A Time Trialing Thread

I get you now! I was thinking a gain of 0.02-0.03 would mean a lot of room for improvement as this is a gain of 10% or so. I’m not expecting easy solutions to get to your/Joe’s levels and the question was only to establish the target.

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It’s probably easier than me getting to 400 watts for 20 minutes lol

Here is my state tt run, 27.3 mph on 283 norm in somewhat windy conditions.

If you can optimize the hell out of it I think 0.190 is possible. Pair that with 400 watts and you’ll be at the top of the leaderboards. I think it can happen !!

Joe

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Here’s a race pic from last weekend, along with some stats from the race. I’m extremely pleased with how far my position has come. I’ve been making little tweaks occasionally for months, and I’m not particularly flexible or well-suited to being quite the rocket ship I’d like to be.

Olympic Distance Sylvan Beach Triathlon
GPS Distance: 24.80mi
Time: 59:30
Average Speed: 25.0mph
Average Power: 246w (2.96w/kg)
Normalized Power: 258w
IF: ~0.92
VI: ~1.05
Estimated CdA: 0.225-0.235, (very loose estimate, courtesy of BestBikeSplit)
Weight: 182lbs (83kg)
Height 6’ (183cm)

I had a lot of out-of-aero moments and slowdowns that I wouldn’t on a “perfect” day for turns and passing riders in traffic, particularly in the last ~3 mile section of each lap (2 laps), which was off an overpass into a stiff headwind, that I think cost me as much as 20-40s overall, so I’m giving myself a bit of extra credit on the low end of the CdA estimate. I did lose some speed due to other riders, but I don’t intend to complain, it was awesome to have so many people out. If I’d ridden 1:00:30, I WOULD be complaining… This was good for a 2nd best bike split overall by 16 seconds, as far as I can tell!

Ultimately, I’m really excited about the results and potential on this one. I felt very flat, generally, and although I ran very slow, I would not say it’s because I “overbiked” this thing, I just didn’t want to run hard on the day and have only averaged 8-10 miles running a week (if that) for the last month or more. Now I’m taking some time off and then I’ll get back to it and get better on and off the bike. Lots of low hanging fruit!

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Updated my front end to a more high hands position. Still need to practice the position to get a good head and shoulder and work on flattening the back but appreciate any thoughts on the position or critique .


This was the old:


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So as you move to a high hand position, you normally need to increase your reach…that is why you have a more pronounced hump in your back in the new position.

That said, I actually like where your arm extension is…I don’t often recommend this, but I would try moving your saddle back a bit to get more stretched out. It looks like you have it pushed pretty far forward.

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I think you are right I do feel a little a little restricted, but I always have slight curve to my back. My arm rests are as far forward as they can go. I will nudge the saddle back a touch.

Will take it outside this weekend and see if it’s more aero and whether I can actually push the same power.

Got a new saddle, adjusted the bars/saddle position slightly and wanted to get another set of eyes on the changes. Replying to my original pics- I feel like the new saddle (Sitero) allows me to rotate my hips better and have less rounding in the lower back. It’s certainly more comfortable for longer durations sub threshold (which is my main goal). Have been struggling a bit to push power above threshold though as the saddle is higher with more hip rotation, so I feel like I have less of a seat to brace against when trying to push down on the pedals.

My observations:

  • head is lower (not reflected in the first pic, but much easier to tuck in). I had an ok day but actually went the same speed as a couple weeks ago on 5-10W fewer in this TT, and feel that I’m consistently getting ears in line with shoulders
  • lower back is more flat than rounded, which was a goal. No back pain from a couple 3 hours rides in TT, and only minimal shoulder discomfort.
  • Saddle is a touch low (I knocked it up 5mm or so today after seeing this), but I am more comfortable with a lower saddle than typical
  • For shorter TTs, I probably could go lower on the front, but I would not want to for anything over an hour. I’m at the limit of my body’s ability to naturally rotate and would end up closing off my hips angle.
  • I feel a little short on reach with improved rotation plus arms at the current angle. Looking at a new TT bike post Virginia 70.3 next weekend, and I’m thinking to size up to give me 10-20mm more reach (not concerned with UCI regs)

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Hey all,
I know I’m a little late to the thread, but my TT season has kicked off and our state championship is coming up July 10th.
I was all primed for last year, until Nationals were cancelled. That gave me some time to practice my current position and equipment.
I did a full 40k practice yesterday to see where I’m at and was pleasantly surprised. I managed 49:50. It was the first time I felt good since the beginning of April right before my COVID vax.
I’m going in to tweak my position in June, as I think there are more gains to be had. One thing I can likely improve is my helmet. I have a specialized TT helmet, but I don’t feel like it has a good shape for my head, neck, and shoulders when I’m fully tucked. How have you all picked a helmet? I can’t just drop hundreds of dollars to buy several and see what works :woozy_face:
I don’t have an on-bike pic, but based on how I fit, I’m thinking the ugly POC helmet might work best. Anyone have experience with that one?
Here’s my current bike setup (and note that I will clean up the cables after I finish dialing it in-its just easier to keep everything out since I might need to cut the extensions a bit).

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So first off - sorry for the rubbish pics. Turns out my security cam is rubbish capturing motion in the dark!

Fished my first TT bike build over the weekend and just roughly set it up based on the saddle height of my track bike that has the same length cranks.

Current setup is:
165mm cranks
90mm stem
5mm spacers under and above stem
All the spacers under arm rests

My first ride was surprisingly comfortable but think I could get lower and/or further forward.

What do you think my plan of attack should be? Move to a 110mm stem and loose a few arm rest spacers? Once i’m more comfortable with my position I will probably slam the stem… for aesthetics mainly.



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I’d definitely try to go longer in the front, so move both the arm pads and extensions out the same amount (or indeed swap the stem for a longer one to make it simple) and see how that feels. Right now you’re upper and lower arm are at 90 deg. But you should be able to stretch things out quite a bit more and still be comfortable. I wouldn’t go lower right away tbh.

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New Trek SpeedConcept Disc seen in the wild:

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Thanks for the input :+1:

Extensions are already fully out so will have to go to a longer stem to stretch out a bit.

Also good advice not the go lower straight away… there’s no rush.

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Without being able to test different helmets, it is impossible to know if the one you want / buy is the “right” one. However there are several that test well across a large number of riders and are probably safe to assume will be “fast” for you, but maybe not “fastest”.

The Giro Aerohead, LG P-09, and the old Giro Advantage 2 all generally test well for most riders. More recently, initial data is very positive for the new Rudy Project Wing helmet.

I’ve never seen numbers on the ugly POC helmet, but no amount of speed can make it worth my dignity to show up in the thing…:stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:. That said, I would rock a POC Cerebellum w/o hesitation.

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I hope the Cerebral isn’t what he calls “the ugly POC helmet” :eyes:

So I’ve fit a 110mm stem and it feels better but definitely think I want to go lower.

Thinking swapping in a 17degree stem might just do it?

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How do your wrists feel in that position? I used to have extensions similar to that shape and I felt a fair amount of strain in my wrists/forearms that translated into a little bit of shoulder pain as well. I remedied it with more of a “high hands” position.

Forearms not to bad but I think high hands would be more comfortable.

Did you find you had to adjust the rest of your setup much when you switched in the angled extensions?

Just wondering because I do want to go that route in the long run (it looks cool if nothing else!) And if I know that maybe I should do it soon so I can dial everything else around it?

As a rule of thumb, if I were to go to 40 degree extensions like these what angle should I put my arm rests at? 15 degrees?

I might go custom at one point but as what was supposed to be a short term fix when I tried 45deg poles, to clamp them I used the clip/pad off a pair of clip ons. The pads are level and I find them very comfortable so I’m in no rush to change. I’m guessing the position engages my core more and a result there is less weight on my arms. Also I think there’s less strain on my wrists/hands/arm/shoulder/back which I think was manifesting in an ulnar nerve problem when I had flat poles.

Did my 2nd ever TT today, Eddy category.
10 miles, time was 21:03 avg power 395, super flat course and no wind i think, some people were talking about head wind but i didn’t feel anything.

Didn’t know time trialing is this fun, considering investing in a more serious TT rig.

Below is the pic from the last mile, i was able to stay in this position through the race, gets sketchy without TT bars but wasn’t too bad.

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I did a 100m TT yesterday using a ‘training wheel’ as I couldn’t get a tube in time for my usual 20mm aero front wheel.

The wheel I rode was this one, with a 25mm GP5000 tyre and a normal butyl tube. HUNT 4 Season Aero Wheelset – Hunt Bike Wheels

How many watts difference do you think using a proper race wheel would have made?