…Endurosport is a Toronto based tri retail company. Their 2003 catalog has a cover photo of Lisa Bentley riding a Cervelo P3 at IM NZ.
She seems to be breaking every aero rule possible. She has a front mounted bottle with a big straw sticking up. This bottle isn’t even an aero bottle but looks like a big round thing. She also has a bottle mounted on the P3’s aero downtube and a big computer sensor on the front fork.
I looked at this picture and thought “what gives?” Came to one of two conclusions (1) either some of the pros are totally clueless about bike aerodynamics or (2) all those aero details that us MOP AG’ers spend countless time debating over this forum are in truth relatively insignificant.
Wish I knew for certain which of (1) or (2) it was.
I think that these guys/girls spend so much time training,that they do not have the time to play with some new aero toy and find that it really did not help there speed,at some point you just have to go with what you know works, even if its not the claimed fastest set of whells etc etc,plus some might not have the money,i knew a woman pro that if i am correct, was the first woman to break ten hours in a full Ironman and she was making less than ten thousand dollars a year and getting government assentence.i know being a pro triathelete or pro cyclist sounds cool but be thankfull for your day job.
“all those aero details that us MOP AG’ers spend countless time debating over this forum are in truth relatively insignificant”
My guess is at times we put far to much relevance into all tech data out there. Sure, a lot of it is significant but it usually looks at one variable. Is heat, ease of use, convenience, wind, mental frame of mind, hydration, athletic ability, how competitive you are, goals and plain "do you give a shit” taken into account when someone says that a “large bottle straw” is less aero than a small one? When we start to analyze the use, of a straw that is a 1/4-inch vs. 1/3-inch you either take it into consideration or say… na… for this reason and that reason (fill in the blanks) I will use the larger one… it doesn’t mean I clueless.
As has been debated in the past Lori Bowden’s bike position has been critiqued a ton here… (And I am not trying to restart it again) it violates many bike setup rules that many of us except as the “rules.” However, Lori has consistently had one of the fastest bike splits in just about every race she enters… does that make her clueless… or does it mean she knows what takes (when all factors are taken into account) that allows “her” to go faster over a 180 km bike course regardless of the excepted rules.Cerveloguy… I am not trying to slam you on this… not my intent. Just that I am getting mellower over the years… I believe that the “rules” are a guideline for use… not a commandment.
Study after study has shown that the gains from much of the aero equipment and from what inspires endless disscuion and debate on this site are minimal.
I have seen this picture and the key points are that Lisa Bentey is in a powerful and comfortable position that is reasonably aerodynamic. Otherwise, she would not be one of the top long distance triathletes in the world!
If she Mary Poppins on her bike with a big basket to carry the groceries on the front, Yah it would make a difference. Being on a bike for 5+ hours requires 1st, comfort and proper hydration/food. Straw, sensor,…what are you saying she is going to save 1/1000 of a second over 5 hours. Sorry, but it’s just ridiculous!
#3. Lisa is quite fanatical about hydration. She knows she can do away with a lot of the bottles, but she feels more comfortable carrying what is by all accounts an overload of fluids. Plus, in her particular case you also have to take into account that she has special needs when it comes to the fluids she takes in, and so she cannot rely as much on the aid stations as most of us.
I was reading one of the later issues of triathlete where they tested the “aero drink systems”. Know what their conclusion was… it makes <1 second/km difference between all of them. If your engine is perfect, never rests and can push the entire way, sure, this is a big deal. But for the average person, pedal harder for 10 more meters and stop worrying about the little things like straws on waterbottles.
