Road Bike Racing - How often do you actually ride your TT bike?

I got my TT bike about 6-7 weeks ago, and since then I've been riding it 1-2 days weekly. I try to ride it at least one day per week (40+ miles) to get used to it. I have a TT coming up in September, and I'll ramp up the miles on the TT rig in the next few weeks.

So for non-triathletes: often do you ride your TT bike? Regularly? Or do you simply start training on it in the weeks preceeding an individual TT?

I don't have one.....yet.....so 0.

Although if I did have one, I'd probably ride it 1-2 days a week in the nicer weather months.

GW, you need to adopt more of a 'the glass is half full' attitude. Think of the back problems you're avoiding by not riding a TT bike.

If you're a Guitar Wizard, what guitars do you own? I played them and even collected them for a while, but I considered myself a Cat VI guitar player. I sort of gave it up for cycling. I pick up my Martin 5x annually so I won't forget how to play Stairway to Heaven.

I'll ride it in the weeks leading up to a time trial, but never longer than one hour at a time, and I certainly don't ride it for fun. I make it count and get the heck off of it.

I sold them all except my trusty Ibanez s470. Love that guitar. One of my past guitars was an original Ibanez RG550, but sold it to a student up at Berklee....one of Joe Stumps' students. FYI, Joe Stump is THE MAN.

I hardly play anymore....lost my callouses, but after years of playing 3-8 hours a day, I can pick up a guitar after literally a year of not playing, and still doesn't hurt.

My current rig is as follows:

Sovtek 100 watt tube head
Marshall 4x12 120 watt cab
Power Conditioner w/ pull out lights
T.C. Electronics M-One
Rocktron Prophesy
Aphex Aural Exciter (which doesn't work :( )
Monster cables all around

I hate my amp. I really want a new one. But...after spending $3,000 on wheels, and still needing a time trial bike....a nice new amp is wayyyyyy down on the list of important stuff to buy.

Here's a really bad pic of my setup:

http://www.dubnet.org/vw97jetta/Guitar.JPG

Oh, and I have plenty of back problems on my regular bikes.

everyday.
the only bike I have! hehe

Triathlon weenies are inscrutible. How they ride those TT bikes all the time one of the Great Mysteries That We Shall Never Understand. I think anyone who completes just the bicycle portion of the Ironman Triathlon should be conferred Permanent Hammock Privelages.

I've ridden mine once so far. My plan was to ride it once a week, every Thursday. Well, I rode it one Thursday, the next Thursday I skipped for some reason, the following week my riding partner needed an easy ride because he had a priority race this past weekend. This Thursday I have to skip because I have a really hard century that I'm doing this coming weekend. Hopefully I'll get back on track next week. :o

I split time about 50/50 road bike/tt bike.

3-4 days per week. Yeah, I will go with UT Dude on the assessment. Joe stump IS the man, but more taste and class go to John Petrucci. Nice guitars by the way. Ibanez (at least they used to) rocks hard.

PS I like how you have the dura flame and the tire next to your rig. Is that for some slow @$$ed smelly pyrotechnics?

Twice a week , 90-120 minutes ea. You need to ride it until you love it as much as your main ride.

Twice a week , 90-120 minutes ea. You need to ride it until you love it as much as your main ride.

I think that's true. I hated it at first, but it has started to grown on me quite a bit, which really surprised me.

I think that's true. I hated it at first, but it has started to grown on me quite a bit, which really surprised me.

Toldja!

I think that's true. I hated it at first, but it has started to grown on me quite a bit, which really surprised me.

Ditto. The first two weeks were kind of tough. The next few were barely tolerable. Now after a few months I like my TT rig more than my regular ride.

I sold them all except my trusty Ibanez s470. Love that guitar. One of my past guitars was an original Ibanez RG550, but sold it to a student up at Berklee....one of Joe Stumps' students. FYI, Joe Stump is THE MAN.

I hardly play anymore....lost my callouses, but after years of playing 3-8 hours a day, I can pick up a guitar after literally a year of not playing, and still doesn't hurt.

My current rig is as follows:

Sovtek 100 watt tube head
Marshall 4x12 120 watt cab
Power Conditioner w/ pull out lights
T.C. Electronics M-One
Rocktron Prophesy
Aphex Aural Exciter (which doesn't work :( )
Monster cables all around

I hate my amp. I really want a new one. But...after spending $3,000 on wheels, and still needing a time trial bike....a nice new amp is wayyyyyy down on the list of important stuff to buy.

Here's a really bad pic of my setup:

http://www.dubnet.org/vw97jetta/Guitar.JPG

Oh, and I have plenty of back problems on my regular bikes.

Nice!!! I am just coming over to guitar from a lifelong obsession with the sax. Picked up an electric bass a few years ago to satisfy my need to play music (the sax sits in the case now--too much work to keep those chops up). And recently I finally got an acoustic guitar and am loving it. I ask myself "what took so long"?

Anyway, no TT bike for me either, but I'd love to have one. I did once do a time trial on a velodrome with a fixed gear conversion, and basically placed close to all the other guys, some of pretty TT specific track bikes. I can see getting into that aspect of the sport.

The main reason bike schwag expenditures do not phase me is because I have been through the guitar collector wringer. After that things like Zipps seem like fiscal afterthoughts.

The main reason bike schwag expenditures do not phase me is because I have been through the guitar collector wringer. After that things like Zipps seem like fiscal afterthoughts.

Correct!!!!

Hi,

Once or twice a month unless there's a big TT coming up then once a week. As EventServices some time ago, my TT frame rides like it's made of cast iron so it's generally not much fun to ride for training. :(

dude...my roadbike IS my TT bike. Much lighter and hell of lot faster than any TT bike. Get a JTEK handlebar set up on your road bike and you're off to go. My season starts in Jan...about the time of the early bird crits to late May. I ride the TT-conversion bike like 3 times a month.....

Anyone who needs an actuall TT bike to make them think they do well...IMHO...have no legs to back it up.


I got my TT bike about 6-7 weeks ago, and since then I've been riding it 1-2 days weekly. I try to ride it at least one day per week (40+ miles) to get used to it. I have a TT coming up in September, and I'll ramp up the miles on the TT rig in the next few weeks.

So for non-triathletes: often do you ride your TT bike? Regularly? Or do you simply start training on it in the weeks preceeding an individual TT?

The main reason bike schwag expenditures do not phase me is because I have been through the guitar collector wringer. After that things like Zipps seem like fiscal afterthoughts.

You should pay more taxes. Then maybe--if $hit really does roll downhill--this civil servant (neither civil nor big on service) might have after thoughts such as these. :p

Race day, thats pretty much it.

Anyone who needs an actuall TT bike to make them think they do well...IMHO...have no legs to back it up.

Spoken like someone who
1. isnt competitive in TT's
2. dosen't have a TT bike

TT bike are faster than a roadie with clip-ons(except uphill TT's maybe) and 1 or 2 seconds do matter in a TT
This guy obviously didn't have the legs to back it up :rolleyes:
http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j180/jrennie/mh.jpg

dude...my roadbike IS my TT bike. Much lighter and hell of lot faster than any TT bike. Get a JTEK handlebar set up on your road bike and you're off to go. My season starts in Jan...about the time of the early bird crits to late May. I ride the TT-conversion bike like 3 times a month.....

Anyone who needs an actuall TT bike to make them think they do well...IMHO...have no legs to back it up.

Present them.

dude...my roadbike IS my TT bike. Much lighter and hell of lot faster than any TT bike. Get a JTEK handlebar set up on your road bike and you're off to go. My season starts in Jan...about the time of the early bird crits to late May. I ride the TT-conversion bike like 3 times a month.....

Anyone who needs an actuall TT bike to make them think they do well...IMHO...have no legs to back it up.

I ride both bikes with the same wattage. The TT bike is much faster. I happen to have the legs to back up my statement. Your bike may be lighter, but I will argue that there is NO WAY it is "a hell of a lot faster than any TT bike." Nice try though. If you need a crowbar to get that thing out of there, let me know

2-3 times a week, different muscles to train

Race day, thats pretty much it.

ditto

2-3 times a week, different muscles to train

What he said. I prefer it for doing interval workouts also. I like the psycologial edge i get from feeling like im going faster. For me it makes the suffering more bearable and in turn helps my concentration. My TT bike is really an old road bike set up for hard workouts and TTing. Its a real shame i had sold my HED disc and spingery rev-x wheels 6 years ago. Now i have to buy all that stuff over again for next year. I have a Zipp 400 650c wheel, but i cant use it for anything but the Concorde funny bike i have and no longer wish to reutilize.

I wonder if theres a market for those things...

Race day, thats pretty much it.

Then you're leaving some serious speed on the table. Adaptation = good.

I've still got my hybrid going, Soloist plus aerobars, optimized for my TT position, so my answer is "Most of the time."

If I'm group riding and not pulling, then I'm off the "TT bike".


A guy around here that rocks in our TTs is a triathlete who lives on his P3. Some people look awkward or cramped on their TT bikes. This guy slips into his bike like it was a ski sweater. He's obviously spent a lot of time there and fits perfectly.

The more I ride the TT bike, the more I'm convinced you do have to be very comfortable with it. I've ridden my new TT bike (got it 5-6 weeks ago) about 450 miles so far. I plan on putting another 400+ on the Slice before the TT I'm doing in mid Sept. I want to be like the P3 guy above who looks relaxed on his TT bike. I am getting there.

Spoken like someone who
1. isnt competitive in TT's
2. dosen't have a TT bike

TT bike are faster than a roadie with clip-ons(except uphill TT's maybe) and 1 or 2 seconds do matter in a TT
This guy obviously didn't have the legs to back it up :rolleyes:
http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j180/jrennie/mh.jpg

This guy is riding a prototype 08 Transition Carbon. I wonder who he is!

Pretty b!tchin huh. That thing was cool looking in person. Oh, and his name is Michael Hutchinson

You should pay more taxes. Then maybe--if $hit really does roll downhill--this civil servant (neither civil nor big on service) might have after thoughts such as these. :p

There is a reason why the biggest sinners become civil servants in the Afterlife, as graphically depicted in the extremely accurate documentary 'Beetlejuice'.

http://imagesource.allposters.com:80/images/pic/MG/190958~Beetlejuice-Posters.jpg

I do pay more in Federal Income Taxes than most civil servants earn each year if that makes you feel any better (it doesn't make ME feel better).

'You should pay more taxes'. You guys crack me up. Rush Limbaugh would have an aneurism if he heard that. Can you figure out a way to get that post to him directly? As much as I may not be pro-taxes, anything that might potentially rid us of Rush can't be all bad.

3-4 days per week. Yeah, I will go with UT Dude on the assessment. Joe stump IS the man, but more taste and class go to John Petrucci. Nice guitars by the way. Ibanez (at least they used to) rocks hard.



Michael Romeo or Jeff Loomis!

I ride the TT rig as much as possible, since I enjoy the discipline the most. I have a friend who concentrates entirely on TT, and he sets his road bike up in exactly the same position (uses a track stem). I'd never do that.

Pretty betchin' huh. That thing was cool looking in person. Oh, and his name is Michael Hutchinson

Isn't he one more of the amazing athletes coached by Whole Athlete? They've got a midas touch.
Those folks could send ryanf to the Tour de France.