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George Fox breaks 10-mile road bike TT record (George Fox)How fast?! New road bike 10-mile time trial record set at 51.6km/h average speed for 18:41 clocking
The 10-mile time trial, a staple of the British racing scene, is now with a new record for the road bike discipline after George Fox set a blistering time of 18:41 on Sunday.
Just last month Cycling Time Trials introduced a road bike category to all of its events in a bid to "get more people time trialling", just don't expect to get too close to George's 51.6km/h average speed if you do fancy giving it a go.
On his mind since 2019, George admitted previously setting a time of 19:19 "almost by accident" but that it "sparked the interest in just seeing what was physically possible".
"This winter came a real concerted effort into testing equipment and spending a lot more time in the position," he told road.cc. "I've road raced the bike for most of this year, various crits and a local handicap series which proved really useful to force myself to hold an aero position as training for Sunday essentially.
"Everything fell into place really nicely on the day, it was no accident that I was ready for the occasion though as the date had been written on the wall in the office ever since the CTT calendar got posted in the new year!
"We're in a science based sport now and all I had to do was apply the same approach that I do with the riders I coach and bike fit to myself, along with outside support from my coach James Millard and a couple of other very supportive people."
George set his time aboard an Argon E-17 frame, with a Princeton 7580 wheel up front and a VeloElite 88mm at the rear. That eye-catching dinner plate of a chainring is a whopping 62t and the chain runs through one of Ceramic Speed's (very expensive) aero pulley wheel systems.
The rear derailleur is Shimano Ultegra Di2 11-speed and the bars are Prime's carbon aero offering in 36cm width for getting nice and tucked. The finishing kit includes a Syncros Belcarra carbon saddle, profile design Aria stem and Speedplay pedals.
George's power meter shows he held a normalised power of 378w for the 18:41 mins of effort, hitting a maximum speed of 75.5km/h and averaging a cadence of 86, while his average heart rate was 182bpm, rising as high as 191bpm by the final metres.
Dan is the road.cc news editor and joined in 2020 having previously written about nearly every other sport under the sun for the Express, and the weird and wonderful world of non-league football for The Non-League Paper. Dan has been at road.cc for four years and mainly writes news and tech articles as well as the occasional feature. He has hopefully kept you entertained on the live blog too.
Never fast enough to take things on the bike too seriously, when he's not working you'll find him exploring the south of England by two wheels at a leisurely weekend pace, or enjoying his favourite Scottish roads when visiting family. Sometimes he'll even load up the bags and ride up the whole way, he's a bit strange like that.
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Well since you seem to know so much about it, was the new category introduced so that:
a) people who previously didn't get involved in TTs because they felt they didn't have the 'right' kit would be more inclined to have a go; or,
b) so that washed up athletes could set new records.
Which?
Another post so full of shit.
Do you mean this 'washed-up' athlete who clocked 19:19 on a standard Propel in 2019?
https://twitter.com/georgefox07/status/1133699488227483648
I really cannot understand how George Fox's performances deter anyone from participating in a TT. Either you've failed to understand anything I've written in this discussion or you are simply desperate to argue for no obvious reason (and with no factual basis to your ridiculous comments). Based on experience, I think it's the latter.
That was 4 years ago. Not much since until a new category is introduced that can be leveraged. You're proving my point.
2022 - 19.06 On a propel with 65/60mm wheels and a road helmet
2020 - 19.31 on the same setup as above
2019 - 19.18 on the propel with 50mm wheels and Tt helmet
All of the above off 30w less than the 18.41.
I have consistently spoken about breaking this time for the last 5 years now, it just so happens that the CTT introduced the new category for road bikes this year. I chose to align my goals with their new rules rather than sticking to the approach I'd done previously with regards to equipment use.
I'd have been happy with my ride and nobody else knowing about it to be quite honest, but as has been pointed out, it's my business. I justify my time training as it positively impacts what I do day to day when I do get results, that's the sole reason for doing the interviews. So no, it's not glory hunting, it's not comparing to Colin's ride, there really is no ulterior motive to this other than to ride fast and see what is possible for myself and the equipment I choose and am allowed to use. Hope that clears a few of your opinions up 👍🏻
Well that ShushedTheFrontDawes...
Sorry, I'll get me coat.
Maybe the tough pill to swallow would be you accepting that George Fox is very athletically gifted? He was winning time trials as soon he started with them.
I wasn't aware that he'd set records in existing categories. I'll have to look that up.
Under the latest BC Comms guidence his postion on the bars would see him DQ'd in a RR.
Well, I for one enjoyed this completely gratuitous dig at the male also-rans (if that) taking podium places in women's races.
I think this particular bike falls within the letter of the road bike rules, rather than the spirit perhaps. The rules being no tri-bars, no clip-on bars, no disc wheels, max rim depth 90mm, and both wheels have at least 12 spokes. This bike fulfils that, but for all other intents, is a TT bike for most people.
Bearing in mind the rider's day job of coaching and bike-fitting, this (amazing) effort represents and promotes a showcase of what's possible rather than a realistic target for the average club rider turning up on a Tuesday evening and paying their £5 to the timekeeper. In fact, it's the opposite, it's an incentive for the person turning up on a P5X desparately trying to break 20 minutes!
Previous "Road Bike" TTs I've ridden (like the Merlin Series road bike category) have specified rim depths of 50mm or less and no stupid helmets (no visors / ears uncovered etc). This bike is taking the p*ss. Great ride, but not really what CTT are aiming for. Maybe the rules as such need tweaked.
It's not taking the piss. As soon as you devise a contest with a set of rules, competitive people find a way to explore the outer reaches of those rules. Many, many people have pointed out that this would happen in 'road bike' time-trialling.
More to the point, that Colin Sturgess 1980s record looks better and better if all this tech and a fast course and a strong rider shaves just 7 seconds off it.
Agree.
CTT wanted to implement as few rules as possible; they were also conscious of BC/UCI rules about things like wheel depth.
It's inevitable that TT frames and wheels that are just inside the max permitted would be used. That's life. Personally I'd prefer a road bike category to be non-aero and something like 50mm max rim but that would probably be a little too restrictive and could discourage people with expensive bikes and 60mm carbon wheels (claim people with expensive bikes and deep wheels AND a full TT rig, expensive skinsuit etc etc). And it seems that nowadays even commuters and recreational riders happily buy aero handlebars, deep rims, low CRR tyres etc.
At least this way there are very few restrictions on what you can ride; and let's be honest, unless you're at the sharp end of an Open then you are really only racing against yourself.
Very impressive effort!
The E-117 is a time trial frame, great idea putting drop bars on it. Looks very similar to the Nitrogen.
would be good to see him try on a 'normal' road bike so we can get a good benchmark comparison in the real world for a top rider.
I believe a reasonable heuristic would be a saving of about 90 seconds over ten miles compared to a standard non-aero road bike.
Great to see that the new Road Bike category is encouraging cyclists to 'have a go' as intended.... haha just joking.
George Speedyfox has been a force for a while, well done him as that's a terrific time.
Zoomy and super impressive.
Congrats George Fox.
that's some max aero / conditions (I know it's out and back but sidewind anything's a sailing effect when your doing 50kmph) because no disrespect and I can't but 378W for 18 minutes isn't mutant power.
congratulations all the same though
It's not going to win you the Tour de France, but it's not that far off.
In an interview with Colin Sturgess he said he did 435w for a '10' in 2000, his final competitive season. Wiggins' hour record ride was said to be about 420w (for more than 3 times the duration) while Ganna averaged over 500w for the 19 km stage 1 TT in the Giro on Saturday.
Sturgess's 18:48 comp record was set on his standard steel road bike - Reynolds 753 frame and a Campagnolo C-Record groupset (downtube shifters!) with a 52x13 top gear and some 28-spoke time trial wheels. Info from a Cycling Weekly article about George Fox's bike and last weekend's ride. Fox had previously clocked 19:19 for a '10' on a Giant Propel in 2019.
I remember doing a local TT here in South Australia (flat one 18km, so just over 10mile), and Chris Harper did it on his climbing bike with shallow wheels and normal kit and helmet. He averaged over 50km/h, I think it was in that 51km/h area, I should try to find the results. Was bloody amazing to see
I also have one of these TT bikes and was keen to do the same to make it a crit machine, if I ever update my TT
One year (around 2010?) Aussie MTB rider Dan McConnell was in the UK with the Torq team and clocked under 22 minutes for our local 10 mile TT on his XC race bike, apparently with knobblies. Jaws dropped in the pub that evening.
Sturgess was a great rider. I saw him ride track a few times. The fact that his record wasn't broken until now shows what an amazing ride his 18:48 was.
I sold Colin's dad my track frame - gold Zeus IIRC (Or a DHC) back when we were all in Joburg. Not sure if it was for Colin himself or for one of the other riders Colin's dad was coaching. Scary thing is that was more than 40 years ago!
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