Time lost in TT



cdy291

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Nov 23, 2006
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I did a 2.26 mile TT last saturday. I was racing in the pro1/2/3 field with 40 guys. I came in 33rd with a time of 5:01:264. The winning time was 4:24 from a guy from Jittery Joe's pro cycling team. My question is how much time could I have lost to him due to the bike I was riding. The course was pretty much flat. I did have aero bars, skin suite, rudy aero helment, and shoe covers. But my wheels where just Ksyrium SSL's. I was on a regular road bike and my back wasn't that flat.
 
cdy291 said:
I did a 2.26 mile TT last saturday. I was racing in the pro1/2/3 field with 40 guys. I came in 33rd with a time of 5:01:264. The winning time was 4:24 from a guy from Jittery Joe's pro cycling team. My question is how much time could I have lost to him due to the bike I was riding. The course was pretty much flat. I did have aero bars, skin suite, rudy aero helment, and shoe covers. But my wheels where just Ksyrium SSL's. I was on a regular road bike and my back wasn't that flat.
Hard to say exactly how much difference was due to aerodynamics and how much simply from better power over the duration. Your time trial was basically a slightly short 4km pursuit like track riders do. The start is really important for an event that short as is your VO2 Max and anaerobic capacity. Aerodynamics definitely play a role and body position is more important than the wheels, but it all counts in the end.

I don't know of any good way to tell how big a difference your more upright position and stock wheels made vs. how much power difference he had over you. There are just too many variables.

-Dave
 
cdy291 said:
I did a 2.26 mile TT last saturday. I was racing in the pro1/2/3 field with 40 guys. I came in 33rd with a time of 5:01:264. The winning time was 4:24 from a guy from Jittery Joe's pro cycling team. My question is how much time could I have lost to him due to the bike I was riding. The course was pretty much flat. I did have aero bars, skin suite, rudy aero helment, and shoe covers. But my wheels where just Ksyrium SSL's. I was on a regular road bike and my back wasn't that flat.

Hardly anything, maybe a handful of seconds over such a short course. Ksyriums are reasonably aero and you did have aero bars and helmet, so those are three major helpers. I can't see what else you could have done equipment-wise to improve your chances. You did pretty well regardless.
 
I could have carved at least another 8 seconds out of the course just taking the turns fast, because the course was fairly technical. I crashed on a decent a few weeks ago and every since I have been a little jittery in the turns, wich is sad since I was always such a good bike handler.
 
grahamspringett said:
Hardly anything, maybe a handful of seconds over such a short course. Ksyriums are reasonably aero and you did have aero bars and helmet, so those are three major helpers. I can't see what else you could have done equipment-wise to improve your chances. You did pretty well regardless.
hmmm ... ksyriums are about the worst wheels from an aero POV out there. Have you seen a single tunnel or velodrome test? !!!!! lots of 'em online if you search.

to the OP: very hard to say. I don't think you even said what the winning rider was using so it's hard to compare! Flat/hilly/twisty/straight -- all those things make a difference.
 
I said it was fairly flat and was a little technical. And he was using what ever Jittery Joe's team TT bike is.
 
cdy291 said:
I could have carved at least another 8 seconds out of the course just taking the turns fast, because the course was fairly technical.
That was my first thought, because it's hard to lose more that a few aero seconds on a course that short.
 
rmur17 said:
hmmm ... ksyriums are about the worst wheels from an aero POV out there. Have you seen a single tunnel or velodrome test? !!!!! lots of 'em online if you search.

Surely better than standard spokes and rims though?
 
rmur17 said:
to the OP: very hard to say. I don't think you even said what the winning rider was using so it's hard to compare! Flat/hilly/twisty/straight -- all those things make a difference.
The JJ's rider was likely on the Garneau TT frameset with deep Cane Creek rims, no disc. Assuming that it's the Augusta, GA TT, then the rider was Thad Dulin a 26 year old Pro.
 
cdy291 said:
I could have carved at least another 8 seconds out of the course just taking the turns fast, because the course was fairly technical. I crashed on a decent a few weeks ago and every since I have been a little jittery in the turns, wich is sad since I was always such a good bike handler.
It may take time, but it will come back. I crashed on a 50mph descent when i was younger and it took awhile to get up the speed in the corners, but I am perfectly fast in the corners again. The JJ rider didnt have to accelerate out of the corners as much if his corner speed was higher as you are aware so that left him more power to drive the flats too.

I would go with the "a few seconds" estimation on equipment and then add on the corner speed issue. As time savers go and standing on there own merits helmet and clip-ons which you had are the most important followed by wheels then frame. The frame can play a major role in that you can get INTO a very aero position, but it wont do you any good if you arent practiced on your TT bike. Understand that most people lose 5% of there wattage (over 40k mind you) on their TT bikes vs road bikes, but you make up for it on aerodynamics.


And I agree with others that you did great. Pros are on another level.
 

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