my little celebration and a ?
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238 days
SueR posted 17 weeks ago.
Nice time! Way to go! Shop guy may have a point as they do catch wind more than non bladed, but if it is worse than not having them I am not sure. Brutally windy is tough in a tri cause I find to go hard in wind I need to really grind a bigger gear hard. I don't want to do that though since I then have to run, so I end up spinning away to nowhere...were they crosswinds then?
634
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733 days
Ironmom posted 17 weeks ago.
Congrats on your bike PR, great time! The bladed spokes will not be as effective in a crosswind for sure, but even with a quartering wind I believe that they give some advantage. So usually on a course (especially if it's some kind of loop), you will end up biking in headwind, quartering wind, crosswind, tailwind, so I think bladed spokes usually are a net benefit.
Still, biking in brutally windy conditions will almost always result in a slower bike split, and it's nothing to beat yourself up about. That's why you can't really compare bike times from race to race or even the same race from year to year. I had one race I did where it was gusting to 40 knots on the bike course. A challenging course with big climbs, I had estimated a 2 hour bike split for the 38 mile course. It took me 3 hours!!! I averaged just over 12.5 mph due to the winds and actually watched a cyclist with a disk wheel get picked up and blown across the road. So a bad wind can have a huge effect on your bike split, and that's all part of the game. Of course, everyone pretty much deals with the same course conditions so your time is measured relative to everyone else's, not just to what you could do in normal conditions.
Blue Skies, -Robin-
http://ironmom.blogspot.com/
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ChunkyB posted 17 weeks ago.
Awesome job.
And, yes, wind will always slow you down. Even if it's a loop course, and you have a tail wind for half of it or whatever. A headwind hurts a lot more than a tail wind helps.
And, yeah, blade spokes aren't going to be as good in cross winds, just like disc wheels or anything with a large side profile (I know that's the wrong term, but you know what I'm saying).
Again, though, awesome job. 18.6 is an awesome pace. I wouldn't worry about the 14.4 pace at all.
"The melting point of wax means nothing to me": Thrice
4949
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1727 days
beads1985 posted 17 weeks ago.
Crosswinds can be tough but as Ironmom stated the net benefit should outweigh will be to your advantage. However your body is still blocking a lot of the wind, which will make your bike time slower too.
Still you finished and your pace was not too shabby. Congrats!!
Nothing to it, but to do it
2952
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1369 days
Anton posted 16 weeks ago.
In windy conditions, don't even worry about bringing the hammer down...unless it's a tail wind of course. The huge energy expenditure required to fight the wind will come back and haunt on the run...
"What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything?" - Vincent Van Gogh
My Blog: http://agingsuperhero.blogspot.com
Last weekend I raced the sprint distance tri for the cure, with a focus on doing better on the bike leg. I PR'd with a time of 38 and change, and an average speed of 18.6 mph. Much improved from the flying turtle pace of 14.4 mph the week before.
A random guy in the bike shop brought up a point about aero bladed spokes in a crosswind, and that they aren't effective in a cross wind. Both low speed bike tris for me this year have come in brutally windy (typical great plains) weather conditions. Any truth to this? Or was I just that slow?
I'm thinking I was just that slow.
Don't be so easy on yourself 'cause this one might be all that you have left