It’s neat to see the renewed interest in the hour record.
Is it also possible that the hour record could be broken by a triathlete?
I don’t know what the fastest olympic tri bike split is but in 1996 ITU World Championship, Abe Rogers rode an incredible 48:10 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1996_ITU_Triathlon_World_Championships
This translates to 30.8mph. Jens rode 31.7 mph and Brandle did 32.1.
Anyone know if there are faster Oly bike splits and where to find them?
In any case, pretty stunning that triathletes can go that fast despite the swim and the run.
On a related note, I think the 1 hour challenge could become pretty popular in general. The key is finding a reasonably safe and clear course.
I used Canada Road here in the SF Bay last weekend to benchmark the hour and am looking forward to improving in the months to come.
It would be cool if Strava could figure out a time-based segment versus geography-based.
for what it’s worth, that cleveland race is pretty commonly agreed to have been short - the splits were insane! even lessing came on here to say so, once.
i don’t think any serious challenge will come from a triathlete. (any more than a serious challenge of the world 10000m running record would come from a triathlete.) first, the hour does demand some track-specific skill that a lot of triathletes don’t have. second, the hour’s really hard: you need talent and a depth of experience that triathletes lack, for obvious reasons. in the past, when some of triathlon’s best riders (pigg, riccitello, smith, zack, larsen) raced road, they performed OK at the mid-tier level. but that was it.
that said, i’m also really excited to see the hour hotting up again. there are a handful of guys out there (wiggins, cancelara, etc) who could make this epic!
Nope; I didn’t know in 1996 it was draft-legal. And no, I didn’t know the course was short.
This said, how do we find out the legitimate fastest, non-drafting Oly bike split?
Nope; I didn’t know in 1996 it was draft-legal. And no, I didn’t know the course was short.
This said, how do we find out the legitimate fastest, non-drafting Oly bike split?
Given a fast course might be point to point or following a lead vehicle or have a tailwind, versus a controlled velodrome, makes any comparison silly. And given triathletes draft in non drafting events, makes the comparison apples to onions.
" in the past, when some of triathlon’s best riders (pigg, riccitello, smith, zack, larsen) raced road, they performed OK at the mid-tier level. but that was it. "
I beg to differ. Larsen rode for Motorola as a pro.
In 1986, Mike Pigg averaged over 26.4 mph at Budlight San Jose – which included a brutally steep climb up metcalf road; the closest competitor was 2 mph slower.
Don’t forget Lance got his start as a triathlete as well. Doping or not, he certainly performed above “Ok at the mid-tier level”.
Word class triathletes are world class aerobic athletes, just like world class cyclists. However they are top in different disciplines. I suppose some world class triathletes have the basic physiology to conquer the current hour record of Brändle, however to have a realistic chance they would have to stop triathlon and concentrate on cycling a TT bike!
A pro male triathletes I aero tested had very good absolute power and a good power to weight ratio, in the range of top amateur TT specialists. I suppose with a full dedication to cycling triathletes could increase their power in a UCI conform TT position.
However the “aeroness” of the triathletes is generally much worse than the top amateur TT specialists, not speaking of the top pro cyclists like Martin or a top TT cyclist like Brändle. And I suppose again a triathlete can go for weeks into a wind tunnel and will not become slippery enough because of his “swimmer shoulders”, that’s why they would have to give up triathlon.
I think the argument of the “track skills” is over estimated. With a reasonable talent and some practice one can match the black line much better than Voigt did recently. Even I learned it in my later life. What may be more a problem are the high power fluctuations on a track. Cycling on a track is by no means iso power.
Sure. Give it a go. All of them. Could be a smash-up event if held locally in the off-season. Just schedule some time at the velodrome, drop $100,000 into the prize purse and hold your breath… I’d pay to watch it in person and on t.v.
Not just one gear, fixed gear.
That is just how velodrome racing is.
They are not on TT bikes, they have been converted to fixed gear bikes.
Also, since it is a velodrome, having more than 1 gear would just slow you down. You get something on the order of 10 free watts by not having the aero and friction drag of a normal drivetrain
Why are they limited to one gear? It seems that they are using TT bikes that come standard with multiple gears.