The TT Thread

[Frank9755]

Good advice above. 

The bit I would really emphasise is - unless money is no object - get a cheap, second hand TT bike first and be prepared to spend a lot of time with spanners working out what fits, and how your body adapts to riding in an aero position.

The chances of anyone buying the bike at the outset that will be best for them 6-12 months after they have started TTing are not very high, so best to delay buying your real bike until you have learned what you want.

[giropaul]

The one thing to decide is what you are intending to ride. Triathlon, check the rules, they were trying to adopt UCI  rules at one time, but this doesn’t seem to have happened at the typical competitors level. Ironman are a complete outlier from rules and regulations.
CTT have got some rules on position and kit - again, check.
Not all CTT bike set ups will be UCI compliant. If you’re likely to ride a UCI event ( which could include some Scottish time trials in theory, but also events like the Duo Normand, or the UCI amateur events like the time trials in the UCI World Series).
In practice, the higher up the finishing order and level of competition, the more likely checks are.

[rob]

Jonathan Schubert set a new RRA (i.e. straight out) 100 record today: 3:08:14 provisional.  It was an Ian Cammish record he took, so that's quite some scalp!

Shoobs is going again today.   Starting in 10mins.   He's targetting sub 3hrs.

[zigzag]

Jonathan Schubert set a new RRA (i.e. straight out) 100 record today: 3:08:14 provisional.  It was an Ian Cammish record he took, so that's quite some scalp!

Shoobs is going again today.   Starting in 10mins.   He's targetting sub 3hrs.

is the key part of his strategy to wait for a gale force tailwind? today is a good day then!

(i was soft pedalling at 40kph traveling north east last friday, with no wind noise in my ears)

[rob]

Jonathan Schubert set a new RRA (i.e. straight out) 100 record today: 3:08:14 provisional.  It was an Ian Cammish record he took, so that's quite some scalp!

Shoobs is going again today.   Starting in 10mins.   He's targetting sub 3hrs.

is the key part of his strategy to wait for a gale force tailwind? today is a good day then!

(i was soft pedalling at 40kph traveling north east last friday, with no wind noise in my ears)

He said he'd been hanging around since late Summer waiting for a decent wind.   The day he went wasn't that windy but he thought he might not get another chance.   This pretty standard for straight out attempts - I read a piece on Ian Cammish's 50 record the other day and it was gale force the day he went.

[rob]

provisional 02:57:58.

[Legs]

Very impressive.  Just a smidge slower than Bradley Wiggins' hour record (but for three times as long).

[Sergeant Pluck]

provisional 02:57:58.

Phenomenal.

And presumably quite risky too, on public roads?

[LittleWheelsandBig]

Following car with flashing light.

[rob]

I’ve raced on most of the roads used, albeit at weekends.  They’re busy but I wouldn’t call them dangerous.

Anyway as LWaB says there’s safety regs with RRA attempts.

[Karla]

A follow car plus a follow van, in fact.  Both the vehicles in his lane are his.

[Sergeant Pluck]

I wonder how the team worked on roundabouts - on one Youtube clip I saw, it looked as if they have made sure his entry onto the roundabout was clear.

I’ve raced on most of the roads used, albeit at weekends.  They’re busy but I wouldn’t call them dangerous.

Anyway as LWaB says there’s safety regs with RRA attempts.

Fair enough. Another factor is that he must have been travelling pretty much at car speeds for some of the journey.

[Karla]

As Rob says, the roads he used are basically the London East and Breckland courses back to back.  Both are used regularly, so it's not like either is an unknown quantity.

The fatality rate per mile for all competitive cycling is about twice the rate for all cycling nationally: if you strap on a number, you're at twice as much risk as the national average that includes you, the toddler going to the park and the person going to the shops.

A while ago I totted up all the deaths in open TTs (which are predominantly on these sorts of roads) for as far back as I could find.  I then estimated miles ridden in Opens based on the number of events in the CTT calendar, they're distances and field sizes, and I divided one by the other.  The fatality rate worked out just the same as the all competition rate, i.e. twice the all cycling rate.  In other words, nothing to write home about.  A fast road isn't necessarily an unsafe road.

[ElyDave]

Just read about this, are there any regulations around bikes, weather conditions, tailwinds etc for these kind of things?

[Frank9755]

Someone will know better than me but I presume it would be CTT bike regs and take whatever tailwind you can get. 

Edit: just looked at the rules and they don't seem to say anything about bike spec / geometry:
http://www.rra.org.uk/index.html?ifrm_1=rules.html

[rob]

Just read about this, are there any regulations around bikes, weather conditions, tailwinds etc for these kind of things?

Not sure about bikes but all the recent ones have used current TT rigs.  The one attempt I know that was done on a recumbent was unofficial even though it was faster (Wilko’s E2E).

Course design is pretty key but there is nothing stopping a rider from waiting for a storm or doing the first 10 miles downhill.  As organisations goes the RRA rule book is pretty light.  I did a bit of research when the resurgence started after Wheelsoffire broke the E2E.

[cygnet]

I wonder how the team worked on roundabouts - on one Youtube clip I saw, it looked as if they have made sure his entry onto the roundabout was clear.

I'm pretty sure they would not have been allowed to do that by the RRA observers.

Having TTd on some similar roads I'd say as a car driver you would be surprised at how much visibility and time is available to you approaching a RAB at 35mph (in my dreams) compared to 60mph in a car.

[giropaul]

I wonder how the team worked on roundabouts - on one Youtube clip I saw, it looked as if they have made sure his entry onto the roundabout was clear.

I'm pretty sure they would not have been allowed to do that by the RRA observers.

Having TTd on some similar roads I'd say as a car driver you would be surprised at how much visibility and time is available to you approaching a RAB at 35mph (in my dreams) compared to 60mph in a car.

Having helped at a number of RRA attempts ( in fact successful events). There certainly were ( it’s some years ago) very strict rules about helpers passing the riders . In these more technical days, there’s more possibility of radio contact to static direction marshalls of course - I’d need to check the current rules.
Trivia- most of the Midlands attempts I was driving the support for had a Midlands RRA official observer used his Rolls Royce for the purpose!

[rob]

There was a comment in either the interview or on social media that he would ask the support car to hang back a bit on a second attempt.   I think that way you would get a bit more assistance from the passing traffic.

[Frank9755]

I wonder how the team worked on roundabouts - on one Youtube clip I saw, it looked as if they have made sure his entry onto the roundabout was clear.

I'm pretty sure they would not have been allowed to do that by the RRA observers.

Having TTd on some similar roads I'd say as a car driver you would be surprised at how much visibility and time is available to you approaching a RAB at 35mph (in my dreams) compared to 60mph in a car.

Good point. Non TT riders may not appreciate how rare it is to have to wait at a roundabout.
You can virtually always fine-tune your speed and also your left /right position in the lane in advance to make sure you can get out without braking. 

[rob]

Woke up this morning after a dream where I was rushing to get ready at the start of a 12hr.   Maybe I’m missing it after all.

Just signing the forms to join my new club and putting together a wish list of shiny bits.

[Geriatricdolan]

In response to Rob on the other thread.

I've got some numbers from TTs... my best power (from Stages) is 265W for a 10 km "sporting" course... that was a 16:30.
Best 10 miles is 250 Watt and that was 25:49. I've never raced in a 25

Normal bike, no aero wheels, no skinsuit, no aero helmet, nothing.

I'm not overly keen to start spending money on equipment, I don't think it's the right time to spend money with all the uncertainty around. I always race with top quality tyres and that's the only monetary concession I make.

It'd be interesting to see what kind of results are needed for the National road bike Champs in Nateby. I aim to do a couple of the Sigma classic series, if they go ahead, the Little Mountain one and the one in Cheshire

[rob]

Skinsuits aren't terribly expensive and can be had second hand.   You need to concentrate on the fit, though.  I could swear by old standard skinsuit is faster than the tripsuit I used in 2019 - it gathered too much around the shoulders.

Velotoze are 20 quid or tape over your laces.

Move your bars down or further forward.   Get someone to take photos of you side on and then compare to other riders.   You sometimes lose a bit of power going lower but the aero gain is more in mph.

[Geriatricdolan]

Skinsuits aren't terribly expensive and can be had second hand.   You need to concentrate on the fit, though.  I could swear by old standard skinsuit is faster than the tripsuit I used in 2019 - it gathered too much around the shoulders.

Velotoze are 20 quid or tape over your laces.

Move your bars down or further forward.   Get someone to take photos of you side on and then compare to other riders.   You sometimes lose a bit of power going lower but the aero gain is more in mph.

Thanks...

I am also hopeful that on a sporting course I will do better... my 10 km sporting TT yielded me a second place... it was a small club event, but I have ended up in the bottom 20% on other flatter club events.
I guess the Little Mountain TT will be a test of whether I can qualify for Nateby or not... to be honest, all that matters is to have a target to work for, if it doesn't happen, Amen... it's not that I have any ambition to actually do well at the National... it's a case of making up the numbers.
I care more about the HC season, but that's a long way away and I need a more immediate target to work towards

[rob]

I have been specifically targeting the faster/flatter TTs as I've been mostly interested in outright speed for the sheer joy of looking at your GPS showing 30mph + for long sections of road.

I've not really looked at anything SPOCO but I note that I'll be able to ride club events for the first time in years next season and my new club have a range of local testing courses for a mid-week burn up.