Time Trial / Time Trialling / TT

I am aware of good testers closing the FTP gap to a few %, but they are probably not as fit as they would be had they done more training in a traditional position so it's not something I focus on or try to compare.

I think Bigham interviewed about narrowness of hands which he says generally tests faster on almost everyone, and is roundly more uncomfortable for everyone...but it is inherently trainable eventually without physiological limitation on power output.

I am aware of good testers closing the FTP gap to a few %, but they are probably not as fit as they would be had they done more training in a traditional position

I'm pretty sure I never fell into the category of being a good tester, but when I was racing TTs a lot my average power output was always the same as on a road bike, to within a modest margin of error. I suspect that's because I was only racing on a TT bike, and that made up quite a lot of my 'training'.

It is entirely possible that the more time you spend on a TT bike the better you get at riding one. I think some part of the difference in power output can be down to confidence in handling the bike itself on top of the obvious biomechanical adaptations required. Really deep front wheels and higher hand positions can be hard work on technical courses and crosswinds. Shitty road surfaces are becoming more of a problem now as well making it a case not how much power you can put down in that position but how much power you feel comfortable putting down when things start getting sketchy. My last lot of aero testing was a waste of time for me. It didn't matter as I was helping a mate out with some testing so it was free but I ended up with a position with lower drag that I don't feel safe riding. That might improve a bit with practice but I do need to steer and see so I don't fancy it

Basicaly @fredtc, it's a minefield!

Imho it's simple, test to give a true setting on zones with the your best power. Then do your threshold L3/L4 stuff in position but be ok about having to sit up to finish them. Leave L5+ training to the road bike.

And if like me you all your in TT position training inside make sure you can do it out on the road. Sometimes that position just needs practice on the road but it can also flag necessary set up changes. It's much harder to crash on an indoor trainer

Who would have thought!

Is there any interest in an old Zipp 808? Recalled hub has been replaced by sram. Alloy brake track. Comes with a padded bag and is fitted with a 20mm Supersonic and can also throw in a 20mm GP4000ii
No idea on prices - £150 posted?

That would match my rear with powertap and cover that I've still got sat here. Maybe we could combine them and storm TTF

MILLIONS!

Adding to the Zipp, I have a Bell javelin (white, small, visor) which I am not going to use. £30?

I’ve got a canyon Speedmax with DT Swiss deep wheels. The roads here are garbage and I’d like to run heavier training tyres for training in winter and spring then save the deep wheels with lighter tyres for pre race and race. Should I get DT Swiss training wheels to hope the rotors line up similarly or will most be the same? Cheers

They should line up, but it's a 2 minute job to re-align disc calipers after a wheel change.

Buy any beater wheelset you fancy and shim the rotors to make them fit exactly the same.
https://www.tobedetermined.cc/journal/the-dark-art-of-rotor-shimming

I swap Fulcrum & Prime wheel sets on my gravel bike without a problem, usually need a wee twiddle of the rear mech cable tension

What are these tt clamps? I need to tighten up the extension but the torx head just spins and I can't see a way to hold it inside the extension.

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Looks like 3T Vola, and you have the wrong screw in the wrong place, and you've probably lost the pressure plate, parts 15 and 16 in the diagram It's anticlockwise to clamp once you have the right parts in the right order.

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Amazing, that’s it, thanks.

I did think it was odd the extensions needed a hole drilled in them to be held in place….

Also, the screws might be left hand thread, in which case it's clockwise to clamp. I can't remember, I don't have my 3T parts here to check, and they might be fucking with us by having it different on different models using the same mechanism.

they might be fucking with us

Italian parts. Flip a coin. Surprised they don't follow Campag's lead and require a 6.3mm left-handed Torx security bit or something just for the LOLs.

Is there anything like best bike split that will let me work out what power I might need for a set time on a set course? I found best bike split wildly underestimated by half Ironman power so either I’m insanely un aero (possible), my power meter over reads (likely) or I’m using it wrong.
I’d like to know eg what power I might need for a local course to do 2-4 mins quicker than last year to have a little motivating goal through winter.
I guess I could just go and ride the course and work this out myself but that won’t work for longer or further away courses?

Mywindsock does that

This seems a reasonable place to ask: in my hed3spoke, the valve stem sticks out a bit. Perhaps the hole in the rims is a little diagonal to make it easier to reach the valve with your nozzle. But is it standard on hed3's? I put in a 60mm valve stem (the last latex tube I had laying around), think a 50 or 40mm will be sticking out less for much needed aero gains on the long and windy roads here in the NL.

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Stick a bit of tape over the whole opening

left hand thread

A bit late but I had some 3T aerobars which were left hand thread. They were fiddly as fuck to set up.

There's me thinking I have enough bulge in my cycling attire