You would need to be doing the Tony Martin eyeball training with a pencil stuck to your forehead.
Ordered a 45mm mono spacer (now on the 25mm one), Trek Mono Plug-In to fit regular extensions and the Vision Speed J-bend extensions to play around with my position.
Did a bit of aero testing yesterday while the weather was still good (rest of the coming 1-1.5 weeks looks terrible) using Aerotune and while I would like to validate by doing another test but on a longer stretch of road, the large MET Drone WB resulted in a 12W improvement at 45kph compared to the medium Giro Aerohead.
Might have to take it with a grain of salt for now but even if itâs only 8W then Iâm still happy, at least it seems to do a good job of deflecting air around my shoulders 
On September 24th I took part in the 44. BMW Vierermannschaftszeitfahren â a 4 people TTT from BMW on their test track north of Munich.
The race is 9 laps on the 7,77km long course which equals 70km in total, almost no elevation and corners with such a wide radius that you never even have to think about braking. I rode with 3 team members of my cycling club which I would classify as one being slightly faster than myself, one slightly slower than myself and one for motivation (if you happen to read this Harry, I still love you
).
Before the race we consulted with friends of the team, Aero- and TTT-experts from Aerofitting (they were part of forming a winning team for the German TTT national championship). Our main takeaways from that were that we should train together as often as possible (which we failed with never training in the full team), ride short leads of about 20-30s, when one rider is exhausted try to keep them in the train and rather have them skip their lead as this provides an aerodynamic advantage for everyone, adjust lead times instead of lead speed and some more details on how to efficiently switch the leading rider.
Race day 2h to 1h before the race:
We all meet up 2h before our start time as the race organizers had a mandatory safety meeting at this time, which we only partially could follow as we were stuck in the long queue for getting our timing chips and having our bikes checkedâŚnot for UCI compliance but for it being able to break and not have a loose headset bearing. Havent had that checked on my bike before a race yet, but all our bikes passed without an issue. Harry and myself knew the course and the safety concept from a previous 40km TT we rode on that very course a few months earlier, so we could quickly sum up where the racing line is, what to do in case of an emergency and how to overtake others. As we still had plenty time we went back to the carpark, attached the timing chips on our bikes and attached the race numbers to our suits before, still having plenty of time, sitting down to have some pre-race coffee and having a lovely chat with the multiple time winning team that parked right next to us. When we offered them coffee they were first suspicious, but in the end as we drank first also agreed on a cup whilst the trash-talk (âOh, you plan on going so slow that you wear the sub 50kph Rule28 base layer?â or something like this, its been a monthâŚ), gear and aerodynamics nerd-chat kept on.
Race day 1h before the race:
Its time to start our warm up and check for the initial order in which we want to ride. For the warm up we could use a giant, paved circle inside one of the race tracks corners. We ended up with aiming for 49kph at the start, possibly increasing it later in the race and the initial order being myself, the faster rider, the slightly slower rider and Harry. This was a mistake as we later had to find out the hard way.
Race:
As the second to last team we started on the 7.77km long course and quickly found our rhythm. I started getting up to 30kph out of the saddle, but with moderate power, then sat down and got into the aerobars and slowly driving it up to about 50kph with 350-ish Watt. When I next checked my Garmin I already was way past my lead time, so I shouted âWECHSELâ (we agreed on this very specific word which means âSwitchâ in German as it was easy to understand and distinguish from any exhaustion sound people tend to do 
), gave one pedal spin of higher power to create a small gap and drift to the right so my team members could pass by. As I saw the second rider passing me I prepared for slotting in again behind the third and it went like a charm. One could think we did practice this. And for the next laps it went on like this, smooth and efficient. On the second lap we figured out that we had slight headwind on the start straight which we could avoid by going a little of the racing line, closer to the tree-line next to the track. As we overtook many teams on the still very crowded track we were stuck in the âfast laneâ anyway.
The next moment I can remember is passing the 35km mark and still feeling strong and fresh when suddenly the very team that we shared our coffee with before the start and multiple timer winner passed usâŚWith 2-minute start intervals I was slightly shocked that they gained so much time on us already. But we started with the plan of a negative split, so maybe we could limit the loss in the second half of the race. I think my mates were as shocked as I was and did not want to give up already which one could feel by an increase in speed right when the other team was out of the 10m anti-draft range of the organizer. After a few hundred meters the âchaseâ stopped and we calmed down, settling for a slightly increased speed, but letting the other team go.
With 2 laps to go Harry suddenly got cramps and just dropped out, leaving it to the remaining three of us. As I was, up to this point, riding behind Harry I suddenly didnât have the slipstream of a musculus 1.9m guy in front of me anymore. In hindsight we should have placed the slightly slower rider behind him and not me. We somehow got the order mixed prior to this point, too. I was drafted by the slightly slower rider who, after the race, complained that I give terrible slipstream and that he had to push 300W already behind me at our cruise speed of about 50kph at this point.
This just got worse in the now reduced team and we could feel the accelerations and decelerations depending on who was leading. In hindsight this was a mistake and we should have altered the lead times significantly instead of the speed. The stronger rider and myself still felt good, even after 1h, so we drove up the speed slightly each time we were leading which totally broke the slightly slower rider, leading to massive gaps opening up in the last round.
After the race
We crossed the finish line after 1h 25min which equals an average speed of slightly below 50kph and meant a third place for us out of the 38 teams. A result we are very happy with for our first participation in this race. Also a result we want to improve on next year, for example by breaking the 50kph barrier. For comparison, the multiple time winning team, also winning this year and passing us at the middle of the race, clocked in a 1h 20min 43s = 52.03km/h.
All in all: TTTs are awesome, I wish there were more on the calendar. You dont have this strange sensation of speed, riding as close as possible to your teammate without being really able to break (except for the âair brakeâ which is sticking your head up) and trying to keep the fine balance of making them suffer by being as aero as you can and going fast, but not too much to keep them fresh enough for their turn on the front (and them doing the very same to you) in any other discipline I think.
Started preparing for 2024 season yesterday. A trip to see the boss at team HQ 
Frame swap from a speed concept to trinity, and added a cadex disc (which wouldnât fit in the trek!) and kismet pads and poles. Donât see many of the kismet extensions, but they feel great, really nice wrist position and you just sort of sink into the position with the fore arm support.
Also swapped from HJC to the Kask which seems to close the gap to my back better - Iâll replace the visor with special Ganna one closer to the new season.
No UCI races next year, so went for the slightly faster tri frame set, and my position has gone a touch longer and higher at the front. Still looks nice and compact, but thatâs partly the camera perspective.
This position fails the UCI rules!!! Just shows how hard it is to fit in the UCI âboxâ when youâre 2 cm short of the maximum height exemption and have silly long arms.
Now six months of off season to get ready to do it justice!
Did you test any of this, or just guesstimations?
Looks fast, no doubt.
I went to the wind tunnel a while ago, and no major position changes since then, just some tweaking and changes to make it more comfortable and easy to hold.
I donât want to splurge a load of cash and time on that again 
.
To be honest my tunnel visit was incredibly frustrating. I didnât really find any gains at all over an earlier fit with Matt. I did figure out a lot about what doesnât work. So I learned the box I need to work in!
Main guess work here is the helmet, working on the basis that filling the gap to my back is a good idea. I will do some basic outdoor testing against the hjc if we get a good spell of weather.
I trust Matt. Heâs hugely experienced, has tested a lot (particularly around a trinity!), and Iâve gone faster each year Iâve been with them.
Good morning at everyone! I love this thread, and yes, i have discovery only today!
Please donât end never to live and write!
Iâm Italian TT amateur racer enthusiast and TR and WKO5 user.
Thanks so much for more and more suggestion, i have good suggestion and idea, and, me too, i hope too help other TT riders.
Cheers!
Corrado, Italy.
You seem to be very âcompactâ though. Did you try to increase reach?
Could be due to the picture but that almost looks uncomfortably closed off and compact to me
But thereâs no way in telling if something works/is fast based on pictures of course.
Itâs actually a touch longer and higher than the position I used this year, which was my best year ever in terms of power and results.
With black week offers rolling in, whatâs your favorite base bar / extensions youâd get right now, if you didnât have one?
Seems like WattShop will have 25% off, but >1100 GBP for just the base bar still seems quite steep. Any favorites among 3T, TriRig, Vision etc.?
I have 3T Aduro and Tririg Alphas.
The 3Tâs in terms of adjustability are not great unless you get an adaptor plate from MBPC or Aerocoach.
However they feel significantly stiffer to me and nice and narrow.
Alpha Oneâs have been fantastic for bike fit and if I get in the tunnel at some point will pay for themselves in terms of speed of adjustability. They are quite wide though and the flex on them when indoors is a bit alarming (I weight 75kg so no gorilla). Customer service has been great. Top tip is to buy two monoposts at the same time then cut the one you want to race on once you are dialled in, but still have another if you decide to change bikes etc.
Just listening to the road.cc forecast and theyâve quite a bit on the decision to stop UK TTâs on 20mph limit roads. My local club is looking at changing its course because of it but we have options it sounds like a lot donât!
Appreciate this is a long time ago!
The extension plate that you have here, is this the WattShop mono plate for the Ordu or something else?
I too have the same bike and extensions but currently have them mounted to the stock Orbea plate.
Considering the Wattshop plate, but wanted to see some pics of it mounted first
Hi, itâs a monobracket from Wattshop, I ended up ordering it in size XL, but it would be better in size M.
Iâll take some photos and respond here, but now youâve left me with a doubt, did you install the anemoi directly on the plates that comes with ordu?
I too would be looking at an XL to match my position.
Yes i mounted direct to original plate.
Would love to see some pics thank you
Out of curiosity, what lead you to buying those over the stock Shiv TT Disc (?) basebar? Would you be so kind and measure the weight of both and share it here? I kinda got into the habit of also wanting my TT bike to be as light as possible.
The main reason I bought them was that I need more reach on my Shiv TT (disc). Long story short, I have a medium frame, but should be on a large. Unfortunately only medium was left in stock a few years ago when I bought it and I was married to buying a Shiv TT due to a discount I was getting. The options I was considering were: buy the Wattshop basebar/stem or buy a new bike (Cervelo P5 or Factor Hanzo) and try to sell the Shiv TT. This seemed like the path of least resistance.
Did my first official 40K TT that wasnât preceded by a swim and followed by a run today. When will I be able to walk again?
I am glad I ainât the only one that got sore muscles after such a TT . And I do train a lot on the TT and in positionâŚbut apparently not for ~1h straight.