder cover.
Cyclometer that does not have wires and does not have a big sensor hanging on the forks?
What else would you do to your build to make it as aero as possible?
Tubeless road technology isn’t there yet. So far, no tubeless road tire has even come close to a good tire with latex tube. Unlike with MTBs, where more robust sidewalls are mandated for cut resistance, in road riding, you don’t have that same need. You also have substantially higher pressures in road riding, which further adds to the challenge. I know folks that have found the road tubeless tires virtually impossible to change. A mechanic at a local shop I know snapped a metal tire lever trying to get a tire off. I snapped a heavy duty plastic one. I think that a majority of people - if they cut the tire - would be hard pressed to change it. Of course, in the even that you needed to remove a tire, you might be throwing it away anyway and could cut it off with scissors, but let’s say you swapped tires for racing? Then that’s not an option. Road tubeless is still a long ways off it seems. And I’m not sure that it will ever enjoy the success that it has in MTBing, just because it would seem that there is no way to make a casing with strong sidewalls and which is essentially impermeable as smooth rolling as one without that.
Tubeless road technology isn’t there yet. So far, no tubeless road tire has even come close to a good tire with latex tube. Unlike with MTBs, where more robust sidewalls are mandated for cut resistance, in road riding, you don’t have that same need. You also have substantially higher pressures in road riding, which further adds to the challenge. I know folks that have found the road tubeless tires virtually impossible to change. A mechanic at a local shop I know snapped a metal tire lever trying to get a tire off. I snapped a heavy duty plastic one. I think that a majority of people - if they cut the tire - would be hard pressed to change it. Of course, in the even that you needed to remove a tire, you might be throwing it away anyway and could cut it off with scissors, but let’s say you swapped tires for racing? Then that’s not an option. Road tubeless is still a long ways off it seems. And I’m not sure that it will ever enjoy the success that it has in MTBing, just because it would seem that there is no way to make a casing with strong sidewalls and which is essentially impermeable as smooth rolling as one without that.
Really, tubeless MTB is better because of how LOW you can run the tire pressures without pinch flatting. In road cycling, it is the exact opposite. People want to run as high a pressure as possible, thus negating the benefits of tubeless.
no, you want to run the pressure that is optimal for low rolling resistance
and, though you can do that with a tubeless tire, its simply a harder material to ‘squish’ and thus more energy is wasted squishing it as the wheel goes round
In road cycling, it is the exact opposite. People want to run as high a pressure as possible, thus negating the benefits of tubeless.
With all the talk about aero this and that lately, if you were to build up a new bike from scratch tomorrow what would you have on that bike. Of course all of this would be on a frame that fit the person.
Aero bottle mounted as close to the BB as posible.
Water bottle mounted on the aerobars.
Oval rear brake modified to fit on the front and a cyclocross cable hanger to run the cable done the center of the headtube.
Stem as low as possible on the steerer.
Cables run in such a way that they are hidden from the wind as much as possible.
Nothing hanging of the bike that is not needed. Example being all of your repair items inside your modified aero bottle. Bento box behind the stem more aero?
Aero wheelset with a wheelbuilder cover.
Cyclometer that does not have wires and does not have a big sensor hanging on the forks?
What else would you do to your build to make it as aero as possible?
Tips and tricks?
I’m thinking Cateye Double wireless which mounts on the rear chainstay behind the dirty air of your legs.
