Time Trial / Time Trialling / TT

I could bring back those bars I borrowed.

Sounds like a plan. I'll be riding fixed on a road bike.

OK.

Wait. What?

Duct taping over the shifters and epoxying up the freewheel?

Looks like a 6.45 start at Witchford, which I'm sure I can do. The question is whether the 20 miles there is a nice warmup or proves a silly idea when tired and cold on the way home, in the dark, in bandit territory.

I've always ridden a 72" gear and have been charmed by the idea of a mg TT, what's the best way to train up to maintaining that kind of cadence?

I'd have thought always riding 72" is about as good as training for riding 72" gets, n'est pas?

Well I thought that, but I wondered if there was anything in riding a smaller gear to get used to the cadence and then building up, or even doing the opposite (probably not, but just a thought) to build up strength and the capability to hold that speed for an extended period, to then go back and work on cadence

Do cadence work on rollers.

I assume track sprinters do drills for this sort of thing, albeit for a few seconds in competition, not 20+ mins in a TT.

Edit - what @emyr said.

i cant imagine 44X16 is fun down hills

Makes sense, cheers

I did a lap of H10/10 on 66" as a shake down test before last year's MG event. In the olden days, people spent all winter doing club runs on 66" and the MG was the first event of the year, so it was a transitional thing on the way up to the huge 84" (or even 88" if you really wanted to get the old timers sucking their teeth) gear used for the serious racing in the summer.

No, I have a dedicated fixed road bike dontchaknow. On-One Macinato, brakes front and rear, drop bars, etc.

I can always give you a lift back (assuming I make it) if you decide the trip back is too much.

Thanks dude, most kind. I think I'll probably drive up in my logo'd up car, get a bit of free fenland marketing on the go, then hopefully get there with a bit of time to warm up round the lanes nearby.

If you're on a road bike I'll come with spoked wheels and bullhorns. That way when you beat me at least I won't have the technical advantage.

Maybe a half afterwards? There must be a pub in Witchford.

it was a transitional thing on the way up to the huge 84"

My racing gear is 85". Not because I can spin, because I'm not strong enough to turn anything bigger. :(

Sounds good to me. There is indeed a pub - only one, but it is there. Conveniently right next door to my Friendly Local Garage.

Groovy. I'll ring and confirm that they do kiwi and lime cider.

Following the whole brakes in the wind conversation Ive been looking online for an aero front brake that isnt too costly - nearer or under £50 would be nice. It seems like oval/tektro/campagnolo lateral pull are all similar if not the same product. Campagnolo do a center pull rear but not front, can it be adapted?. The lateral pull version seems to go behind the front fork which i dont think will fit my bike. Some of the tektro designs are OEM only according to their site. Tririg,hooker, ee cycleworks,magura, delta, direct mounts etc are all out of the equation. Im left with adapting something or an ax/modolo kronos(probably too expensive)/weinmann assuming the latter 2 could even be found. Anything else out there to consider?

If you get an AX, make sure it is DA/600: the back of the pad holder is open, allowing you to butcher a decent pad to fit.

I think you'll find too much retro-tax on Kronos; Weinmann can be had reasonably, but only rarely.

Yes, the Campag goes behind the fork (which leaves a lot of cable hanging in the breeze). Presumably the rear would just need a longer bolt, but how practical that would be is another matter.

Brakless Fixxyz #epikskidz

Show us the rest of the bike? Perhaps there's more effective gains (losses?) to be made?

im sure there are, Ive fitted skewers instead of QR levers. The aero post may or may not even do anything. Maybe a better option is to find thinner brake levers - with the current cane creek levers i could probably do with the handle bar turn ups cutting down to rotate them to horizontal if that makes sense. I have four cables by the head tube because the frame isnt internally routed. pics in lower part of this thread http://www.lfgss.com/conversations/252981/#comment12142570

looking online for an aero front brake that isnt too costly - nearer or under £50 would be nice.

Xav rates Campag Monoplanar brakes for cheap aeros, there's hipster tax on Chorus/Athena but Veloce should be well within budget.

And adjust the cable pull so the pads are in line with your forks. #protip

so theyre wide apart from the rim? does makes sense.

So long as they still work as brakes, obviously, but you can make what you have a little bit more aero with some adjustment. Just make sure the lever doesn't bottom out or your emergency stop won't be a stop.