credit card, preferably one your wife doesn’t know about.
Pro cyclists do eliminate bottles inside the triangle during TT stages.
On Non-TT stages, 1) UCI rules, 2) aero is really not that important in the bunch and you’d usually throw away your bottle before a big climb / print
If eliminate any bottles inside the triangle (if they are there) is true then why don’t pro road cyclists do that? They certainly would have the bike handling ability to reach behind and pull one out of there.
UCI rules. Bottles are only allowed inside the triangle.
Yep. The rule pretty much constrains your options to current standard practice. No showing up to a race with handlebar bottle cages, like in the “heroic” era of road cycling!
Having braze-on bottle cage bosses on both downtube and seattube as standard is something that really only became standard in the last few decades. Most road bikes circa 1980 had cage bosses on the downtube but nothing on the seat tube.
Not permitting bottles on the saddle is not surprising at all. Besides the aesthetic consideration, a lot of people do a poor job of setting up saddle cages. Very few people I ride with use behind-the-saddle cages, but most of the bottle launches I’ve seen on road rides have been from that location. It can be done right, but you need to position them properly and use cages with good retention. A lot of people just don’t. In a tight group, that’s dangerous. Roadies are a very traditional group, and if people are doing a new thing that’s dangerous when done poorly, and they’re doing it poorly, expect that thing to be banned.
Here’s my quick priority list for buying speed. This is roughly in priority order of performance impact per dollar.
Eliminate any bottles inside the triangle (if they are there)
Aero BTA hydration, if you do not already have itBTS hydration (gives you both the liquids and increases aero)
Fast tires Continental GP4K2 or GP5K and latex tubes
Aero helmet (assuming you do not already have a fast helmet)Tri Suit (assuming you do not already have a fast tri suit)Aero brakesNew front end (the stock P2 base bar is way out of date from current trick parts)Deep wheels (just jump straight into a rear disc & front 90mm)New bike (marginal performance gains, but massive joy factor)
Edit: forgot about fast tires & tubes. Huge mistake. Huge.
Nice list
Thank you
Any particular BTS holder you would recommend for an older model P2?
Don’t bother with BTS hydration, if you can avoid it.Cervelo published some wind tunnel testing a while ago in which they found that a BTS improves aero. They said it smooths the airflow coming off the rider. I searched and cannot re-find that on their website. So, I run BTS on sprints with empty bottles.
BTS **done properly **can be a little more aero than without.
The VAST majority of triathletes do not do it properly.
You see 2 bottles sticking straight up into the wind, waiting to get ejected, and totally getting in the way when trying to mount/dismount.
I do BTA for sprints w/ a small empty bottle for aero purposes.
What do you do for HIM and IM?
Any Xlab product with gorilla cage and a bottle with a curved groove should work fine. I’ve never launched with that set up.
Any Xlab product with gorilla cage and a bottle with a curved groove should work fine. I’ve never launched with that set up.
That’s more aero than without?
What is a curved bottle?
Pro cyclists do eliminate bottles inside the triangle during TT stages.
On Non-TT stages, 1) UCI rules, 2) aero is really not that important in the bunch and you’d usually throw away your bottle before a big climb / print
If eliminate any bottles inside the triangle (if they are there) is true then why don’t pro road cyclists do that? They certainly would have the bike handling ability to reach behind and pull one out of there.
I distinctly remember TT stages where pro riders did have bottles. There was a TdeF ITT where Froome didn’t even have an aero bottle as he had a large water bottle much like we would use on training rides. Made me wonder. Seems like they’re concerned about hydration than aero,
Is there any truth that if your going to have a water bottle in the triangle, that it’s better to have two?
Look at your bottle. See a grove 2/3 of the way to the top? If yes, should be fine. If not, more launchable.
Pro cyclists do eliminate bottles inside the triangle during TT stages.
On Non-TT stages, 1) UCI rules, 2) aero is really not that important in the bunch and you’d usually throw away your bottle before a big climb / print
If eliminate any bottles inside the triangle (if they are there) is true then why don’t pro road cyclists do that? They certainly would have the bike handling ability to reach behind and pull one out of there.
I distinctly remember TT stages where pro riders did have bottles. There was a TdeF ITT where Froome didn’t even have an aero bottle as he had a large water bottle much like we would use on training rides. Made me wonder. Seems like they’re concerned about hydration than aero,
Is there any truth that if your going to have a water bottle in the triangle, that it’s better to have two?
Likely sponsor obligations. Tacx or elite only ever get their names on camera via quick shots on the trainer or from the bottles.
Ditto the XLab recommendation with a Gorilla cage. I have a Cobb JOF 55 seat, so I have the Cobb BTS bracket made to connect directly to my seat. But, I have a pair of basic, but strong, Profile cages.
Pro cyclists do eliminate bottles inside the triangle during TT stages.
On Non-TT stages, 1) UCI rules, 2) aero is really not that important in the bunch and you’d usually throw away your bottle before a big climb / print
If eliminate any bottles inside the triangle (if they are there) is true then why don’t pro road cyclists do that? They certainly would have the bike handling ability to reach behind and pull one out of there.
I distinctly remember TT stages where pro riders did have bottles. There was a TdeF ITT where Froome didn’t even have an aero bottle as he had a large water bottle much like we would use on training rides. Made me wonder. Seems like they’re concerned about hydration than aero,
Is there any truth that if your going to have a water bottle in the triangle, that it’s better to have two?
You have to remember that only about 10-15 riders in a TdF ITT actually care about their time. The remainder are most like just mailing it in and treating the ITT as a recovery day making sure they beat the time cut-off so they can keep riding the next day. Hell, some even do a wheelie on their TT bike across the finish line. In other words, for the majority of the field, staying hydrated during the ITT is way more important than their time.
Froome having a round bottle during an ITT is different. He’s always in the hunt for the GC, so his finish time is important. However, the Pinerello TT bike that he rides has a distinctive flare and cut-out on the down tube right at the bottle bosses. I’m guessing its aerodynmics were designed to accommodate a round bottle.
