Whats the best way to time-trial?

[quenya]

lol thanks.... is it true that cancellara used a doped bike to win paris roubaix and tour of flanders... i always thought that he just had pure time trialling talent!! it would be such a let down...
-Jake

Not like i'm 'in the know' but I didn't see anything to make me believe Cancellara had a motor other than his own aerobic engine. I think his tactics were more impressive than his wattage.

 

[Jakeyboi123]

good point... but i t is very strange how he moves his nowhere near the gear shifters and suddenly makes a huge gap.??? the way he went up that hill in the tour of flanders was unreal. and he was still in the saddle!!!

-Jake

 

[quenya]

good point... but i t is very strange how he moves his nowhere near the gear shifters and suddenly makes a huge gap.??? the way he went up that hill in the tour of flanders was unreal. and he was still in the saddle!!!

-Jake

I can accelerate without shifting, especially when I know ahead of time what gear I'll want... Just saying speed, cadence, and gearing are related but if I'm making 500 watts I'm going a certain speed regardless of the gear ratio.

 

[Jakeyboi123]

he moves his hand as if he is pushing a button and then suddenly makes a gap. if hes not changing gear, which he isnt, then what is he doing? and why is it sucha coincidence that he suddenly makes a gap... i think that theres something fishy about it.....

 

[quenya]

We can just disagree about it, I'm not going to pretend to know something I don't but... What I do know is 2, 20 minute intervals at near FTP a couple of times a week will help your TTing a lot!

 

[Jakeyboi123]

ok thanks.. what kind of time should i be getting over 10 miles(flat) as a beginner? 25-30mins (depending on conditions etc) or would it be more? i need to know what i need to aim at and how muh i need to improve. Thanks.
-Jake

 

[quenya]

You'll have a better idea of what speed/time you're aiming at when you've done some LT/FTP work.

On a road bike without aero goodies I'd be happy with anything under 27 minutes and ecstatic with less than 25 minutes.

 

[frenchyge]

Since we are talking about value I have to point out Dave and Swampy gave the advice with the biggest bang for the buck at the top of the thread.

That's always the case -- cover the basics first and then there are going to be diminishing returns after that. If you want to stay competitive then you'll still have to keep looking for every advantage no matter how costly it starts to get.

 

[frenchyge]

i dont know how much you found the profile t2's for, so if you could link me a pair that are the same price as the dedas that would be geat!!!!

I couldn't find new ones as cheap as the Dedas. Best I found was $84 here.

The Profiles are much more popular, however, which means that there are many to choose from on eBay, if that's your bag. I did see several interesting sets on there for around the Deda price. There's not much to aerobars, so I wouldn't worry much about buying used if you're just looking to try them out.

 

[pedalfaster12]

Something most people on this thread seem to have forgotten: Ride like hell. IF you have anything left when you cross the line, you sold yourself short.

 

[DanDare]

You'll have a better idea of what speed/time you're aiming at when you've done some LT/FTP work.

On a road bike without aero goodies I'd be happy with anything under 27 minutes and ecstatic with less than 25 minutes.

I wouldn't say anywhere near 25mins could be expected from a 'beginner' though i guess a a beginner could mean 'Never done any exercise or even ridden before' or maybe 'already an excellent athlete but never really ridden/TT'd before' ? 27mins would be a great time imho !