Hi all
Would be interested in a tech and gear review from Sub7/8. What cool or odd stuff did you spot?
I will put down a few to start:
Kristian:
Full team not only using the same bike but helmet. Given helmet aero is so Individual, presume this will have cost them a fair bit of speed vs the idea for each rider like other teams. Guess giant/Cadax really wanted the products in view for this.
Kristian’s cockpit / poles seemed pretty standard given how much R&D looks to has gone into the development of the bike around the project.
Kat:
Looked to be using a formed sheet of carbon for a fairing to cover her normal TT poles and make them into a mono style bar like Joe uses.
Nicola:
Choice of road bike maybe not as detrimental as it seemed to before the event. Still believe a TT bike was the better pick event with a large draft. But not using a rear disc wheel, very odd
Joe:
Most noticeable thing for this team was the use of 2 Elite aero bottles behind the saddle. Didn’t see any drinking from them, so most be an aero gain to having them there.
Alex downset (probably other) using a drinking bladder down the front of the skin suit for easy hydration and some aero gain.
Using the weed killer sprayer on the run to stay cool. Apparently was going to be water pistols originally. Also the Kristian team tried to get it blocked from use.
Joe’s team did say that the two Elite aero bottles behind the seat in that position was shown in testing to be faster. They 3D printed the cages etc that week with a local supplier from memory.
I got the impression it was likely not wind tunnel tested and potentially more trial/error experimentation close to the event date.
Hi all
Would be interested in a tech and gear review from Sub7/8. What cool or odd stuff did you spot?
I will put down a few to start:
Kristian:
Full team not only using the same bike but helmet. Given helmet aero is so Individual, presume this will have cost them a fair bit of speed vs the idea for each rider like other teams. Guess giant/Cadax really wanted the products in view for this.
.
Cadex wanted us to use the helmets. They also wanted them black. The impact of the former varied amongst riders, the later on a hot day wasn’t ideal. When Matt took his helmet off when he stopped at roughly half distance it was so hot it hurt his fingers.
I’ve actually been trying something similar (see attached) with an Elite bottle, basically using zip ties around the back portion of a Dash saddle.
There are several downsides - it looks weird, it keeps me off the back of the saddle, and I need a Velcro strap to keep the bottle from launching on bumps. But it’s even closer to my body than Joe’s setup and it’s definitely aero. Been meaning to do some VE to measure how much, but from memory I did measure something like a .005 delta when I accidentally ejected the bottle during a separate test…. Keeping in mind that the bare cage was still there potentially incurring more drag than nothing.
These days I also keep my spare tube & change kit in a pouch attached to the side of the bottle mount. Definitely looks even weirder with that
Joe’s team did say that the two Elite aero bottles behind the seat in that position was shown in testing to be faster. They 3D printed the cages etc that week with a local supplier from memory.
I got the impression it was likely not wind tunnel tested and potentially more trial/error experimentation close to the event date.
Yes heard this also. Think Dan/WattShop is planning to talk more or even release some data around this soon.
Doesn’t look good but free speed is not to be sniffed at.
Cheers for the reply Bob.
Expected as much, did look the business vs some of the mismatched kit.
Bet you have loads of small details you would love to talk about but can’t.
Massive well done to MBPC & the team. Put on a great show.
Posted on a few threads now but the Deboer founder claimed the wetsuit Blu used was worth 10mins to a 1:45/100 swimmer, because it was so slippery in the water. Bold claim.
Know the swim times were slow across the 4 athletes, battling some current they say. But he didn’t seem to have superhuman swim really. Was what we would expect for him or even when comparing to Joe. Maybe it did save some time but hard to say.
Ali also had a bespoke wetsuit made by Huub for it. Hence the como effect to hide the tech but for him pacing for joe would not have been testing it.
Posted on a few threads now but the Deboer founder claimed the wetsuit Blu used was worth 10mins to a 1:45/100 swimmer, because it was so slippery in the water. Bold claim.
That’s roughly my OW pace. Happy to take a sample Deboer for some real world testing. I won’t charge. 1’08 to 58’ is the stuff dreams are made of.
I would focus on the swim, the run, bike storage, and nutrition if interested in tech that will be usable in real “rules bound” events. The drafting nature IMO tosses a lot of the bike “aero” stuff out the window. You’ve no proof.
The rest would be completely valid.
If you’re not testing the team pursuit, you try to avoid having cars or other riders disturb the test. Soo…team time trial bike leg means aero tech there is largely just fun chit chat.
Of that…the close up views of the Cadex bike is a bit sad in that it appears any kind of “mullet modification” where you run the new fork on the older bikes is out the window. Otherwise, for a 3rd party parts maker I really see an opportunity there with tri/TT taking on the “wide front fork” thing. If someone sold one for your frameset for $1000 I’d probably get it to try it out.
Joe’s team did say that the two Elite aero bottles behind the seat in that position was shown in testing to be faster. They 3D printed the cages etc that week with a local supplier from memory.
I got the impression it was likely not wind tunnel tested and potentially more trial/error experimentation close to the event date.
Yes heard this also. Think Dan/WattShop is planning to talk more or even release some data around this soon.
Doesn’t look good but free speed is not to be sniffed at.
I was involved with the development of this system. Development started last summer with extensive outdoor testing, the numbers were then verified in the tunnel in autumn. Correct, this will be launched soon and will be available at WattShop.
circled back to watch the vid and did notice spirig used a roadie! more kudos to her! side thought, did sutton make her do this as training for something else? he has some extreme training philosophies
Wonder if accessing the bottles when they are that far back will actually feel easier. Always feels like I’m trying to root around in my backside when I use the usual behind the seat bottle rack.
The chest of the wetsuit is extra thick, 8-11mm which would normally be banned
Joe swam in his regular tri suit, so if he had a raft suit it could’ve been a sprint finish
Posted on a few threads now but the Deboer founder claimed the wetsuit Blu used was worth 10mins to a 1:45/100 swimmer, because it was so slippery in the water. Bold claim.
Interesting video by Alex that gives a closer look at the Cadex bike. Love the GP5000 comment 😂 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3g0xEhBlE_E
Was excellent. More to come on the women’s teams and race day. They had yet to fit the double Elites on the back. Which I think will be UCI legal btw so expect to see more of those in tris and even ITT(road), if only for the craic.
Here’s the video at @Ollie Peckover 's “respectful” Conti 5000 comment. Of course we don’t know whether Bottrill’s gang actually rode on those. The Huub train were going to swap to ‘race’ tyres for the Sunday. https://youtu.be/3g0xEhBlE_E?t=412
I would focus on the swim, the run, bike storage, and nutrition if interested in tech that will be usable in real “rules bound” events. The drafting nature IMO tosses a lot of the bike “aero” stuff out the window. You’ve no proof.
The rest would be completely valid.
If you’re not testing the team pursuit, you try to avoid having cars or other riders disturb the test. Soo…team time trial bike leg means aero tech there is largely just fun chit chat.
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I largely agree with this, however I did find it interesting that every rider on both teams was wearing aero calf sleeves or aero socks. I asked Lionel on his Discord channel if he’d ever considered them but he said he hasn’t seen sufficient data. KB always wears them, along with Rudy Von Berg and couple more. Nevertheless I’ve ordered myself a pair for an upcoming 70.3. For a $30 investment it’s worth a try.
I would focus on the swim, the run, bike storage, and nutrition if interested in tech that will be usable in real “rules bound” events. The drafting nature IMO tosses a lot of the bike “aero” stuff out the window. You’ve no proof.
The rest would be completely valid.
If you’re not testing the team pursuit, you try to avoid having cars or other riders disturb the test. Soo…team time trial bike leg means aero tech there is largely just fun chit chat.
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I largely agree with this, however I did find it interesting that every rider on both teams was wearing aero calf sleeves or aero socks. I asked Lionel on his Discord channel if he’d ever considered them but he said he hasn’t seen sufficient data. KB always wears them, along with Rudy Von Berg and couple more. Nevertheless I’ve ordered myself a pair for an upcoming 70.3. For a $30 investment it’s worth a try.
Between the use of Aero sleeves in Tri & long socks, overshoes in cycling. Covering the leg seems to be the way to go. Not very surprising given they are large mostly round cylinder in the path of the air. From a frontal view legs will make up a large % of the frontal aera in the TT position.
Think the benefits are 2 fold. 1) fabric can be faster than bare skin 2) can compressive effect will slightly reduce diameter of the leg.
I will definitely continue to use them ðŸ‘
