Time Trial / Time Trialling / TT

TOB
Time On Bike. Basically you need to spend a lot of time riding at pace on the bike you will use, eating the food you will need for the race.

You are putting yourself behind though not utilising free speed and comfort from aerobars.

On the other hand I was beaten by a guy who's longest ride was only 6hrs. Just shows how much extra work I have to put in to be competitive compared to fit fucks :)

Well I do alot of time on the bike so maybe I am not missing anything. I know how you feel just to be competative in a cat 3/4 race I have to ride/train 20hrs a week others do half that and run rings round me. Lots of very long rides planned to get used to what I need to eat and how much.

I have tried aerobars but I never felt comfortable on them spent a good while trying to get used to them and was so nervous I ended up being slower overal than on my road bike. Add then the nasty crash caused by being in the position with all the restricted visibility that brings and no one will ever get on the things again. Beside the challange is how many miles I can do on a road bike in 24hrs not how many miles I can do with all the wind cheating tricks.

wind cheating tricks

You know this is the time trial thread.
If you're not on a penny farthing then, you've cheated your way to 400mi :P

Experiment with foods on long rides for sure.
If you're already comfortable on your bike, leave it.

Plus you should stick to bread and water for nutrition...

Experiment with foods on long rides for sure.

This is as at least as important as all the training. So easy to come unstuck on a 24 by not having the nutrition nailed down. My error on my first attempt was to drink at daylight rates a bit too long into the evening so then I had to pee about 20 times in 2 hours.

I am comfortable on the bike. I need to change the saddle though. also had a pain in my foot after 10hrs I need to get to the bottom of but that might have been my chilblains which have nearly healed but not completely.

In terms of distance gained how much could a TT helmet provide. The one I have is not that comfortable so I would need to buy a new one. Are we taking a few miles over 24hr if so it will be worth getting one.

I also figure nutrition is critical. There is a club member who has done this several times Dale Sturman but his first few attempts failed due to not keeping his food down.

I have the opposite problem with hydration I often dont drink enough which is fine on a 4 or 5 hr ride to a point but not on a 24hr. A learning curve it will be for sure.

If you use an aero helmet, you might as well use aero wheels.
Then you might as well use aero bars.

All these issues can be addressed during training.

Yes helmet is worth it. So is a decent skinsuit. You can test helmets for aero using rolldown or Chung or paid testing methods but best is to find something that addresses your particular fit issues and try and get the most aero one that fits the bill. I use Bell Javelins - they're comfy enough for 24hr and test fast for me.

TTF has used options you can get cheap to test out.

Got a Garmin or computer? Set an alarm to get you into the habit of eating and drinking regularly. I tended to eat on the hour and half hour and drink on the 15min marks although I'd only bother with the alarm every 30min. It helps me as I would often go hours without eating or drinking and this is sub-optimal when racing.

You need carbs. Find out a way to get the most carbs down and stay down and you're sorted. Fats and proteins aren't necessary until afterwards.

Shoes will need to be sorted. I can't tell you what the issue is but it sounds like you're working on eliminating comfort issues now so that's spot on. Keep doing that. Remember to enter the 24hr too, that helps :)

If he's not comfortable on aerobars though, no point forcing the issue. Same with lightweight riders - it's often better to give them shallower wheels so they can ride without shitting themselves every time there's a gust.

Obviously if you can, I would throw EVERYTHING aero at the problem.

I was being a friendly sarcastic.

He wanted to do it 'road bike style, which I support. But then want's to use an aero initial, just seems hypocritical to the initial idea.

Personally I'm all for free speed. I look like the biggest twat going on my TT bike, but free speed!

But a TT helmet in a road bike position isn't always going to be more aero, a ride bike aero helmet might be.
Skinsuit will make a big difference.

TT helmet in a road bike position isn't always going to be more aero

Hence the need to test lids. If I was going road bike I'd probably be looking at the aero road helmets. Think Giro do one with a detachable visor that looks decent (by looks I obviously mean performs, you still look like a penis wearing it).

a TT helmet in a road bike position isn't always going to be more aero, a ride bike aero helmet might be

Nothing might be better than either, and it's still a permitted option under CTT regulations.

Unlikely.

None of the people I've seen testing positions are leaving without helmets. Now maybe the road position is different but I still think it's unlikely that bare is better aerodynamically.

None of the people I've seen testing positions are leaving without helmets.

Are they even testing no helmet?

Good point. To humor you I'll do some myself when I get a chance and let you know.

To humor you I'll do some myself when I get a chance

Remember to shave your head, that seems to be an important factor for optimising no-helmet aeros.

Ah you've saved me some time then. Helmets are faster. Shaving >>>

Are they even testing no helmet?

Course not - there's no money in it! The last message a manufacturer wants to see is that their super aero helmet is better than all the competition, but worse than nothing, or than a cheap fairing. But a road helmet has got to be worse - its more or less doubling the size of your head!

Course not - there's no money in it!

That wouldn't stop an amateur from testing it. Of course, many people want to wear a helmet regardless, so they aren't going to test something they'd never use in a race.

What little evidence I've seen points to a shaved bare head being about equal to an well selected aero helmet, but a good head fairing beats either. As you suggest, the weakness of any "safety" helmet is that it significantly increases the frontal area, so it has to reduce the drag coefficient by a similar factor just to break even.

I'm thinking more like Aerocoach services. They're not selling helmets and if no helmet was faster there'd be more riders leaving their sessions without helmets.

Frontal area isn't the be all end all of aero. If you can get your head low enough, aero helmet fill the gap behind your skull and probably shift air over your shoulders (but that's Xav's area I'm just guessing).

Like I said, I'm happy to test it but I'm not shaving my head.

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Still faster than you...

Still fatter than you...

Fair point.

I'm still waiting for someone to 'shop this to Fatter by hippy