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Old 01-30-18, 12:59 PM
  #601  
wktmeow
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I went faster on the way out/up the hill last year due to wind. It worked out well for me because I might have gone too easy on the way back otherwise

Excited to tackle it again this year. Hoping to knock a decent chunk off my time this year, which if the competition is similar will hopefully have me top 5. A GC 5th place would give me enough points to upgrade to cat 2, so hopefully no flats in the RR or crit this year
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Old 01-30-18, 09:39 PM
  #602  
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Originally Posted by wktmeow
I went faster on the way out/up the hill last year due to wind. It worked out well for me because I might have gone too easy on the way back otherwise

Excited to tackle it again this year. Hoping to knock a decent chunk off my time this year, which if the competition is similar will hopefully have me top 5. A GC 5th place would give me enough points to upgrade to cat 2, so hopefully no flats in the RR or crit this year
I guess I'll need to get out and pre ride if I can the day before adn then hope for a good start time where the wind won't blow me over.

Lookng forward to seeing you there in the 3's. I'm hoping to get quite a few points towards my 2 from the race as well. So competitors, we will be!

(Come say hi, though. I'll be doing the TT in a Red black and white Specialized skin suit, and all the other races in blue and orange America's First Credit Union kit. I'll probably be the only one from my team there)
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Old 01-31-18, 07:59 PM
  #603  
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Will definitely say hi! Both @TMonk and I will be there, green SDBC kit (though will be wearing a black skinsuit for the TT).

Just had my fit dialed in a bit by coach. Saddle a little bit forward, pads a bit narrower. Marginal gains!

Only 5 riders registered so far though, should I be worried? :\
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Old 01-31-18, 08:48 PM
  #604  
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Nah. I'm gonna register in a few days, then it will be up to 6.
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Old 02-02-18, 11:07 AM
  #605  
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Originally Posted by wktmeow
... pads a bit narrower. Marginal gains!
...
How narrow - before and after?
Did you test this?

We recently went wider. I can't pick up a difference. I prefer narrow, primarily as it rolls the shoulders. I think power goes up with wider. Speed seems about the same.
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Old 02-02-18, 11:49 AM
  #606  
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Originally Posted by Doge
How narrow - before and after?
Did you test this?

We recently went wider. I can't pick up a difference. I prefer narrow, primarily as it rolls the shoulders. I think power goes up with wider. Speed seems about the same.
Did not test - mostly trusting my coach's/fitter's expertise as he has a couple of very successful TT athletes. I don't pay him enough to do the repeated speed tests/adjustments that he does with his pros

It wasn't a huge difference, brought them in maybe a quarter inch on each side, nearly as close as the pads can get now, the bracket is a couple mm's away from the stem.



Last edited by wktmeow; 02-02-18 at 11:51 AM. Reason: huge images...
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Old 02-12-18, 02:58 PM
  #607  
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Who makes the most narrow TT bar? I'm asking about the part where the brake levers usually are.
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Old 02-12-18, 06:42 PM
  #608  
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USE Tula Aero Pod bars for the retro cool factor.Also supposed to be damn fast, but I have no backing data.
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Old 02-12-18, 08:23 PM
  #609  
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Originally Posted by Ttoc6
USE Tula Aero Pod bars for the retro cool factor.Also supposed to be damn fast, but I have no backing data.
Very cool, maybe. But they are still wide. I want 30mm or less. Who needs hands on a straight TT?
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Old 02-12-18, 09:41 PM
  #610  
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Originally Posted by Doge
Very cool, maybe. But they are still wide. I want 30mm or less. Who needs hands on a straight TT?
You meant width that way. No idea. But I'd take a look at what track pursuit racers use.

Or go full Tri-dork.
MORF Technologies
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Old 02-12-18, 10:30 PM
  #611  
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Good info @Ttoc6!
Tri-dork it is. So cool.
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Old 03-12-18, 07:38 PM
  #612  
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Anyone have tips for TT 180* turn arounds? Brake hard at the last second like an f1 car? Sit up out of the bars to slow down and get the few seconds of rest with no brakes? Managing speed in the corner?

I feel like I've lost a ton of time in the last two tt's I've done with turn arounds.
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Old 03-18-18, 11:43 PM
  #613  
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Originally Posted by Ttoc6
Anyone have tips for TT 180* turn arounds? Brake hard at the last second like an f1 car? Sit up out of the bars to slow down and get the few seconds of rest with no brakes? Managing speed in the corner?

I feel like I've lost a ton of time in the last two tt's I've done with turn arounds.
you haven't.

everyone feels this way.

i've heard sooooo many riders talk about how much time they lost. you know what? when you compare multiple riders from the same TT, no one is losing time.

unless you fall down. i've seen that happen. don't do that.

maintain your consistent pace for as long as you can, brake, then get up to speed quickly and smoothly. personally, i find it is best to use the opportunity to take a drink (if it's a long enough TT -- you're sitting up anyway), recompose oneself, and get ready for the final push. that few seconds of mental relief seems to help many people.

(some might tell you different but IME unless there is some specific technical issue it is not time well spent worrying about improving a 180 -- you're not gaining or losing anything material.)

also, i don't mean to say that the difference between 1st and 2nd at nationals vs 9th and 10th in a cat 4 stage race is not an issue -- whatever is important to the rider is all that matters.
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Old 03-19-18, 06:26 AM
  #614  
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The issue I've had off and on with 180's is legs tightening up for a couple minutes after the turn. Sometimes they don't like to relax then start working again. Doing some of my intervals as Out/Back with 180's seems to have helped this, or at least helped my ability to push through it.
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Old 03-19-18, 10:01 AM
  #615  
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I usually coast down for 2-3 seconds before the turn, taking deep breaths and getting ready for the acceleration after.
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Old 03-19-18, 11:45 AM
  #616  
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Last time I did a TT, I threw aerobars on my fixed gear. So the 180 was a real issue, had to go about 3mph to not clip a pedal and crash. On a freewheel bike, easy peasy.
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Old 03-20-18, 08:42 PM
  #617  
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Thanks for the tips. All marginal gains, of course. Relaxing and just letting it happen is the way to go it seems.
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Old 03-20-18, 09:49 PM
  #618  
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Originally Posted by Ttoc6
Relaxing and just letting it happen is the way to go it seems.
twss.
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Old 03-31-18, 08:50 PM
  #619  
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I'm planning on upgrading to a bigger chainring and going 1x. Right now I'm running a 50t and I have to go over 110 rpm all too often. Since I have a 110 bcd anything other than a 52 and I'll have to buy a new crankset. I'd rather not but a 53 does seem like best option (a 54 seems excessive). For the 40k, I'm hoping to average somewhere between 260-280 watts.

Below is a table for my top end, I'm not looking in terms of average, but those 1-2 minute stretches where you're on a downhill with a tailwind.

Gear @90 @110
50x11 32.04 39.16
52x11 33.31 40.71
53x11 33.94 41.48
54x11 34.57 42.26
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Old 04-01-18, 09:36 PM
  #620  
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Main reason for a 55 isn't the top speed. It's for the better chain line in the gears you'll be using during the race. The drag gain from the 11t to 14t in the back is more than you'd think. I can send you a graph via pm if you want of the different resistance in different cogs with a 53/39. I'd rather not post it here since it's from friction facts and they used to sell this brochure with all the numbers. Not sure if they still do.

On a related note, I used my 55t for the first time in race this weekend and it feels awesome.
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Old 04-02-18, 05:03 AM
  #621  
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OK, I haven't read the WHOLE thread, but I did read the first post. AFTER my first TT. But as it happens, I'd heard or read elsewhere most of the advice, and it seems it's OK to post here afterwards, so here goes.

I took my rollers with me to warm up, but didn't realize how very dependent I am on the doorframe, not just to get on and off, but to get up to speed and to come to a stop. Wound up falling off twice. A regular riding mate was wandering around after his own warmup and told me I could use trainer. Maybe it's been mentioned above, but the bit of advice I'd add is: go with friends.

Got to the line in plenty of time, but not so soon that I cooled down waiting to start. Took a pass on being held (already too nervous to try something else new), but got underway quite nicely. After clipping the right foot in on the fly (continuously pedaling) realized how lucky I was that I didn't fumble around as sometimes happens, and was actually a little surprised at how instinctive and flawlessly it went.

Soon found myself working against the wind and going much faster than expected but quickly remembered the advice about not starting too hard. Took it to heart. Took it to heart so much, that the whole race was over before I could tell myself that the beginning was over. Even though it was only a 7 mile course with a 180 turn-around in the middle and a tailwind on the return, I kept telling myself not to burn all my matches just yet. Well, turns out I didn't burn any matches at all.

I was the last in the line of the men's non-tt bike 1/2/3/4/5 field, followed by the women's regular tt bike 4/5 field. I was kind of glad of that, since it meant that at least I wasn't going to get passed by someone in my own field or with another non-tt bike. But I did get legitimately passed once, shortly before the turn-around, and she finished about 30 seconds ahead of me, too. I wonder how much of that was attributable to her bike, aerobars, helmet and slicker kit.... Few had full disk wheels, maybe because it was rather windy. Oh, and I said legitimately passed because at one point on the return leg this one full-on TT guy goes whirring by. I was slightly confused, until I saw him turn off the course. They said no warming up or cooling down on the course! I think he may not have had a number on at the time, but he wasn't fooling anyone - his bike and kit were easily identifiable, and I had seen him hanging out at the start.... At least he didn't turn onto the course by the finish line as someone was crossing it (me) like another guy did - sheesh! "I saw you," he said. Well, when I saw him, he was looking the other way: "but I didn't see you!" Turns out there was a woman walking across the course at about the same time that he was chastising. Oh well, no big deal - I never seriously felt at risk, just a bit startled.

I don't normally ride in the drops much, but I did manage to stay in them the whole time, except once very briefly when I thought I'd see if the 90-degree elbow thing with the hands higher would work better, but that just felt so wrong at the time I went right back down. It may not sound like much of an accomplishment, but I'm happy that I didn't come across sitting up like I saw a number of the juniors and other novices do while I got ready to start.

Race predictor had me coming in 6/14, since there were three Cat 3s and a couple of 4s with better rankings. All registrants finished and I wound up 12th. It was fun though. When I finally got home, I went to have the clip-on aero bars fitted on the Propel. As it happens, I was supposed to have had that taken care of before this race, but I'm glad I didn't. I'll definitely want to get some practice riding with them. At first, they seemed terribly awkward to transition to and from, but after adjusting them, they felt great. But steering with them, that's going to take some getting used to.

So, first TT: humiliating now and then, but definitely fun enough to try again, and a nice learning experience.
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Old 04-03-18, 05:21 PM
  #622  
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Originally Posted by kbarch

So, first TT: humiliating now and then, but definitely fun enough to try again, and a nice learning experience.
win or learn, so good job
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Old 01-15-19, 09:36 AM
  #623  
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Cam has quite a history from WC rower (in Quad) to World Tour rider to now breaking a couple Kona bike ride records. My kid got to know him and he helped him out in rowing and cycling and would not accept compensation ($) for it. Great guy, always willing to give back. In this video he also speaks about how speed is the most significant thing and like Phinney does not use a power meter when competing (I posted a lot about that in the power forum). Anyway, good stuff.
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Old 03-06-19, 01:37 PM
  #624  
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Had a season opener TT with a local team. I'd say more club than team, but most of the guys/gals do race sometimes at least in something.

Everyone was road bikes but myself and their "ringer". We had TT bikes. I just showed up as a nobody since they post their stuff in the community hoping to gather new riders come out. I got 2nd best time. Thank God, can't show up on the TT bike with disc/trispoke and be last!

So, this TT it was a bit windy and was 400ft in 8 miles. I went 23.2 mph on 250w average power, not nominal. Either way, I swear I'm up 30 watts on using a real TT bike and don't understand some "anomaly" rides from last year at 30 watts less on the road bike with clip-on bars.

I swear I had a pan flat ride at a Nascar track last year on the roadie with clip-ons at 25.5 mph on 222w and an open road hill/wind TT at 23.5mph on 225w.

The position on film/photo looks better on the TT bike. I've put both bikes back to back on a trainer to measure drivetrain only power and didn't see anything weird.

I swear I'd expect to be faster than this. I don't expect to go 27mph in a TT on 260w, but I'd expect over 25mph in the flattish areas.

I've run both wheelsets, checked everything, checked brakes, etc.........

Don't know if it's a rash of slow condition days and the couple of old results were on really fast days or what.

I wish I had a non-work computer that would let me download Golden Cheetah.
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Old 03-06-19, 02:22 PM
  #625  
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What is the power meter situation on the above rides? Are you swapping your stages between bikes or have different PMs? Stages PMs are what they are. I believe your time seems about right for the power and terrain. I may be wrong. How did you feel? Did every pedal stroke count? And etc.
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