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we just did rubbish times on terrible bikes; at least that left some room for hope.
If my memory serves correctly, there isn't much risk of @onyerbike doing terrible times... IIRC his history of TTing include some big watts and some wins!
ewanmac
@clubman
As usual, Tester is right about this. I'd just like to clarify something which is implied in his post.
Whichever form of competition interests you, it's desirable to start with a cheap and basic machine.
This is not just to avoid wasting money, which you almost certainly will do if you aim for perfection from the start. It's more because even the most talented need time to learn the game, and starting off with the 'ultimate' machine will almost inevitably lead to disappointment.
When my generation started racing we were just as clueless as beginners are at any time, and we were inclined to think that all we needed to go as fast as the stars we read about in 'Cycling and Mopeds' (sic) was a bike like they had. But their bikes (in TT's anyway) were generally simple track bikes with a front brake fitted (and bell, of course!). It was relatively easy to make our basic machines look more or less like the ones that our heroes were riding and by slowly adding better components while we gained experience our performances and aspirations gradually improved. As ever there was a high drop out rate, but it was fairly rare for beginners to be put off by doing terrible times on super bikes - we just did rubbish times on terrible bikes; at least that left some room for hope.
So, start cheap and then you will be less likely to become disillusioned too quickly.