I was just reading the Bike of the Month article in Triathlete and noticed that the Giant TCR Aero 1 has “Giant’s proprietary ALUXX SL aluminum tubeset that has been wind tunnel - and competition tested to be aerodynamically superior to any other frame in any condition”
… makes me wonder why anyone spends the big dollars on all thos less than optimal Cervelos, Kestrels, Gurus and such but then again, the bike that gets reviewed next month might be more aero again
I feel so much better having seen that review, as i realize that my Giant is in fact faster than a Hotta perimeter frame! (as long as said frame has no wheels, cranks or pedals!)
My wife shall never see that review as she would never let me upgrade my Giant for something else!
Actually the early TCR TT bikes were. The tubing on the later custom bikes is similiar in shape however to the production TCR Aero, nothing really special in the aerodynamic shape you’d think. LVL used a stock TCR frame. Last year’s ONCE TT bike is a different design altogether other than keeping the original TCR compact geometry. Supposedly there will be a consumer version available later this year.
Actually the early TCR TT bikes were. The tubing on the later custom bikes is similiar in shape however to the production TCR Aero, nothing really special in the aerodynamic shape you’d think. LVL used a stock TCR frame. Last year’s ONCE TT bike is a different design altogether other than keeping the original TCR compact geometry. Supposedly there will be a consumer version available later this year.
No, they weren’t - I have seen them up close.
Technically speaking, ONCE never used stock AL Giants - all their road frames had custom geometry as well. Saiz was very particular about TT length in particular, and Giant accomodated him.
LVL may well have used a stock frame, but I don’t know.
I could be wrong, but I had a British cycling magazine from when the TCR’s first came out and I’ll almost swear in the early days they used stock frames for the earliest TT bikes. Also read somewhere that “some” of the ONCE riders had custom road frames but others that matched the T shirt sizing got stock frames.
I’ll have a look for the mags but probably chucked them out by now.
I could be wrong, but I had a British cycling magazine from when the TCR’s first came out and I’ll almost swear in the early days they used stock frames for the earliest TT bikes.
Edited - You know I am really beginning to dislike the forums posting editor! Each time I respond to a post, if I try to do a delete of a block of text by selecting a text block and pressing the delete key, when I click the post reply option, the editor apparently eats the entire post! By the time I figure it out, I have completely forgotten what the topic was - uh, what is this post about? Oh never mind!
Michael - patiently awaiting the release of the Giant TCR Advanced and TCR Aero Composite…
It is hard t make claims like this that have a high degree of credibility. It seems like, when a writer makes these claims, they really need to show their supporting data right there ithe article as well as some information about how the tests were performed, by whom, who paid for them and so forth.
Wind tunnel data is the great smoke and mirrors show of the triathlon bike industry. While I am not anything like an expert on wind tunnel testing, use, or protocols I do notice a historical tendency of wind tunnel test data and protocols to be interpreted with a high degree of creativity.
Also, it is important to keep the data, however dubios it may be, in perspective. Lowering your shoulders 3 cm is likely, by my guess, to have a greater effect than switching from one aerodynamic frame to another based on wind tunnel tests.
There are probably a few exceptions to this- such as the Lotus, Cheetah and other significantly different aerodynamic designs- but by in large I would suggest the drag numbers are reasonably close, close enough so that body position probably makes a much greater impact on the overall package.
one thing you guys are forgetting is that Triathlete is basically useless for anyone thats been doing tris over a year or two. Very rarely do i see something in there thats surprising or informative—the best part IMO is the race reviews but you can just go to ironmanlive or xtri for things like that. Thats why i ended my subscription years ago, save some money and some trees.
