First road bike, best value upgrade?

700c wrote:Simon E, it’s not

700c wrote:

Simon E, it’s not as simple as buying speed, (you have to train of course) but equipment clearly makes a difference, and the OP, I understand, chose to upgrade his wheels. IME, a sensible choice – and he will notice the difference, I am sure of it!

I’m sure he will. My point was that people overestimate the potential gains of lighter/more aero components. The few seconds aero wheels will save over a 25 mile TT are irrelevant when you ride on the hoods with your mates.

I’m not knocking the desire to tweak your bike, just that this seems to be a goal in itself rather than a means to an end. It seems many people think the first thing they need to do to a new bike is to upgrade it, they have persuaded themselves that the stock wheels (or whatever) “aren’t good enough”.

Interesting that Froome won
Interesting that Froome won the TT in the Tour by swapping bikes at the summit – light climbing bike with light wheels for going up, aero bike set up for going down.

Simon E, it’s not as simple as buying speed, (you have to train of course) but equipment clearly makes a difference, and the OP, I understand, chose to upgrade his wheels. IME, a sensible choice – and he will notice the difference, I am sure of it!

ilovemytinbred wrote:Shoe

ilovemytinbred wrote:

Shoe covers 30 seconds? skinsuit worth more than bars? That must be compared to a guy wearing wellington boots and maybe a wedding dress 😀

It is actually debatable whether most shoe covers offer any advantage and may in fact slow you down.

+1. Love the thought of wellies & wedding dress 😀

The skinsuit is a special Nike speedsuit, 30-60 secs is more likely. Effectiveness of an aero helmet varies with rider profile and position, there is no single ‘best’ helmet.

Flo reckon their 30mm (20 spokes) is worth 64secs over 40 km TT, the 60mm only 11secs more. That’s compared to a 32-spoke Open Pro. If you use a low enough baseline you can make anything look good.

Equally, the possible gains from weight reduction are overhyped, but people like the idea of ‘buying’ speed so light weight sells.

Shoe covers 30 seconds?
Shoe covers 30 seconds? skinsuit worth more than bars? That must be compared to a guy wearing wellington boots and maybe a wedding dress 😀

It is actually debatable whether most shoe covers offer any advantage and may in fact slow you down.

The difficulty on a road bike with aero bars is that the position will tend to be too long. Ideally yu will move your saddle forward as this shortens the reach and allows you to get lower because you have a more relaxed hip angle. A limiting factor on road bike is the geometry which will start to feel a handful if you go to far forward. It is still relatively east to get it right with a little playing about.

All I know is that for the same power I am much faster using box section wheels and aerobars than I am using zipp 404s on my road bike. My position is above average but far from ideal.

700c wrote:Perhaps I need

700c wrote:

Perhaps I need more practice, but I noticed several people on last Saturdays sportive on TT bars…

Ooh naughty! Most sportives don’t allow TT bars or other non-standard bars.

You mention TT’s, so clip on
You mention TT’s, so clip on tri bars are an obvious choice for an upgrade. And cheap. As for them making a much more of a difference than wheels, (‘which you will hardly notice’) I am not convinced this is necessarily the case.

It depends on the individual rider, bike fit and flexibility etc

For example, I’m able to get an effective, low and powerful position on the drops now, yet my TT bars really did not make me feel stable, and therefore have not helped me. Perhaps I need more practice, but I noticed several people on last Saturdays sportive on TT bars, when I got onto the drops for a nice flat section, I was easily able to get away from them in their TT position. My aero wheels are a big factor in helping me maintain a good speed on the flat

Of course I am not comparing like for like, and a serious time trialist should definitely work on getting a low position, which will probably involve a set of TT bars, I would just caution against the assumption that ‘TT bars will give you +1 mph, wheels make virtually no difference’ -it really depends on the rider in question and the equipment used.

I admit that decent wheels are a costly proposition, however!

Go for some Kool-Stop brake
Go for some Kool-Stop brake pads while you’re at it (my experience with the OEM Shimano pads is that they overheat and glaze over very easily on fast descents)