TT Bike Question

[fondriest]

I have just started road riding from a mtb background. Joined the local club a few weeks back, and am training to start racing next season. Due to lack of experience i am thinking TT will be the best way to start.

So heres my question, If i turn up to a TT on my normal road bike (probably with aero bars) will i get laughed off the start line??? How many people in amateur ranks ride TT specific bikes? Does anyone ride TT on a normal road bike?

 

[keydates]

TT bikes seem to be pretty expensive, so I doubt they'll be the first thing an amateur is going to buy. Also, because of the way they are designed, they aren't very versatile nor are they the most comfortable to ride. So, in other words, I don't think you need to worry.

 

[donhix1]

In the begining catagory racers not that many have TT bikes. Once you find out what you are good at climbing,crits, longer road races, stage races, TT ect.. Then you can decide if a TT is for you.
It will be pretty evident after your first year wether a TT bike is for you. If you go TT crazy and get the disk wheel ect it can be a lot of money.
The other thing is that if you have a TT bike but get beat by a bunch of people on regular bikes it doesn't look good.

 

[AlanZ]

no, no one will laugh at you

 

[li0scc0]

I have just started road riding from a mtb background. Joined the local club a few weeks back, and am training to start racing next season. Due to lack of experience i am thinking TT will be the best way to start.

So heres my question, If i turn up to a TT on my normal road bike (probably with aero bars) will i get laughed off the start line??? How many people in amateur ranks ride TT specific bikes? Does anyone ride TT on a normal road bike?

Most amateurs ride TT on a normal road bike. Perhaps a few modifications can be in order, such as:
1) Adding clip-on aero-bars
2) Moving the saddle further forward (and raising it a bit)
3) Possibly reversing the seat-post to put the saddle further forward.

#2 and #3 help to mimic the steeper seat-tubes on TT bikes. #1 allows you to get into an aero position.
However, at the intro level, most cyclists simply use their regular road bike without any of the above modifications. The above, #1-#3, can be done for less than $100 (however much you decide to spend for #1).

 

[OCRoadie]

I have just started road riding from a mtb background. Joined the local club a few weeks back, and am training to start racing next season. Due to lack of experience i am thinking TT will be the best way to start.

So heres my question, If i turn up to a TT on my normal road bike (probably with aero bars) will i get laughed off the start line??? How many people in amateur ranks ride TT specific bikes? Does anyone ride TT on a normal road bike?

I just rode my first TT last weekend, I rode my normal road bike without aero bars. Nobody was laughing at me . I would say that about 2/3 of the riders were on TT bikes and the rest on normal road bikes. Most of the guys on the TT set up bikes seemed like they were the CAT 1/2/3 racers and had been doing this for a while. I would suggest just riding your normal bike an maybe adding aero bars. Work on your training and riding in a more aero position. My feeling is that for us new to TT's there's a lot of room for improvement in our riding & training. Once you feel that your riding TT's the best to your ability then think about buying a TT bike with a rear disc wheel, tri spoke front, TT bars and shifters. Also, take into consideration the TT's your are going to do. If they are not that long, the TT bikes will not have that much advantage over a normal bike. If it's a TT with much climbing, you may be better off on a normal road bike. Good Luck

 

[beerco]

If i turn up to a TT on my normal road bike (probably with aero bars) will i get laughed off the start line???

Nobody laughs at anything at a TT. Everyone's too embarrassed that they pay money to do that to themselves.

 

[fondriest]

I just rode my first TT last weekend, I rode my normal road bike without aero bars. Nobody was laughing at me . I would say that about 2/3 of the riders were on TT bikes and the rest on normal road bikes. Most of the guys on the TT set up bikes seemed like they were the CAT 1/2/3 racers and had been doing this for a while. I would suggest just riding your normal bike an maybe adding aero bars. Work on your training and riding in a more aero position. My feeling is that for us new to TT's there's a lot of room for improvement in our riding & training. Once you feel that your riding TT's the best to your ability then think about buying a TT bike with a rear disc wheel, tri spoke front, TT bars and shifters. Also, take into consideration the TT's your are going to do. If they are not that long, the TT bikes will not have that much advantage over a normal bike. If it's a TT with much climbing, you may be better off on a normal road bike. Good Luck

I agree, my fitness/technique is going to be my biggest area of improvement for the first season at least. The guy in our club was taking orders for next seasons kit and asked if i wanted a skinsuit, i said i didnt think it would help me that much(it was £50) so will be riding a normal road bike and in normal shorts/jersey.

How did you get on in your first TT?

 

[OCRoadie]

I agree, my fitness/technique is going to be my biggest area of improvement for the first season at least. The guy in our club was taking orders for next seasons kit and asked if i wanted a skinsuit, i said i didnt think it would help me that much(it was £50) so will be riding a normal road bike and in normal shorts/jersey.

How did you get on in your first TT?

I did okay, I came in 13th out of 20 in my classification. I had hoped to do better, but expected to be in the lower half. The course was 11 miles, the first 4 miles being uphill and the last 7 flat and downhill. It's hard to not blow up on the uphill, but you have to keep something for the flats. I had ridden this course many times on my own and previously my best time had been 33:18, in the TT I had a 32:50, I was happy to see the improvement but wanted more. Like yourself, I thought that doing some TT's would be a good way to get into racing. I wanted to get some competitive riding without having to worry about riding in a large group ( I do ride with 50-100 riders on the weekends, but not in a race atmosphere). I think that as long as you judge your TT results on how you performed against yourself and not the other riders you will be happy with TT's. It was way harder than I thought it would be, TT's are a brutal cylcing discipline, but I can't wait to do it again and try to beat my last time. If your interested check out this site, It's dedicated to TT's in California but it still was worthwhile info: http://www.timetrial.org/index.htm Good Luck...http://www.time