A Time Trialing Thread

There isn’t yet. It’s announced for 2024, Pro Teams get to ride it already though. It’s based on the Corsa Pro.

1 Like

Thanks :slight_smile:
I have the issue that overshoes slip down on me, even when I used this “skin-glue” stuff. I have not tried taping them as someone here mentioned, yet. But I got pretty good results with socks compared to aero overshoes, too, maybe the Giro empire shoes are also quite aerodynamic?

Regarding the SWorks TT5 helmet:
I bought the last one in a size M that was available in Germany (or maybe EU, not sure?) in the Specialized concept store in Hamburg…or rather introduced my supervisor at work who was in Hamburg to visit a customer that he has to get me that helmet :sweat_smile:

I wear compression socks underneath my overcovers and that seams to hold them up OK but I also cycle with closed toe vents as I now suffer from poor circulation/ cold feet post chemo 4 years ago. Long Socks and overshoes may be too warm for some folks and they’ll lose more than the say 1w gained aero (I’ve no idea what watts are actually saved but I can’t see it being much) in overheating.

I got a good photo of the tires.

2 Likes

Yeah, that’s what I said.

Recap of the 40k TT

  • no pictures sadly as it was on an automobile test-track. I would have loved for some in position pictures as the course was perfect for tucking in your shoulders and getting the head low.
  • the bottle was nice for peace of mind, but I didnt take a sip during the race (just like you all told me :smiley: )
  • we had a mild south-west wind so the main-straight was side-tailwind and I could reach 50km/h for most of it while holding back a little, the back-straight was side-headwind and a little rougher road surface, therefore I tried to invest more power there to hold some speed. Or so was the plan I formed while warming up and during my first lap.
  • Above plan did not work out really good, I found myself pushing a little in the tailwind as it was very satisfying to see speeds starting with a 5 on my headunit.
  • I wanted to aim for 310W, but especially during the middle of the race I settled down to 300W.
  • I have sore muscles now… Pushing in position nonstop for 50min is different than your average 20min TT where you sit up for a corner or U-turn every now and then…
  • Got 1st place, but as it is an event only for club members the big local hitters didnt attend. 14s missing to the course record. Guess I got a goal for next year.

Overall:
BMW 40k TT | Ride | Strava
38.71km | 303W | 47.5km/h | 48:56min

Lap 1 Lap 2 Lap 3 Lap 4 Lap 5
09:53.0 09:43.0 09:41.0 09:51.0 09:48.0

One question to the UK folks:
The distance is comparable with your 25m TTs, where would I sit with my speed / time in your very competitive TT scene? The complete ride was 40.5km / 25.X miles and was a 51:12.
EDIT: I remembered Oliver Bridgewood had a “Sub 50” challenge in his cycling weekly days for a 25mile TT. Thats at least some comparison for me now.

8 Likes

It would at a guess put you in the top 15%tile the top boys on a really fast boys on flat course like that would be going over 50kph. Its a lot faster than me though 56:59 is my best time but the leader board for the F2A/25 2017 segment might give you some idea but its not directly comparable as although it has minimal elevation, it has some but its also a dual carriageway dragstrip where traffic can pull them along.

F2A/25 TT - OT 56.59 - a 4min, 29s PB | Ride | Strava

F2A/25 2017 | Strava Ride Segment in Hardwick, England, United Kingdom

Someone else might know something more comparable.

1 Like

F2A/25 is certainly a fast course, although it has 5 roundabouts/turns from memory.

It’s so difficult to compare rides even on the same course but different days, let alone comparing to a different course.

@CMeier you’d certainly be competitive, top 15% sounds a reasonable estimate, but who really knows. Maybe you’ll just have to come over and race one of our open TTs!

2 Likes

Probably should have just bit the bullet, get my TT into a box and do the Grand Fondo Worlds TT and find some open TTs in the following week or so to attend. Doing a TT in England is definitely something I want to do at some point.

But the gran fondo is in Scotland… :man_shrugging:

https://www.spindata.co.uk/ ranks UK TT courses based on speed in historical rides. Events can be found and entered here Cycling Time Trials: Find Events.

You’ll need to join a CTT affiliated cycling club (£20 or so).

The fastest active courses are in the London East and London North districts. Cambridgeshire is an excellent base for those districts. These are fastest on a Saturday afternoon, but I tried to avoid those due to traffic, and prefer the midweek evening and Sunday morning events. For reference a Saturday afternoon can run 30-40s faster versus a quiet Thursday evening 10.

There is a fast course in Cumbria (Lake District, would make an excellent cycling holiday with a tt thrown in) but for some reason none of the Scottish courses seem to run fast. I didn’t discover racing until my 30s, and I’d moved down south by then, so have never raced the Scottish courses, but apparently the road surfaces are “grippy”.

It’s not all about bashing up and down A roads (those days are numbered with increasing traffic and the prevalence of road works). There’s a huge variety of TT course in the Uk. I’ve ridden 10 mile TTs this year ranging from 19 minutes to 22 minutes.

I think it’s shocking that they’ve chosen a straight and flat dual carriageway for the gran fondo, especially given the variety of scenery and roads that Scotland has.

4 Likes

There are less TTs now than a couple of years ago, but if you pick the right location, and time of the year, you can probably do 3-4 TTs per week without much driving (less than an hour). Usually something like Tuesday, Thursday evening 10s, and then maybe a 10 and a 25 over the weekend. Or a longer distance, but they are less often.

The Lakes are a great cycling holiday destination, but as a little hidden gem I’d also recommend somewhere around Chester. Excellent and quiet (quieter than the Lakes) riding in North Wales and Shropshire. There are also lots of TTs within easy reach, including some special ones, like the 24h.

But yeah, the road surfaces are not great and fairly slow.

1 Like

I did this to keep my Garmin from rattling around on this set up and it works great.

:grin:

1 Like

Your power and aero would put you well up there in most UK open 25TTs, based on my experience. Your numbers a bit higher than mine for 40k, although I’m more like 290W usually. I find on quicker Yorkshire courses, I’d be happy to get into the top-ten, but it does depend on who is riding. There are some quick guys I regularly seem to be up against who hold 360-390W, and have similar aero; so they are 3-5mins quicker! On a good day, these guys are riding 45-46mins.

The Oliver Bridgewood sub-50 course isn’t being run at the moment due to major roadworks, but it was a lot quicker than other courses; people used to travel the length of the country to race on it!

2 Likes

Thanks for the insight Greg :slight_smile:
The UK TT scene is quite fascinating. Whilst Time Trials die left and right in the southern parts of Germany (I got only a handful that are in reasonable driving distance), you guys seem to have one almost every week.

Other topic:
Have I shared the issue with the Specialized Sitero saddle in here before?
A friend of mine took part in the German nationals and they checked if his saddle fits in the between 240mm and 300+5mm rule…It did not. So afterwards all TT people in my club who also run the Specialized Sitero checked theirs and all of them are 235-238mm, I even checked with a bike shop and only the Sitero + (more padding) barely fits into the 240mm, all the normal Sitero models where too short.
To counter that I am currently 3D scanning that bracket that comes on the rear SWAT mounting of the Sitero saddle and a friend of mine will extend it by 1.5cm.

I guess a commissaire could already argue that the standard bracket is not an integral part of the saddle and therefore judge it as an aerodynamic-fairing, so lets see how that will turn out next year. Luckily at my state champs nobody cared about that, otherwise I would not have been allowed to start (dont tell nobody, I dont want to lose my good result due to “illegal equipment” :scream:)

On a side note: After looking through alternative saddle options and having a very informative and nice chat with the owner of “DASH cycles” yesterday…I bought their post+saddle combo, too :sweat_smile:

1 Like

Are all the German TTs “not on roads”? From what I think you and others in Germany posted, they seem to be mostly at places like car test tracks, old airports, etc? Those places are probably harder to find and more epensive to rent, so its difficult to organise a TT.

In the UK, all of them are just on normal roads (with traffic). There are lots of traditional courses, even though some have become too dangerous to use, and some can’t be used, because of changes to the roads or often traffic lights have been added somewhere. The roads don’t get closed, so its cheap to do. (And they are cheap - local club ones can be just £3, which is the fee that goes to the CTT organisation). Even bigger “open” ones are between £10-15. You also don’t need a license yourself, though you need to be in a club that is affiliated to the CTT (which most are). All of that makes it easy(ish) to organise or enter a TT, which helps keeping them popular.

Also obviously it’s tradition - in the early days of the bicycle, racing was prohibited in the UK, and secret TTs were the only races you could do. Single riders, dressed in plain black, would use a course with a cryptic letter and number combination. They’d start at eg. “the drain grid after the junction” and shout their imaginary number at the time keeper, once they passed “the lamp post before the lay-by” exactly 10 miles later. :smile:

2 Likes

It is quite difficult to close down roads nowadays in Germany. Local house owners are usually not happy, the local fire department who has to enforce the road closure probably isnt happy, too. Thats why many TTs are on old airfields (what @Aeroiseverything shared before) or automotive test tracks or even automotive racing circuits as the “road closure” is avoided by that. Additionally, you also need to have an ambulance on site, so this makes the organization even more expensive and difficult I guess.

There are TTs on normal roads tho, usually on very empty roads in the middle of nowhere as those are easier to close down. A club TT I did in the village of “Pirk” this year didnt even close down the road, just had marshals at the U-turns to stop the traffic when a rider approached.

The BMW cycling club I joined (mainly to get access to their 40k TT on their test track) also has open road “training” TTs. You have a given date and a timeframe of 2h on - as far as I could experience so far - very quiet roads. The timing is done by Strava segments. Maybe this should be done more, I just fear what would happen when something happened…“illegal open road races”

2 Likes

Its similar in the UK so the majority of events are raced on open roads.

2 Likes

I think I suggested using the spray to you at some point. I’ve realized over the past few weeks that not all sprays work the same. The last two different sprays I picked up were not great at keeping shoe covers from sliding down. The bad news is the original spray I used is nearly impossible to find. Here is the name in case you can magically find it - mueller tuffner pre-tape spray. It worked so well that my pants would stick to my legs for the next two days no matter how much I tried to clean it off.

1 Like

General question… has anyone found good resources on short sleeve vs long sleeve skinsuit? I’m curious if a short sleeve suit has any shown any repeatable differences in core temp/power output.

One of my bigger races is a 40k that is usually around 80F with decent humidity and no shade.