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Will $5000 really make me faster?
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 2013-06-03 4:17 PM |
Member  67 |  Subject: Will $5000 really make me faster?Ok cyclists. Here is the scenario and money question. Just finished Rev3 Quassy Olympic. I was in the first wave and 14th out of the water. On the bike leg I finished 35/66 in my age group and 294/717 overall. Average speed 16.65 mile/hr. (lots of hills) Lets just say I got passed by a lot of people, however, I didn't notice anyone passing me with a worse looking or older bike. (on an all original 2000 Trex 2300 with clip on aerobars). Assuming my human engine & chassis remained in similar condition - would having a lighter, more aero bike & wheels - have made any difference at all in my time? I think I need to be going a lot faster to have any of the aerodynamics kick in and not sure just how much advantage a few pounds of bicycle really is as a mid pack age grouper. Is it worth spending $5000 on a new bike to shave off 1 minute or can I really move the needle? Also - what happens if I step up to half iron distances? Will I really notice it? Thanks Dave |
| 2013-06-03 5:10 PM in reply to: dswezey |
Pro 4054  yep, | Subject: RE: Will $5000 really make me faster? Dave-- Honestly depends what your budget is and how serious you are about this. I mainly do cycling races and know guys who easily drop $250 on a new air attack helmet cause it is supposed to save you seconds on your TT time. $5k is a good bit of money. Honestly the engine is what makes that $5k bike go faster. |
| 2013-06-03 10:22 PM in reply to: dswezey |
Veteran 287 | Subject: RE: Will $5000 really make me faster? You would be better off if you spent at least some of that $5000 on a power meter and trained with it properly. motor > aero > weight |
| 2013-06-04 5:38 AM in reply to: dswezey |
Champion 9407 Montague Gold Mines, Nova Scotia | Subject: RE: Will $5000 really make me faster? Originally posted by dswezey Assuming my human engine & chassis remained in similar condition - would having a lighter, more aero bike & wheels - have made any difference at all in my time? Lighter, very little difference, more aero (and hopefully you in a more aero position) can make a big difference. I don't have a $5000 tribike (my race day setup including wheels was somewhere in the $1500-1700 range) and the difference between my road bike (on shorty aerobars) and tribike is about 3.5s/km. Add in deep front and disc rear and the savings are around 5.5s/km or about 3.5 minutes in an Olympic. I think I need to be going a lot faster to have any of the aerodynamics kick in and not sure just how much advantage a few pounds of bicycle really is as a mid pack age grouper. Aero matters whenever you are moving through the air; it becomes a larger factor the faster you go but anytime you are going <12mph, more than half your effort is going into overgoing aero drag. Is it worth spending $5000 on a new bike to shave off 1 minute or can I really move the needle? Also - what happens if I step up to half iron distances? Will I really notice it? HIM would see savings of about 8 minutes based on the numbers above. Shane |
| 2013-06-04 8:30 AM in reply to: Dlaxman31 |
Champion 9060 Charlottesville, Virginia | Subject: RE: Will $5000 really make me faster? Originally posted by Dlaxman31 Dave-- Honestly depends what your budget is and how serious you are about this. I mainly do cycling races and know guys who easily drop $250 on a new air attack helmet cause it is supposed to save you seconds on your TT time. $5k is a good bit of money. Honestly the engine is what makes that $5k bike go faster. Yeah, I really need that helmet... Agree with CJ, if you can afford it, go for it. I will make you faster, is the speed gained worth 5k? that's up to you. There are plenty of articles to back up Shane's post about saving 8 or so minutes, for some that's not much, others that could be the difference of top 10 vs. podium. And since this is the Peloton, don't forget style points, they do count for something. |
| 2013-06-11 10:42 AM in reply to: dalessit |
Expert 3126 Boise, ID | Subject: RE: Will $5000 really make me faster? You don't have to spend $5k. I have a nice road bike and a nice tri bike for a combined $5k. My tri bike was one year old, still new, when I bought it, and my road bike was part of a grand opening sale so I got good deals but you can do close to what I did. The difference between a $2,500 bike and a $5k bike is not going to make a huge difference in your time. A good $2k bike with some Flo wheels for $800 would be great. Think about the other equipment too. One of my biggest changes when I first started riding was going from quasi mtb shoes to top of the line carbon shoes. My average speed went up as soon as I strapped them on. Go find yourself a nice Cervelo P2 or P3, buy some Flo wheels and be faster for much less than $5k. But with all that said, a good motor trumps a fancy bike every time. Doesn't mean it isn't nice to have a fancy bike though!  |
| 2013-06-13 11:49 AM in reply to: dswezey |
Member 67 | Subject: RE: Will $5000 really make me faster? Thanks for all of the thoughts. Last weekend I demoed a Specialized Venge Pro Force http://www.specialized.com/us/en/bikes/road/venge/vengeproforcemidc... The difference between my current bike and this one were night and day. 60 miles and 4000 feet of climbing and I've never felt better. My car goes faster once I wash it so maybe I wasn't really going faster on the spiffy new bike, but it sure as heck felt that way. Plus i was dropping my buddy on the hills where he usually hangs right with me. I now know I definitely need a new bike. 1) Get off my butt and train harder - 2) A New bike is a must - invest in a proper bike fit and wheel upgrades then determin if I can afford Dura-Ace or if its going to be 105's Get off my butt and train harder - 3) Look to invest in a power meter for real training so i can measure my performance gains Get off my butt and train harder - Cheers |
| 2013-06-13 8:05 PM in reply to: dswezey |
Champion 9060 Charlottesville, Virginia | Subject: RE: Will $5000 really make me faster? I have a 2012 Venge for my road bike and I love it. It made me mildly faster but boosted my style points much more ; ) |
| 2013-06-14 10:50 AM in reply to: dswezey |
Champion 10668 Tacoma, Washington | Subject: RE: Will $5000 really make me faster? Use that $5k to: (1) Get your fit dialed in. (2) Take two weeks off in a mountainous location and train on the bike all day every day. As long as (1) is taken care of, differences in equipment are less than 1% of the issue. |
| 2013-06-17 2:29 PM in reply to: dswezey |
Expert 3126 Boise, ID | Subject: RE: Will $5000 really make me faster? Originally posted by dswezey Thanks for all of the thoughts. Last weekend I demoed a Specialized Venge Pro Force http://www.specialized.com/us/en/bikes/road/venge/vengeproforcemidc... The difference between my current bike and this one were night and day. 60 miles and 4000 feet of climbing and I've never felt better. My car goes faster once I wash it so maybe I wasn't really going faster on the spiffy new bike, but it sure as heck felt that way. Plus i was dropping my buddy on the hills where he usually hangs right with me. I now know I definitely need a new bike. 1) Get off my butt and train harder - 2) A New bike is a must - invest in a proper bike fit and wheel upgrades then determin if I can afford Dura-Ace or if its going to be 105's Get off my butt and train harder - 3) Look to invest in a power meter for real training so i can measure my performance gains Get off my butt and train harder - Cheers Just for the record, I have never had Dura Ace so I may not know what I am missing, but I am very pleased with the 105's on my road bike. My road bike is a 2012 model, my Cervelo is a 2008 with Ultegra. I think the newer 105 is probably as good or better than the 08 Ultegra. So don't blow too much money on the Dura Ace, if you get a good deal go for it but the 105's are very nice too. |
| 2013-07-18 3:48 PM in reply to: Dlaxman31 |
| Modesto, California | Subject: RE: Will $5000 really make me faster? Originally posted by Dlaxman31 Dave-- Honestly depends what your budget is and how serious you are about this. I mainly do cycling races and know guys who easily drop $250 on a new air attack helmet cause it is supposed to save you seconds on your TT time. $5k is a good bit of money. Honestly the engine is what makes that $5k bike go faster. Agreed, pain will make you go faster! Power is the way to go! |
| 2013-07-24 5:30 PM in reply to: dswezey |
| Regular 173 | Subject: RE: Will $5000 really make me faster? Originally posted by dswezey Ok cyclists. Here is the scenario and money question. Just finished Rev3 Quassy Olympic. I was in the first wave and 14th out of the water. On the bike leg I finished 35/66 in my age group and 294/717 overall. Average speed 16.65 mile/hr. (lots of hills) Lets just say I got passed by a lot of people, however, I didn't notice anyone passing me with a worse looking or older bike. (on an all original 2000 Trex 2300 with clip on aerobars). Assuming my human engine & chassis remained in similar condition - would having a lighter, more aero bike & wheels - have made any difference at all in my time? I think I need to be going a lot faster to have any of the aerodynamics kick in and not sure just how much advantage a few pounds of bicycle really is as a mid pack age grouper. Is it worth spending $5000 on a new bike to shave off 1 minute or can I really move the needle? Also - what happens if I step up to half iron distances? Will I really notice it? Thanks Dave Spend money on a set of nice race wheels. That is one area where money spent does pay off in time savings. |
| 2013-07-28 11:52 AM in reply to: dswezey |
Regular 198 Costa Mesa | Subject: RE: Will $5000 really make me faster? 1-5 pounds on a 2k to 5k bike probably won't make as much of a difference versus a couple hundred dollars in a good power meter/heart rate monitor with some proper training. Incidentally, I had to borrow a mountain bike for a team ride since my road bike was out of commission this week. The +12 pounds, considerably much less aero position, and no power return on the upswing (no clips) KILLED me for the 47 mile ride which normally would have been quite easy at that pace. |
| 2013-07-28 3:33 PM in reply to: dswezey |
Member 1293 Pearland,Tx | Subject: RE: Will $5000 really make me faster? i agree with most posters $ 5K will not make you significantly faster , but everytime you accomplish something its good to reward yourself if you can afford. Just an example. 1.) Accomplish first Tri - Buy a 2nd hand aluminum Tribike ( don forget w/ pro fitting?) 2.) Accoplish Olympic Tri or HIM- sell old Aluminum Tribike buy Tri Carbon Bike ( don forget w/ pro fitting?) 3.) Gain speed and power to accomplish 20mph Buy Carbon Wheels for Carbon Tri-bike just a thought  |
| 2013-07-28 3:53 PM in reply to: dswezey |
Member 67 | Subject: RE: Will $5000 really make me faster? Thanks everyone for the great feedback. Decided to spend my money on the engine. Finally bought a trainer (Kurt Kinetic Road Machine) so I can stick to the plan in bad weather and do proper testing. Invested in a real coach to get me through my first Half this fall. Will be buying a newer used tri bike that fits me properly. I'd love to win a power meter but because of their cost, that will come later. Now for the real question. Is this position more aero or is THIS position more aero? : ) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KTEgLKhjIw |
| 2013-08-23 9:08 PM in reply to: dswezey |
| 12 | Subject: RE: Will $5000 really make me faster? Originally posted by dswezey Thanks everyone for the great feedback. Decided to spend my money on the engine. Finally bought a trainer (Kurt Kinetic Road Machine) so I can stick to the plan in bad weather and do proper testing. Invested in a real coach to get me through my first Half this fall. Will be buying a newer used tri bike that fits me properly. I'd love to win a power meter but because of their cost, that will come later. Now for the real question. Is this position more aero or is THIS position more aero? : ) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KTEgLKhjIw Good to hear. Here's a link so you can get an idea of the wattage saved with aero wheels. The testing is at 30mph, and since power increases by the cube relative to wind resistance, you can get an idea of how that drops off at 20 mph. http://www.rouesartisanales.com/article-15505311.html |
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