Every month I do the same 30’ TT on the same course, after eating the same food, with the same bike, etc. This month I received a Zipp 404 and I also made a monokote disk out of one of my training wheels. The training I do is for 1/2 IM, so I am not training to increase speed at LT, rather I am training to increase my “steady” pace. Here are the results from my latest TT with the race wheels and the result from my previous TT with standard Taiwnese box rims.
Any thoughts on getting useful wheel information out of this? I tried analyticcycling, the best I could find is their Fitness Monitor. I punched in the appropriate info using wind and temperature as the only 2 variables. They said that equalizing the temp. and wind, that I should have averaged 23.4 mph today rather than 21.6 mph. However, this is over-stated b/c I had to enter a constant wind direction into the web site.
5/13/2004 (Race wheels)
LTHR:172 Avg:21.6 mph Cad:94
80°F Cloudy Feels Like 87°F Humidity: 87%
Wind: From the South Southeast at 13 gusting to 18 mph
(I’ve been a sailor for 20 years, the wind was under-reported - should have been 18 mph gusting to 22 mph, IMO)
4/15/2004 (Box rims)
LTHR:171 Avg Speed:22.0 mph Cad: 95
70°F Humidity: 59%
Wind: From the South at 9 mph
I don’t think you can draw much information from only these trials, unless you know the exact wind speed and direction for the whole course. The info you provide doesn’t even indicate which direction relative to the wind you were traveling. In any case, there are too many variables involved to draw conclusions from two trials.
Too messy for any conclusions, other than this one:
You are faster with 404 and the monokote wheel. You don’t need to do any TTs to know that.
The wind messes things up to a monstrous degree. Just know that you should always ride the 404/disc setup, in all races. I have a 404, and I just mail-ordered a CH cover (in carbon!). I will race that everywhere in the future, in any conditions.
Hey Julian, does that mean that Excel has the CH Aero covers in stock?
Actually, I called CH and ordered the carbon one direct. Excel doesn’t even list it for sale. The phone # is at my office, but I’ll post it tomorrow.
Ok – I found the post where I learned about them. From the wattage list:
Many people are familiar with the plastic CH Aero wheel cover. However,
not that many people seem to know that they also make a much (50%?)
lighter, much sexier looking, carbon fiber version. Yes, that’s
right…real carbon fiber weave in a nice glossy matrix, identical to
the plastic model except for the material, thickness, and lack of foam
sealing strip. There is, however, a catch: they go for $199, vs. $60 for
the garbage can plastic version. Excel Sports doesn’t seem to be aware
that they exist, but if you want one CH Aero’s phone number is (210)
590-3474.
(Brought to you as a public service by somebody who has been using CH
Aero covers since ca. 1990.)