TT Advice

At 30 minutes for a 10 on a normal road bike, I'd echo the comment to focus on fitness first. Your biggest gains should be there. Long rides at a consistent pace that is neither too taxing, nor overly comfortable, to build up a base fitness. Add in structured, shorter, intense efforts on top to stretch your capabilities. Don't forget recovery.

I think biggest thing in TT in general is being comfortable, by this I don't mean comfortable that your not working at all, but able to purely focus on putting down the power and effort without thinking about position and moving about on bike.

This comes from having a great fit on bike and I feel having a TT bike which puts you into such a good position.

I've recently done a 25 with aero bars and did it in 1:10 but it was rather hilly course.

I think my sort term goals are fitness and cornering at speed, long term no gf and more money into TT bike fund;)

As a lot of people have said position is the key to quick times. One mistake a lot of people make is trying to go to low at the front, aero doesn't always mean low. You might be able to put out more power in a slightly higher position especially if you do a lot of miles on the road bike. A flat back is the aim especially now you've got your Javelin, you'll want to feel the aero section resting on your back for it to be giving you the full benefit.

Pacing is important to, build up to race speed over the first 2 minutes, go flat out from the off and you'll be struggling with lactic acid in your legs for miles.

I time trialled for 6 or 7 years before taking a break for the last couple. I did my first 10 a couple of weeks ago and the biggest thing I noticed was my inability to absolutely bury myself, I used to 55 min 25's and could barely walk or talk when I crossed the finish line. Hopefully I'll get back there soon.

As far as kit goes a disc won't make a massive difference to your time over a 10, 20 secs maybe but when I bought my FFWD the sound of it wooshing round was worth so much more. If you can justify it to yourself go for it but don't expect massive time drops, you will look good though which at the end of the day is what it is all about

That is a bang on statement! Comfort is relative though! Doing mid 22's isn't comfortable....

Your question is. Will it make me go faster. In short yes it will, is it worth it. I would say no.

I'm 18st, smoke & ride a Planet X TT frame and forks. My PB for last season was 22:28. Before this I was riding a bike that didn't fit and could get below 25mins. Best thing money can buy is a bike fit. Get comfy on the bike before trying to get aero. Once your comfy work on stretches and becoming more flexible. This in turn will allow you to get a little more aero and you want have to fight your body to produce watts. Skin suits are good and a well pinned on number will help. Aero helmet will also help.

Yes you can buy performance in TT, but get the basics right and then refine. To get the most out of a 3 spoke you need to be carrying a consistent speed of over 25mph I think.

Most importantly remember its a race against yourself enjoy it and take pleasure in building on your fitness and speed instead of popping into a shop and buying a few spare watts

Fitness, Position, Mental attitude.
You do not need a coach, but you do need to structure your training (maybe I can help?).
I use a disc, but until this year I've ridden an old steel frame with proper TT bars. Just upgraded to carbon.
Current bests are
10mile - 23:34
25mile - 59:29
50mile - 2:00:04
100mile - 4:21:50
I'm not the fastest (nowhere near!) but TTing is great fun & you are only really racing against yourself.
Good luck with your season.

According to MIT 75% of drag is the rider.

Read this

www.bicycling.com/bikes-gear/bikes-and-gear-features/revenge-nerds

I had a link to a report they'd written on this but can't find it and they said their biggest percentage change on drag after the helmet and position was always gluing numbers onto skin suits. Not popular with organisers but cheaper than wheels.

Bit confused about this post i thought 10mile tt were lot quicker.my commute to work is 10mile and it takes me 27mins.thats with ruck sack on and not going full gas

'Get that spermy helmet on and go turtle it! '

er...

Also, according to Pete Matthews, who built those wheels of mine, the aero advantages of super-specced wheels only really come into their own at well over 25mph. And I mean well over. Of course, he sells light wheels rather than aero ones but remember that they were designed for professionals, who would do a 10 in about 17 minutes.

My last 10 was in 1992. I was 16 years old, riding a steel Raleigh road bike with clip on bars, down tube shifters, and wheels that were a lot less "aero" than the ones that come as stock on modern bikes. Pocket money didn't stretch to a disc wheel! My PB was 23:38, and 1:0:57 for a 25.

This year, I am going to have a go at doing the same course on £2k's worth of carbon, but I expect to be a lot slower, because I am old and fat and haven't raced for over 20 years.

It's totally up to you, but it sounds like you've got pretty tasty kit already and I'd focus on the joy of seeing your times coming down through your hard work instead of by spending money.

Agree with both the above, especially Davey's post. Training and learning good pacing have done far more for me than equipment.

I've tried 50mm carbon and a tri-spoke front. The tri-spoke felt quicker but not a lot; the 50mm were disappointing, my RS80s feel very similar but much safer on steep descents and in crosswinds.

A strong rider can go fast on anything. And I mean anything - some local MTB racers can do 25-26mins on 29er MTB (with knobblies!) over our sporting '10' course, compared to about 22mins with all the aero gear.

I'd say focus on fitness, training and position before worrying about 3-spoke wheels and other aero products.

You could get a good coach for the cost of a set of wheels, and it'll be a better investment. It's perfectly possible, provided you've got the legs, to go sub-25mins on a regular road bike with deep section wheels

I'd stick with the planet x wheels you've got on at the moment, while they're not top of the range as far as I'm aware they're alright quality for the buck.

Under 25mph you probs won't find you go all that much quicker with the 3spoke/disc.

I'm not even running a disc this year as the deep set (50mms also) wheels will probably do the fact that there's climbs to be tackled still etc.

At club level power & position will make the biggest gains, example - my first 10 last year was a 28 on a roadie, I added clip ons and went down to a short 26 two TT's later.

Get that spermy helmet on and go turtle it!

I'd say nail your position and refine your time (or the other way round!?), if you're on a TT bike and wearing a skinno & spermy helmet you shouldn't need to upgrade too much for a while. When you start averaging +24mph for your 10's then I'd say maybe look at a disc.

Or, of course, if you've a ton of cash and you think it might help the brain - go for it