Need help with aero upgrades
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vanjames posted 1 year ago.
1st - helmet
2nd - wheels
there are many different camps when it comes to aero - some say lower is better while others say narrow is better regardless of position. Given you are on a road biek with clip ons you will likely not fully achieve a flat back so making yourself as narrow as possible will potentially give you the most benefit. The helmet is the most cost effective way to reduce drag. If you have the $$ by all means get some nice race wheels as well.. although you need to maintain 20mph regularly to reap the benefit of an aero wheel.
Given you're primary distance is Sprint - power may be all you need. Build more and you'll be faster in any set up.
2333
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Triguy98 posted 1 year ago.
If youve got the $$, a tri bike is nice. Allows you to get low.
Aero bars get you that narrowness.
But bang for the buck, you cant beat an aero helmet.
Wheels are great, but $$$ I'd get a tri bike before I spent the $$ on race wheels for a roadie.
Life is short. Play hard and get dirty doing it.
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smsmithfla posted 1 year ago.
I typically ride in sprints and olympics between 21.8 and 22.6 mph. Would wheels make a noticeable difference? And if so, what is a set that would be a good value that I could carry over to a tri frame if I continue with the obsession?
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vanjames;70604 wrote:
1st - helmet
2nd - wheelsthere are many different camps when it comes to aero - some say lower is better while others say narrow is better regardless of position. Given you are on a road biek with clip ons you will likely not fully achieve a flat back so making yourself as narrow as possible will potentially give you the most benefit. The helmet is the most cost effective way to reduce drag. If you have the $$ by all means get some nice race wheels as well.. although you need to maintain 20mph regularly to reap the benefit of an aero wheel.
Given you're primary distance is Sprint - power may be all you need. Build more and you'll be faster in any set up.
1113
Member
882 days
UFTriGator posted 1 year ago.
They'll definitely make a difference.
At that speed, I'd say get a deep rim front and back (606s, for example). I've always heard 23 mph as the magic number for a disc...below that the weight might actually slow you down, but you're really close so you might be over 23 after you put a disc on anyway. If you're going for value, check out used stuff on ebay...that's what I did. Not as nice as brand new Zipps (which I'm thinking about getting anyway :D), but much faster than any stock wheel you'll get on a road bike.
Almost any wheel will be fine on both a road bike and tri bike. I raced my first season with a disc on a low-end Specialized road bike. I use the same wheels now on a tri bike and have no problems. A tri bike is very nice to have, though, as TriGuy said.
______________________________________________
-Matt
Not fast enough.
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homey posted 1 year ago.
I had a concern with the areo helmet. I was about to purchase one then chickened out and just went with the Bell Sweep b/c I was concerned with the lack of ventilation. I'm doing a 1/2 in July and well I was worried my mellon would explode or at least the trade-off would be I would gain from helmet only to lose by overheating. Comments?
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UFTriGator posted 1 year ago.
homey;70930 wrote:
Comments?
You're in Canada.
Seriously, though. Florida is usually about 95 degrees w/ 85% humidity, and I don't have any problems with an aero helmet.
______________________________________________
-Matt
Not fast enough.
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434 days
homey posted 1 year ago.
Hmmmm... well then I guess I made a bad choice.
I'll just have to train harder. :)
Have you done an 1/2 IM in one?
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UFTriGator posted 1 year ago.
Just olympic and sprint so far. I did a half last year, but it was in a normal helmet.
But there's never anything wrong with having more stuff!;)
______________________________________________
-Matt
Not fast enough.
281
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1235 days
kevinb421 posted 1 year ago.
I broke down and bought an LG rocket, and the difference is huge. With just the addition of the Aero helmet I knocked about a minute off my 40k time. Best thing was that the helmet was $180 whereas a set of wheels would have been much much more than that.
If you can afford it I recommend adding a Tri bike. If that is not in your budget than an aero helmet will be a huge step up for you.
"If your not going to win, make the fellow in front of you break a record."
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kkocan posted 1 year ago.
I second the rocket. I am using it next weekend for a half and will see how hot/humid it is but i've ridden over 1 hour with it on a hot day and didn't notice anything.
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ShaverR6 posted 1 year ago.
I agree with the helmet suggestion as well. My LAS chrono makes me feel faster. :)
I spent some $ and got an aero wheelset over the winter, a Renn disc and a 60mm HED front. The funny thing is my timetrial times are worse with the aero wheelset! With my stock Cervelo P2-SL wheels I averaged nearly 39km/h but with my supposedly faster aero wheels I averaged barely above 36km/h. This is on a flat course with one short "hill" over an overpass. I don't know what to make of this.
I guess the moral of the story is, get a helmet, its cheaper. :)
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UFTriGator posted 1 year ago.
There are a million factors that can influence your bike speed. What you ate for breakfast, what your training has looked like the past several days, how the wind is that day, etc. For example, I did a race about a month ago where I had a terrible bike leg and averaged nearly 25 mph. Then I did a race two weeks later where I had an awesome bike leg and only averaged 22.5 mph. Both were very flat, but the wind at the second one was just nuts. Even Spencer Smith only averaged a bit over 23 mph at that race and that guy can BIKE.
What I'm saying is that you should average a bunch of times to get an idea of how much you're improving, but it only counts if you're in the exact same shape as you were before. Wheels WILL make you faster as long as they're not too heavy for the speed you're going....the heavier the wheel (i.e., a disc), the faster you need to go to overcome weight penalties to get the aero advantage. If someone wants to spend the money on aero wheels, they're definitely not wasting their money....they give a huge advantage. Moral of the story: get both if you can.
______________________________________________
-Matt
Not fast enough.
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Member
417 days
sgroldan73 posted 1 year ago.
Newbie here: So for Sprint and OD an Aero helmet is a good idea or the distance is too short to get improvements from Aero Helmet. IF SO what are the votes between the LAS Chrono and the Giro II helmets (I noticed the Giro has small airvents in the front, is this good or bad?).
I have a great Cannondale road bike, CAAD 5, all Ultegra components, Campy road wheels, aero bars, 63cm. What are the smartest aero upgrades that will have a material impact on my cycling speed? Thank you.
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