I recently bought an entry level TT bike as a reward to myself for being able to hit a certain average speed in the bike segment of Olympic distance races. This got me thinking, what speed were people at before they started upgrading their bike equipment? The main 3 I’m wondering about are the TT bike, disc/race wheels, and aero helmets (lets be honest, you look silly going 18mph in an aero helmet).
I recently bought an entry level TT bike as a reward to myself for being able to hit a certain average speed in the bike segment of Olympic distance races. This got me thinking, what speed were people at before they started upgrading their bike equipment? The main 3 I’m wondering about are the TT bike, disc/race wheels, and aero helmets (lets be honest, you look silly going 18mph in an aero helmet).You may look silly, but you will be faster. The fact is, everybody looks silly in their spandex, so if not looking silly is your goal, you’d best avoid racing altogether.
Equipment - TT bike, wheels, helmet, toe covers, etc. - provides a benefit irrespective of the speed you are going. It is nonsense that it only provides a benefit for the “fast” athlete.
The thing is, the faster you go, the harder it is to go even faster, so that’s where the cost-value of aerodynamic equipment goes up. When you are “slow”, the biggest gains are likely to come from putting in some work, not from better equipment. But if the budget allows, why not enjoy both the gains of better equipment and better fitness?
The ones that are silly to me are the riders who have expensive bikes, wheels, and aero helmets, but refuse to get a proper bike fit because “I’m just trying to finish, I’m not worried about speed”. There is simply no excuse for that type of financial commitment if you don’t intend to use the equipment right.
I recently bought an entry level TT bike as a reward to myself for being able to hit a certain average speed in the bike segment of Olympic distance races. This got me thinking, what speed were people at before they started upgrading their bike equipment? The main 3 I’m wondering about are the TT bike, disc/race wheels, and aero helmets (lets be honest, you look silly going 18mph in an aero helmet).
Everyone looks silly in an aerohelmet, period.
doesn’t say anything about speed…just percentage saved…
The Big Picture
The Big Picture: riding a time trial/triathlon bike with race wheels and an aero helmet can give you 22-30% watt savings (different race wheelsets vary) compared to a road bike without aero bars and with a standard wheelset and helmet. That is the equivalent of over 30 minutes faster in an Ironman distance triathlon for most people. This calculation has held true in both wind tunnel and outdoor studies.Regarding where to spend your money:
Your first priority should be getting yourself in the aero position. If you can afford a time trial/triathlon bike, this should be the first purchase. Then spend the money on a high end, digital bike fit (see www.retul.com). If you can’t afford a new bike, spend $100 on some clip-on aero bars and $250-300 on a high end, digital bike fit (see www.retul.com). This alone will zap 16-18 minutes off an Ironman distance bike.After purchasing your triathlon bike, if you are looking to burn a deeper hole in your pocket, your next purchase should be an aero helmet.Lastly, if just burning a hole in your pocket isn’t enough, and you are looking for an explosion of fire (likely from your spouse), start looking at wheelsets. Essentially, the deeper the rear wheel, the faster. A disc is fastest, however light weight riders may have trouble handling a disc in the rear in windy conditions. I am 178 lbs and have ridden a disc in any winds 27 mph with no problems. The front wheel doesn’t appear to be as significant. Based on the studies I’ve seen, there doesn’t seem to be a real difference between a 60 mm and 80 mm deep wheel in regards to time savings.
Agreed on fit and I’m not trying to argue over what looks silly or tell people how/when to spend their money. I’m more interested if other people have this same line of thinking.
Agreed on fit and I’m not trying to argue over what looks silly or tell people how/when to spend their money. I’m more interested if other people have this same line of thinking.Lots of people have a similar line of thinking, and their thinking is unjustified. It goes something like this:
WHEN SLOW: I’m not going to bother learning how to run with good form until I get fast.WHEN FAST: I got fast without bothering to learn how to run, so clearly it isn’t necessary.
Replace “learning to run with good form” with just about anything - aero wheels, tri bike, swim form, wetsuit, etc. - and we’ve heard it.
sigh
The first tri I did was on a rental bike. I had done all my bike training at Snap fitness on the Matrix stationary bike they had there with the comfort seat and upright aerobars. I was watching craigslist for something more permanent than a 1-week rental, but knew enough even back then not to buy a bike that didn’t fit just right.
A month or two later my tri bike came up on craigslist and I was ready to buy.
The next year I slammed the stem, picked up a disc wheel cover and FLO 60 front.
The year after, I redid my front end with Vision aluminum base bars, better cable routing, and a Tririg Omega front brake.
This year I added a 165mm crank and semi-compact PowerTap C1 chainring.
I couldn’t agree more that I look silly with aero gear at any speed. That said…
I went through a bit of this line of reasoning with my partner when she took up cycling a few years ago. It may be counterintuitive, but aero is important even at 12-15 mph, and “slow” time trialists save more time with aero gear than fast ones do.
Bottom line: don’t worry about looking foolish with a disc wheel or aero helmet. No one in their right mind ever got into cycling to look cool.
So you are saying that you can tell if someone is going 16, 18, 20, or 22mph and decide when they look silly in their aero helmet?
17 mph looks about “1” sillier than 18 mph
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Speed at which a TT bike makes sense//
The speed at which you keep from falling on the veledrome curves…
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You’ll always be “faster” on a TT/Tri bike with as many aero upgrades that makes sense and truly work, with a multitude of assumptions and caveats tied to this, the biggest and BY FAR the most important two are:
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How aero is your aero position?
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How long can you ride in that position?
EVERYTHING else becomes minor!
Agreed on fit and I’m not trying to argue over what looks silly or tell people how/when to spend their money. I’m more interested if other people have this same line of thinking.
For me it was the distance of the race and the type of course. I raced for three years on my road bike doing sprints, olys, and two HIM. I consistently had disproportionately fast bike splits, but at the flat HIM, I was definitely passed by a lot of people on tri bikes. I live in a very hilly area, so as long as I wasn’t racing more than two hours from home, a road bike made the most sense. And I shamelessly admit that I loved passing people whose wheels cost more than my bike. Most longer races are outside of that radius and fairly flat, so when I started doing them, it made sense to buy a new bike. And who doesn’t like an excuse to buy a new bike?
Minimum speed at which you dont look silly on a ventum or omni?
I couldn’t agree more that I look silly with aero gear at any speed. That said…
I went through a bit of this line of reasoning with my partner when she took up cycling a few years ago. It may be counterintuitive, but aero is important even at 12-15 mph, and “slow” time trialists save more time with aero gear than fast ones do.
Bottom line: don’t worry about looking foolish with a disc wheel or aero helmet. No one in their right mind ever got into cycling to look cool.
I seriously don’t understand this ‘looking silly’ bit everyone keeps referring to with aero gear.
All my non-triathlete friends who see any picture of a guy/girl with aero bike/helmet/wheels (me included) are impressed - they say “wow - they look FAST!” Even if it’s a run of the mill MOPer!
I guess it becomes somewhat silly in theory if you’re a BOMOPer running the latest and greatest of everything, and are still getting passed by dudes on mountain bikes, but the pics will still make you look fast!
So the slower you are, the longer you are out on the course → the more time you reap the aero benefits
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“makes sense” is so subjective that it’s hard to answer. If you care about how fast you go, you’re not doing a hill climb race, and TT bikes are allowed, then a TT bike makes sense – as do a disc wheel and an aero helmet. If I was recommending to someone just starting out who I thought was more than a one and done type, I’d recommend a TT bike right away (as opposed to a road bike) and the other things as you feel like you can afford them. You can get great TT bikes for cheap these days and I think it’s good to start getting used to the TT position right away as it takes years to fine tune.
I couldn’t agree more that I look silly with aero gear at any speed. That said…
I went through a bit of this line of reasoning with my partner when she took up cycling a few years ago. It may be counterintuitive, but aero is important even at 12-15 mph, and “slow” time trialists save more time with aero gear than fast ones do.
Bottom line: don’t worry about looking foolish with a disc wheel or aero helmet. No one in their right mind ever got into cycling to look cool.
I seriously don’t understand this ‘looking silly’ bit everyone keeps referring to with aero gear.
All my non-triathlete friends who see any picture of a guy/girl with aero bike/helmet/wheels (me included) are impressed - they say “wow - they look FAST!” Even if it’s a run of the mill MOPer!
I guess it becomes somewhat silly in theory if you’re a BOMOPer running the latest and greatest of everything, and are still getting passed by dudes on mountain bikes, but the pics will still make you look fast!
Not silly for someone who’s just edging the cutoff times (or wants a buffer for the run cutoff time). It’s easy to be flippant and say they should just train more but who knows what the physical situation is for each person out there? I’m not going to begrudge someone for making fast gear choices, no matter where they are in the pack.
I couldn’t agree more that I look silly with aero gear at any speed. That said…
I went through a bit of this line of reasoning with my partner when she took up cycling a few years ago. It may be counterintuitive, but aero is important even at 12-15 mph, and “slow” time trialists save more time with aero gear than fast ones do.
Bottom line: don’t worry about looking foolish with a disc wheel or aero helmet. No one in their right mind ever got into cycling to look cool.
I seriously don’t understand this ‘looking silly’ bit everyone keeps referring to with aero gear.
All my non-triathlete friends who see any picture of a guy/girl with aero bike/helmet/wheels (me included) are impressed - they say “wow - they look FAST!” Even if it’s a run of the mill MOPer!
I guess it becomes somewhat silly in theory if you’re a BOMOPer running the latest and greatest of everything, and are still getting passed by dudes on mountain bikes, but the pics will still make you look fast!
Not silly for someone who’s just edging the cutoff times (or wants a buffer for the run cutoff time). It’s easy to be flippant and say they should just train more but who knows what the physical situation is for each person out there? I’m not going to begrudge someone for making fast gear choices, no matter where they are in the pack.
As said, though, in terms of just pure LOOKS, there is nothing ‘silly’ looking about aero gear - even for the BBBBOPers. It makes you look PRO in your photos! Even if you’re at the cutoff. Not sure why people say it makes you look silly - it doesn’t!
I recently bought an entry level TT bike as a reward to myself for being able to hit a certain average speed in the bike segment of Olympic distance races. This got me thinking, what speed were people at before they started upgrading their bike equipment? The main 3 I’m wondering about are the TT bike, disc/race wheels, and aero helmets (lets be honest, you look silly going 18mph in an aero helmet).
Everyone looks silly in an aerohelmet, period.
Not me I look waaayyy cool in my Rudy!!!