burnthesheep

This is really a YMMV kinda thing, but in "off season" for outdoors TT bike usage I have been trying to do some pushups and plank style stuff. 50 to 100 pushups a day. Maybe 2 to 3min total of plank. So, not a ton.....but something.

My position is really aggressive. It's fine for 10mi and a little rough for 25mi, and sucks for longer training rides.

My idea was maybe the planks/pushups would make me more comfortable in the position. I have been blown away the difference. I haven't done anything to bulk up my chest, just really toning what's where and in the abs.

Now I just feel like I'm chilling out when in aero like a triathlete in a comfy aero position.

Other improvement was I wasn't interested in trying out a ton of different sunglasses to get rimless or improve my vision riding TT in training. So I got a new old stock Giro Vanquish mips with visor for $100 to my door. Amazing TT bike training helmet, good vision, aero, quieter than my POS Giant branded helmet I was using.

I wondered why that Giant helmet was so loud in TT training rides..........then saw some female racers using that same helmet in Euro cyclocross races..........hmmmm....perhaps the front looking like a cheese grater had something to do with the noise.

Next up was when I reduced the stack on my Speedplays further by getting rid of the adapter plate and custom drilling them myself.......I forgot to adjust the saddle height stuff. So, adjusted that. Ahhhhh that feels better.

Last thing to do is I need to adjust the Speedplay set screws. The right cleat moves too much pedaling for my liking right now.

But I feel I'll be in a good place for some outdoor TT riding when the weather breaks.

topflightpro

Another good exercise is a plank to push up. You start in a plank position with elbows on the ground and hands flat, then push up from there to a push up. It really works the core and tricep.

burnthesheep

OK. What's the most affordable way into Di2 on a TT bike that can take it properl?

I see used bikes with it on them, but the deals aren't on frames I like or want. That would seem a good way to go if a bike already has it.

If you piece together cable, battery, right only shifter, right only brake with shifter, RD, etc.............could that be cheaper than ALL of it for FD also? Seems to cut a bit of cost for only one brake lever and one front shifter and the FD out.

I know some folks love the FD sync thing, but on my TT bike I doubt to ever race doing a climb longer than 2min or slow enough to need an inner ring.

I just feel I would most likely be able to update my frameset then do Di2 at some point instead of being able to do both immediately.

Hermes

I do not completely understand your first sentence.

I do not have Di2 on my TT bike but wish I did. My motive would be it is bad ass and super cool.

My wife has electronic shifting on all her bikes and likes SRAM the best but has Di2 on her TT bike. She changed from mechanical to Di2 for UCI compliance. She has a national record in the 20k ITT and the bike has to comply with UCI as measured by USAC at the time the record was set. Di2 affords a better UCI setup since measurements are made with the shifters (assuming manual) extended and Di2 has buttons on the end of the aerobar. And Di2 just offers better shifting with less chance of dropping a chain or other mechanical shifting problems during racing.

Generally for training, we run 11/23 rear cassette. I use a 54/44 and she uses a 53/39. She vary seldom uses the 23t rear cog when climbing. When we lived in NorCal, one of her coaches had her climbing Kings Mountain 4 miles, 6% grade. on the TT bike in the aerobars. I put a 26T setup on the rear for the switch back.

So there are two considerations for TT bike setup. One is training and the other is racing. The only national championship course where she used her small ring was on Antelope Island near Salt Lake City. All the other courses were big ring only 11/23 cassette.

And there was the 10k time trial up Mount Diablo where two WCs showed up on the TT bikes with a disc trispoke setup for that climb. In fairness, the climb had a starting section that was flat but still had mostly 6 to 7% grades.

My point to all this discussion is that when one is setting up a TT bike, one has to consider future proofing the bike vis a vis where one may want to race and what that course may entail. And then there is training. You may at some point actually hire a coach and then, you will be faced with another set of objectives for the TT bike like riding up mountains on the aerobars or whatever.

IMHO, your training is general. You make it up as you go. That’s perfect since there is no racing and your goals are made up on a daily basis based upon Zwift and Strava. I am doing the same. What else is there to do?

Once one sets a goal and especially if it is really hard and specific, then training has to be very specific and we all need help i.e. feedback against the goal. That is where 3rd parties are invaluable.

burnthesheep

Yeah, in a race around here I would pretty much never leave the aerobars almost.

Training is where I'm at for it wanting to shift from the brakes. I wouldn't need 2x to even train here. Just that it is annoying to go on a 2hr training ride with it and deal with reaching a hand off all the time to change gears.

As sometimes also in training if I ride for 3 hours on it, it isn't setup to be in aero for 3 hours comfort wise. It's setup to go fast in a TT. So I like riding sat up like you're on a road bike for parts of training rides. Meaning, hand off to change a gear a lot. I get lots of meaningful time in aero, but still......would be nice.

Hermes

The most affordable way to get electronic shifting on a TT bike is installed from the factory as an OEM accessory. Buying the frame and building it up is more expensive but IMO, a better solution for customizing fit. Watch for component deals on the internet or as I do, I am on a team and get a discount at the bike shop or via group buys.

burnthesheep

I'll see what I can do.

There have been some hella good deals on new old stock TT framesets on Ebay time to time for ones that would be Di2 compatible. Their cost, plus what I do own, plus Di2 is close to some of the "ready to roll" used Di2 bikes I've come across.

I don't know why, but feel like with just a new old stock frameset I'm in less risk financially than if I were to buy a whole expensive used bike off somebody. If the new old stock frameset doesn't work out, not a terrible loss to resale and not use.

But if I buy a used TT bike with Di2 for like $3000. Whew, it better work.

I have priced Di2 to about $1200. I've seen a few framesets I would run that are new old stock anywhere $800 to $1500.

We'll see. Bonus at work is coming up! (not holding my breath on the home-front though).

ntnyln

The cheapest is to get it OEM, but if you look for deals you can sometimes get upgrade kits at a good price. That's the next best way short of piecing it together from Slowtwitch and Ebay. I'm sure you already thought of this, but go with Ultegra instead of DA. I usually overspend when I buy bike stuff, but when I bought my TT bike, I opted for Ultegra because the weight isn't as important. I can't tell the difference in shifting between that and my DA Di2 on my road bike.

I will say that it is worth it to spend the extra dollars on the Bluetooth module. If nothing else, it allows you to see your battery level on your head unit. I have the double shifters on the aerobars and love it. I dread when I have to change to single button. As for the brake levers, the Ultegra ones I have one button on each side to change the rear derailleur. I really like having the ability to shift from the bullhorns. It's just so convenient. It's one of those things where you don't realize how nice it is until you have it.

Doge

Junior has always use electronic on a TT bike (except Nationals age 9). You can save some money, some weight and get more aero just doing 1X
Depends on the course of coarse, but 1X works great for the ITT and esp. if it is a narrow/wide ring then the chain is likely not coming off. We got the LUX juniors repositioning their read cassette cogs for straighter chain alignment. Some of that stuff, I'm convinced (and so is he) placed junior ahead of stronger riders.

burnthesheep

Didn't you mention their silly gear restrictions at one point though?

The chain line with TT is really a balance between a straight line but also trying to stay out of the smaller cogs if possible. So.....you wind up with really big front chainrings.

All that to say, if juniors are gear restricted........how can they move up the cassette to get more efficient? Wouldn't they mostly be in 13/14 already as the limited gear and not need to optimize the drive line?

Any who...........there's movement on my end now.......something is brewing. Things are being bought and sold.........again. Updates soon.

Doge

There are silly restrictions. More restrictions now.

The gear is going to generally be a 26' roll-out 52X14 or 53X14 or 45X12 which is fine for most on flats. The strong get spun out a bit, and some are better at 110RPM than others. That gear really hurts going down, and that is where coasting is better than spinning 130+RPM.

So they would take an 11-25, block RD and put spacers for the 12, 13 and just use the 14 on the normal front. That was 4th cog in. On my kids TT bike we could move the single ring closer to the stays.
The crazy types (me) would just grind the small cogs off for nationals and UCI events where you could not block the RD.

burnthesheep

Yeah, on the flats or up that would be perfectly fine. I see the point though for going down. 120 gets you 35mph. That's nothing to go down a hill around here 40 or 45mph. Lot's of short little 4% to 6% hills of about 2min a piece going up. There's a route I do north of town there's a false flat for a couple miles headed down, usually with the wind out of the NW. I'll routinely hold 30mph there for a while. Much more comfy on a 54/13 or so. Just chugging at about 90 rpm.

But, I'm working on something that'll hopefully make it so I enjoy riding the TT bike more.

Doge

My kid was a power rider. He'd do better than most up any grade, but lose power relative to others much over 95 RPM.
I edited out a lot of the coasting. This is on a 52X14

I've posted most this before, but I don't know if you have seen it.
We used to do stuff like this. I recorded this one, testing equipment and effort and position.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRcue4MN0q0

Some wheels take more effort to control and see a slightly higher HR. We settled on his regular 25mm wide, 50mm profile and lower pressure to reduce fatigue from correcting from bumpy roads and wind. The course dictates the equipment and a bit position. I have many many TT videos. I would film the competition too.

Don't think I shared this. This was with the grown up gears. Well over 30mph https://vimeo.com/manage/281022584/general

burnthesheep

A really big box showed up at the house yesterday. There was time spent not riding but tinkering......

topflightpro

Pics or it didn't happen.

burnthesheep

I have a necessary small part arriving today.....then pics. Can't move it without this part. In Borat: "I am very excite".

Hermes

Did you buy the fast legs option?

burnthesheep

I couldn't uncheck that box. Weird.

burnthesheep

Daylight pics later....

My carbon repaired 2008 Felt DA has her bones now hanging on a rack in the shed. I shed a tear, but it was time. She developed a crack in the seat tube and seat tube frame area.

Now, my new beauty needs a name............got used from Pro's Closet for a freaking deal. Full Ultegra Di2. Will run 1x for flat races and 2x for training or hillier. I ordered 2x rings in 56/42. I may play with buying a 60t front ring and attempt a junior's 14-28 cassette in back for my flat rides chasing that drivetrain efficiency. I threw my 54t 1x Quarq setup on the bike from my old TT bike.

Putting in the new BB was butter easy. I had a random vehicle repair tool that worked perfect as a drift to push out the old. I have clamps for pushing in the new. For some reason the press fit Dub BB spins a LOT nicer than the BSA threaded one I had on the old bike.

Here she is.........she needs a name.......

topflightpro

Nice. Looks good. Enjoy.

TMonk

woah, that thing is pretty sweet! nice!!!

burnthesheep

Thanks all.

Having Di2 on the brakes is amazing. Also, when I set it back up in 2x and enable synchro shift that'll be nice on all these hills here.

I ordered the front aero hydration thingie for it for training rides. I wouldn't run that in a TT, but in training that would be a super convenient feature. It holds about 1.5 bottles worth. Two bottles in the BTS cages and I can now take this thing on longer rides without bottles in jerseys. I know bottles in jerseys is a thing, but I ain't no pro. That's not comfortable. I could then just open the lid and pour in the drink from the rear bottles at a stop.

Also with the Di2 shifting on the brakes I can take longer rides and take breaks out of aero if it's like a 3hr ride.

I am replacing my homemade 15deg shim on the pads with the official Fourriers Trinity ones. So, no ghetto homemade parts.

There was an earlier comment about "finding" a few watts for my 25mi and 50mi time goals. I have made a tire change. In 2020 I was just running clincher GP5000 with latex. I couldn't commit to a different tire and am no good at road tubeless. So now am on the Michelin Power TT with latex. That's 3w for the pair. Frameset and cleaner cockpit and stuff may be worth a couple. Also, in 2020 I never had a flat 10mi or 25mi run with the Tempor and the newest skinsuit/covers setup that tested out well. So, those gains would factor into 2021 10mi and 25mi flat route times. I found 7 to 8w in that helmet at my flat land speed.

Still, personal goals. Always somebody light years faster.

Lastly, the price from Pro's Closet was just silly good for what it is. I couldn't have afforded something like this brand new.

burnthesheep

Better picture from today's true inaugural ride.

kensuf

Thats a sexy beast.

topflightpro

BTS or the bike?