Time Trial / Time Trialling / TT

I second Sam's comment.

The only disappointing thing would be that you didn't get round to riding at all.

Realised my GP 4 seasons are completely shot, any recommendations for something to replace them with? The bike is still my general road bike, so was just gonna get 30c gp5000 from Merlin cycles (or is that a terrible choice for a TT?).

And I’ve bought a Bell Javelin (I missed one for under £30 last week, then got carried away on eBay this week…). According to an ex national champ mate, skinsuit and helmet are the main things, so it seemed rude not to after LFGSS CC sorted me the skin suit.

I can look the part now (just won’t have the time to match)!

If you care about aero it depends on your rims. If you care about Crr you need to think about the tyre material. If you're thinking about your wallet you might want to ignore those two factors.

Run what you brung. I think Vittoria Corsa and the Veloflex are still the fastest options but I haven't looked into TT tyres for a while. GP5000s are thinner and faster than GP4000s. I run 23mm tyres on the front for aero and 26mm on the rear for rolling resistance (using Corsas with latex tubes).

I owned two Bell Javelin helmets. I bought the big one then found I could just squeeze into the smaller one if you pulled the padding and found one of them going cheap.

The bigger one in use.

You can’t beat the GP5000 for speed and durability. With latex tubes they’ll be a million times better than 4 Seasons

You can beat them for speed and you can beat them for durability... just maybe not both. On the TT bike (now) I only care about speed. (says the guy with the TT bike covered in dust)

I have 5-6mm clearance from tyre to calliper with worn 25c 4 seasons. Would it be stupid to try and fit 30c?

Merlin have a deal on a pair of GP 5000 and a pair of tubes (including latex for a bit extra) so 2x tyres and latex tubes for £100 - seems hard to beat.

Pretty sure I paid less than that for Corsa Speed and tubes but I don't understand prices nowadays. I think Brexit has fucked the UK so when I bought stuff it was (relatively) cheap. £100 for 2 x GP5000 seems mental to me. GP4000s were like £30 each weren't they or did I dream that?

Just checked. It was 2020 and 700x25 Corsa Speed G2 were £46 each.

The 23mm were £42

seems hard to beat

The 25s are £4 less, and have the advantage that they will actually fit your bike

I've just been finding the 25c a bit unforgiving. 28c acceptable then? :)

This looks fast, and fast is cool.

Weirdly though, it seems a few people have tested and seen that bigger sized helmets are faster.

GP4000s were like £30 each weren't they or did I dream that?

Sounds about right, but inflation has been 10% for nearly 2 years, and the 5000 is presumably improved and therefore worth more. I paid £33 each for GP5000s from Germany about 3½ years ago.

I've just been finding the 25c a bit unforgiving

1. #whatpressureyourunning ?
   
2. GP5000 should be more supple than 4Seasons
   
3. #HTFU
   

1 - Probably too much, I don't know how this works.
2 - that's good
3 - I am soft and squidgy and there's nothing anyone can do about it.

*you convinced me to go 28 not 30c

Depends on the person, how low they can get their head, etc. Without a test, it's just a guess.

Tomorrow is the day.
New saddle fitted, courtesy of @Sainsburys_Ed - not totally sure if it’s the right fit. Definitely feels weird. Will ride it on the warm up and see how I get on, and I’ll pack a spare flite just in case.

New set of gp5000 28c and latex tubes fitted. And swapped out the cheap eBay extensions for some cheap profile ones. The arm supports do feel less slippery and more supportive.

Oh, and I bought a Bell Javelin off eBay for £40.

How does my position look? Do I need to be lower?

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There are a few things about your position which would make you ‘look’ faster, but you still need to be able to put power out. A classic TT position would put your saddle further forward, your elbows further forward and lower etc but if I start doing that then my thighs and belly make friends and I can’t pedal in circles.

Asked my ex-national champ mate about my position:

You look about as aero as my van, but if you get bitten by the bug I'll try and help you

Flipped and slammed the stem as a last ditch effort. Shaved the beard off. Will save shaving the legs until next time!

With all those untested changes, what could possibly go wrong?

It’s a 6 mile cycle to get to the start, so I can always swap it all back if it feels bad.

Well, much better than expected. I am very sweaty

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Nice one! How did you like the whole experience?