Power required for a 40kph TT

That seems extraordinarily high….and it isn’t like aero teach was not pretty advanced in 2016.

As others noted, crosswinds likely played a big role here…although I don’t remember the conditions that year. 2017 was, IIRC, a very light wind year.

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It was “an average” year, so pretty hot, humid and windy.

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25miles, UK
52.50
45.5kph
288W
185cm
80kg
2 lap dual carriageway course with roundabouts/turns at each end
Garmin Vector power pedals
There was some traffic, but not a whole lot. I think this is a pretty average day on a good, but not exceptional course.
I have some data from a different course on a different day which is ~250W for 51:xx - with a whole lot of traffic and virtually perfect weather.

One thing the OP didn’t ask for (but others have commented on) is weather/air density - most of this data is available off weather apps, and makes a huge difference to speed. On the same course, same position, same power, I’ve seen ~2min difference between good weather and poor.

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My power to hit 40kph is seems much higher than these examples :confused: I think my setup is decent, position is UCI compliant and I am running 88mm wheels F&R with 25mm Schwalbe Pro One tubeless (not the TT ones)

Most recent hard effort is

295w
42.1kph
24.16km
177ish cm
74-75kg
Xcadey Spider PM
Outside on local crit circuit (not flat, but no sharp turns either)

Was wearing race cut long sleeve kit, aerohead helmet with visor up, clear glasses (was dark), front and rear lights on the bike, was also from a rolling start not a standing start


image

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Mind if I ask why?

Because any TT i do around here will have my bike on a UCI jig, no point training in a position i cant use anywhere :slight_smile:

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On the TT bike, with aero helmet, c. 240w; on my road bike, it’s more or less flat out to manage it on the road bike (270w)

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Traffic free course (like I assume this is) is going to be a lot slower than even a “quiet” open road event, especially the dual carriage way ones.

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You seem to lose a lot of speed through the corners.

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This wasn’t an official race or anything, just me going for and taking a local KOM on an out-and-back segment that’s 43.5 km long, so I took the middle 40 km of that so I can add a data point to the thread.

  • Average speed: 41.5 kph
  • Distance: 40 km
  • Time: 57:53
  • Power: 311W average, 315W NP
  • Height: 177 cm
  • Weight: 78-79 kg depending on day
  • Age: 40
  • Power meter: Power2Max ngEco
  • “Course”: outside, out and back, about 120 m in elevation gain in total, 19C, ~11 kph WNW wind, so a bit of a headwind on the way back
  • Equipment: Road bike, Specialized Tarmac SL6 sport with 56mm wheelset, Kask Utopia helmet, Castelli aero jersey, Assos S7 bibs, Lake SPD MTB shoes :sweat_smile: 99% of the time was spent in an aero hoods position. I’m about as aero as a brick.

I’ve been eyeing up TT bikes on ebay classifieds, wouldn’t mind zipping around on one for a while for fun.

Total time for the 43.5 km segment was 1:02:39, 314W and 41.7 kph average. I held the KOM for the summer, until a couple Strava buddies took out their TT bikes and TT gear one day and worked as a team to take it. I’ll have my revenge though. :joy:

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Not as long a segment (2.7km) I had the KOM (Lol,its fairly flat) at just over 40kph for about 5 years. Chaingangs tried to beat my wind assisted solo effort and failed, then a mate went out on his TT bike and smashed it (43kph), my time been beaten by several TT’ers and chaingangs now; 9 years later there’s no way I’ll get revenge :joy:

Nice effort! And really great post/stroy with those pics, thank you. Great motivating for me as I have been thinking if it is realistic goal for next summer to try reach 1hour in 40k TT with road bike. Regarding your result it should be possible! I´m excactly similar height and weight as you. I don´t have never had power meter outdoor, but regarding indoor Kickr I should be able to put at least 320W for hour. I haven´t tried either clip bars, but I would invest those for next summer and maybe little better wheels than current shallow standard alloy stock rims.

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You guys have free time on vacation? Must not have little kids. :man_shrugging:

We have a time-share unit in Captiva (South Seas) on an odd week… Not sure when we’ll get back (its during school) but I just got an Evoc bag, so no more renting from Billy’s (they’ve always had a pretty nice rental fleet on the LBS side, but they’re still not my bike). Maybe 2022, fingers crossed.

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Ohh I have a kid and time is always limited but I live in the area full time.

Give me a heads up and hopefully we can link up!

:slight_smile:

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If it’s any consolation, I found when I translated my triathlon into a uci legal position, I didn’t see a speed decrease, main issues seem to be reduction in potential reach and possibly a slightly more cramped hip angle.

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Definitely sounds like you have a reason to buy a TT rig now!

  • Average speed: 25 mph
  • Distance: 100 miles
  • Average power: 219 watts
  • Normalized power: 226 watts
  • Your height: 183 cm (72 inches)
  • Your weight: 76.5 kg (169 lbs)
  • Gear: LGneer Aero Tri suit, Giro Aerohead with visor on, Trek speed concept (rim brake) with Hed 6 front and Hed Disc rear, two bottles (one bta and one bts)
  • Power measurement device: DFour
  • Course: outside, flat course with ok pavements, 4x out and back (so 7 u-turns)
  • Weather: wind was <5 mph; temp at start 73 Fahrenheit, temp at finish 95 Fahrenheit

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And for comparison, a 40k TT at a faster pace. Height, weight and gear was the same as above (but went with no bottles). Minimal wind, temp was 75 Fahrenheit.

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Pretty damn speedy.

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I think this was the first time I went over 40kph (40.4kph to be precise).


Its a pretty flat single carriageway course with just a rbt turn and that was 235w. That was back in September 2017.

At the time I guess I was around 65kg and 175cm

Its a pity that its so far away from me or it would be an ideal course to test on with not too many factors other than yourself. Despite being nearly 5 years older I think I would be faster given I am cancer free (the original tt was just before my collapse to it) and trying to do this less:

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