andydude Posted March 16, 2017 Share Do you guys think a TT bike and accessories are worth it compared to only a road bike with perhaps some extra accessories, e.g. TT bars, shoe covers and skin suit? I have a Giant TCR road bike and race on it, but I think it would be nice to also train TT style and also to do the TT races, even though they are not common. Don't want to break the bank, therefore is it even worth it considering the costs and potential time savings? And I have no problem swopping out wheels and pedals (important for one day when I get a power meter) and whatever between bikes if I only get a TT frame and if they are compatible. In essence, could be more like 1.5 bikes than a proper road and proper TT bike. Found these two nice videos which show some aero savings and relevant costs: and E.g. in the second picture you can see an aero frame is very expensive relative to the little aero saving you get while a special skin suit is worth much more in drag and time saving at a relative low cost. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fanievb Posted March 16, 2017 Share what distances do you plan or doing (triathlon specific)?also keep in mind the some TT bikes are not UCI legal i.e. you can use them for triathlons but not during CSA sanctioned time trials Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cat2forLife Posted March 16, 2017 Share N+1 mikkelz and andydude 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prozac Posted March 16, 2017 Share you have a road bike get the TT one can not have enough bikes FondTF2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andydude Posted March 16, 2017 Share what distances do you plan or doing (triathlon specific)? also keep in mind the some TT bikes are not UCI legal i.e. you can use them for triathlons but not during CSA sanctioned time trials Good point about being UCI legal, thanks! I don't want to do triathlons, more for a different road racing training, but maybe 1 hour, 2 hours max. And normally a road TT here is less than 1 hour as far as I know. Edited March 16, 2017 by andydude Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andydude Posted March 16, 2017 Share N+1 you have a road bike get the TT one can not have enough bikes Scared of that! Cat2forLife 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JacBrand Posted March 16, 2017 Share I once played with the idea of having proper TT handlebar and stem with shifters and brakes and just swopping it out with my regular handlebar and stem. Never went into this further. I did however do duathlon back in the days and experimented with clip on bars vs just plain. My fastest TT was with the bike standard (40km tt in 59 minutes) I would not buy a tt bike... andydude 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmJayZA Posted March 16, 2017 Share Don't think it's worth it tbh. Why not get some aero bars for your road bike, get it fit properly and take it from there? Not sure how the community looks at clip on bars, but the cost for such short events does not seem worth it. Also, I wouldn't be caught dead in an aero helmet. Sorry to those that do wear them, they just crack me up. andydude 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andydude Posted March 16, 2017 Share I once played with the idea of having proper TT handlebar and stem with shifters and brakes and just swopping it out with my regular handlebar and stem. Never went into this further. I did however do duathlon back in the days and experimented with clip on bars vs just plain. My fastest TT was with the bike standard (40km tt in 59 minutes) I would not buy a tt bike... Thanks Jac. I'm also watching videos now comparing normal handlebar drops riding compared to clip-ons and the latter seems to save quite a bit of time. And yes, also thinking like you were planning, just maybe more easier with only the clip-ons. Then maybe it would be better investment to buy the clip-ons, shoe covers, TT helmet, skin suit and then a proper rear disc wheel (in that order) than going full out TT bike? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andydude Posted March 16, 2017 Share Don't think it's worth it tbh. Why not get some aero bars for your road bike, get it fit properly and take it from there? Not sure how the community looks at clip on bars, but the cost for such short events does not seem worth it. Also, I wouldn't be caught dead in an aero helmet. Sorry to those that do wear them, they just crack me up. Yeah I think you're right about the aero bars for my road bike. See my reply to Jac. And about the helmet, I don't really care how I look, even if dorky Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Li Mu Bai Posted March 16, 2017 Share Hey Andy,I really enjoy time trialing too, and have used tribars on my Tarmac, having found the same data in your photos previously, and having watched David Millars videos with much interesting advice. What I have found is for example:riding a 28km TT course with regular clothing gear, normal road helmet and normal road bike setup up was approx 2 minutes slower than doing the same course with a TT Helmet (Kask Bambino), Aeroskinsuit, Shoe covers, and tribars.Wheels (Zipp 404) and frame were identicalFitness level was approx the same, road conditions on the second run were far worse, with new potholes having to be negotiatedWhats more I used a lower normalized power for the course on the second run, yet achieved the faster time. We filmed part of the second attempt using all the aerokit and did notice that when moving from the tri-bars to the drop handlebars to shift gears, obviously the Aero position is briefly broken, and there was a definite slowing in the pedalling as a result too. This may well have been a subconscious response to the moving of the arms to the handlebar shifters and focus switching to gear change rather than cadence. A dedicated TT bike would obviously do away with this and make the ride faster still as the Aero position would remain broken when shifting. If you can afford it, Di2 would be the icing on the cake Edit:also: to buy a full TT handle bar means quite a bit of PT to re-cable your gears and brakes, especially if you have internal routing, remembering that each time you tighten the deraileur bolt on the cable, it damages the cable to a degree (some strands often snap), needing new cables Edited March 16, 2017 by Li Mu Bai andydude 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andydude Posted March 16, 2017 Share Hey Andy,I really enjoy time trialing too, and have used tribars on my Tarmac, having found the same data in your photos previously, and having watched David Millars videos with much interesting advice. What I have found is for example:riding a 28km TT course with regular clothing gear, normal road helmet and normal road bike setup up was approx 2 minutes slower than doing the same course with a TT Helmet (Kask Bambino), Aeroskinsuit, Shoe covers, and tribars.Wheels (Zipp 404) and frame were identicalFitness level was approx the same, road conditions on the second run were far worse, with new potholes having to be negotiatedWhats more I used a lower normalized power for the course on the second run, yet achieved the faster time. We filmed part of the second attempt using all the aerokit and did notice that when moving from the tri-bars to the drop handlebars to shift gears, obviously the Aero position is briefly broken, and there was a definite slowing in the pedalling as a result too. This may well have been a subconscious response to the moving of the arms to the handlebar shifters and focus switching to gear change rather than cadence bars. A dedicated TT bike would obviously do away with this and make the ride faster still as the Aero position would remain broken when shifting. If you can afford it, Di2 would be the icing on the cake Thanks I think I would also enjoy it and would add another dimension to training. Regarding the Di2, I wish! But that's not very high on my list seeing as I'm cost sensitive. In summary, it's probably best to "upgrade" in this order taking into account cost, possible drag/time saving and using my current road bike: - Tribars- Shoe covers- Skinsuit- Helmet- Rear disc wheel- Front wheel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Li Mu Bai Posted March 16, 2017 Share Some of the Aero TT helmets are pretty cool, especially with mirror visors etc I wouldnt go for the long tailed ones - too weather specific (ie they dont perform as well if you are dealing with a crosswind.) andydude 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dsw Posted March 16, 2017 Share To make your investment in a time trial bike really worth it and to get the full benefit from the bike it will be necessary to spend a lot of time on it and also to follow a more “time trial specific” training programme. Unless you are a pro or a triathlete I don’t think it is worth the money especially as here are unfortunately not many time trials on the local racing calendar. On the other hand if you want to improve your position on certain Strava segments then it might be worth it andydude 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Li Mu Bai Posted March 16, 2017 Share snip snip - Tribars- Shoe covers- Skinsuit- Helmet- Rear disc wheel- Front wheel Check out PlanetX.co.uk on rear disc wheel GBP416 and tri-spoke front wheels in full carbon GBP333 - insane pricesalso you can find aerosuit knock offs on aliexpress for a fraction of the cost and great quality - you just have to be patient with the postage andydude 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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