The new race bike

[aicabsolut]

Primarily for crits and TTs (I do not have a TT bike). Still working on bar height/hoods position, etc., but for now, I think it's ok.






The "old" bike will probably still be used for some hillier or longer races, but mostly now for long training rides.

[Pedal Wench]

I'm debating getting a TT bike for a long-distance ride I do. I wonder what that dedicated position will do for my time over a 24-hour race.

[aicabsolut]

I'm not sure my body could handle being in a tucked position for 24 hrs (even if the rest of me could handle it) !!

I'd need to go a size down on a TT bike and have different bars (no room for clamp-on bars with my current setup), so that gear would be for whenever I could justify the cost for something I wouldn't use that often. I do well enough in TTs without the aero gear. I'm sure I'd do even better with it, but I'd rather have a backup "normal" bike.

[Eden]

I'm not sure my body could handle being in a tucked position for 24 hrs (even if the rest of me could handle it) !!

My first thought was exactly the same.... Ouch....I think for a 24 hour race that having some clip on aero bars might be nice, to not only get a little wind cheating, but to also have some different hand/back positions, but a true TT position is not comfortable enough to use for that long of a time. Bull horns (TT dedicated bikes don't have regular drop handlebars) are not particularly stable or comfortable to ride on if you want to spend some time more upright too.

[SheFly]

My first thought was exactly the same.... Ouch....I think for a 24 hour race that having some clip on aero bars might be nice, to not only get a little wind cheating, but to also have some different hand/back positions, but a true TT position is not comfortable enough to use for that long of a time. Bull horns (TT dedicated bikes don't have regular drop handlebars) are not particularly stable or comfortable to ride on if you want to spend some time more upright too.

Excellent point! There is NO WAY I would even go out to do a training ride on my TT bike that was longer than about 15 or 20 miles. The bullhorns are scary unstable, and riding in that position for a long time just isn't comfortable for me.

Aicabsolut - that bike is SWEET! With those wheels, it will be a perfect crit machine. Have you ridden it yet?

SheFly

[kermit]

Very nice bike! Are those Zipps are the cosmic carbons?

[Pedal Wench]

My first thought was exactly the same.... Ouch....I think for a 24 hour race that having some clip on aero bars might be nice, to not only get a little wind cheating, but to also have some different hand/back positions, but a true TT position is not comfortable enough to use for that long of a time. Bull horns (TT dedicated bikes don't have regular drop handlebars) are not particularly stable or comfortable to ride on if you want to spend some time more upright too.

Wow. I'm glad I asked! I've been using my road bike with clip-on aero bars, and I do like being able to switch throughout the night. Not ever having ridden a dedicated TT bike, I didn't realize they were that uncomfortable for the long haul. I'll stick with my road bike and look for other ways to shave time. Shoot -- was hoping that was an excuse for a new bike!

[aicabsolut]

They are Cosmic Carbone SLRs. Comparable weight to Zipp 303 clinchers but with a deeper fairing, cheaper, and with Mavic's nice MP3 warranty. So far, they are pretty fast. I did my first races on the wheels last week. (only had done a couple rides on them before)

I haven't gotten the Tarmac on the road yet , only sat on the trainer in the shop to work on the fit. The only real difference in my 2 bikes as far as fit is the handlebars. These are short reach / mid-drop, and my others are short / shallow. The Tarmac does have a different front end, but when I test rode my friend's, I didn't notice much (and he had zero stack height plus 1cm longer stem).

I wanted to make the bars a bit lower. Right now, they are even with my Roubaix (less stack but longer head tube on the Roubaix). For some reason, the headset wouldn't cooperate putting spacers on top of the stem. I have the same stem on the other bike with 2 spacers on top, but all I got yesterday was wobbles unless we did some interesting stuff with aluminum spacers.

Since the bars are deeper anyway, my buddy at the shop suggested I just leave the height the same, ride it for a bit, and then if I want to lower the stem another cm, I could do the weird half aluminum headset (it would get tight, but there would be a slight gap where dirt and moisture could get through) for a few rides and then cut the steerer tube some more if it came to that.

Unfortunately, long hours at work and crappy weather will probably keep me indoors till Thursday, but then the weather is supposed to be beautiful, so I will fully test it out.

I'm supposed to do my first race on it on Saturday. It's a technical crit that is always miserably cold and windy with one death-defying turn--narrow, downhill, maybe 270*, off-camber, and littered with manholes and often sand/gravel. That's right after you ride past a graveyard. Gotta love the US Naval Academy. I really want to chicken out, but I did well last year (3rd), and I'm usually best at technical courses. I just don't want to scrape up the new toy by doing something stupid. At least it ought to corner much better than the Roubaix. I never could get my line right last year, and only did so well by fighting really hard to lead the pack into that turn over 95% of the time, so I could go as slowly as I wanted. ...That and I had a higher tolerance for suffering in the headwind on the back side of the course. If the winds are as bad as last year, the Carbones are staying in the car.