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In a Pickle - Roadbike v TT Bike

  • 02-09-2012 5:08pm
    #1
    BUACHAILL
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,925 ✭✭✭


    Just looking for opinions on this please.

    So looking to do some triathlons next year and been told to strongly consider a tt bike. I know there is lots of conflicting advice in performance differences between road and tt bikes. I guess my question is will I really notice the difference at my level and what level will it make the difference. My road bike is full carbon with ultegra groupset. Would my money be better spent on the clip on bars and some wheels ?

    Will the TT bike save my legs and energy levels with less watts required overall ?

    Bit of a mine field to be honest.

    Any help /advice always welcome and appreciated.


Comments

  • #2
    Beasty
    Administrators, Social & Fun Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 78,393 Admin ✭✭✭✭✭Beasty


    Moved from Cycling Adverts


  • #3
    Beasty
    Administrators, Social & Fun Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 78,393 Admin ✭✭✭✭✭Beasty


    Bang for your buck*

    Clip-on aerobars will make a difference. A proper TT bike will make more of a difference - power is compromised (I find I lose around 20-30w compared to road bike with clip-ons), but is more than made up by the aero benefits - I've found that I've improved my 25m TT time by over 3 minutes at similar power on the TT bike compared to clip-ons on the road bike


    *Not copied and pasted due to Sherlock SI on Copyright;)


  • #4
    BUACHAILL
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,925 ✭✭✭BUACHAILL


    Thanks for the advise and nice link.

    I guess its bite the bullet and go TT. Now starts the research into bang for buck on a tt bike. Any suggestions on that front ?


  • #5
    Lumen
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 31,222 ✭✭✭✭Lumen


    Beasty wrote: »
    I've found that I've improved my 25m TT time by over 3 minutes at similar power on the TT bike compared to clip-ons on the road bike

    With exactly the same wheels, clothing and helmet?


  • #6
    Beasty
    Administrators, Social & Fun Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 78,393 Admin ✭✭✭✭✭Beasty


    Lumen wrote: »
    With exactly the same wheels, clothing and helmet?
    Sorry - wrote a reply then realised it was boll"x

    That improvement was between my 1st and 2nd 25m TTs, both on the road bike with clip-ons.

    My first outing on the TT bike was the Boards TT in August 2010. Basically the same wheels (Powertap rear), skinsuit and helmet on the Batterstown course. My previous attempt on the same course with clip-ons was 17s slower at 11w higher. Working on the impact of the lower power using the Bike calculator would increase the time difference to around 42s, which would work out at about 1m 45s over 40km. I reckon I've got a bit more aero since then by lowering the bars, which is hopefully saving me a few more seconds


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