Originally Posted by
jeahsj
I'm curious, if I get cycle shoes and they help me improve my time, is it because of the cycle shoes or is it a placebo effect in that I think I'm faster because of the cycle shoes? What if I spend $2,300 on a pair of Zipp wheels and they help me improve my time....is it because of the Zipp wheels or a placebo effect in that I think I'm faster because I just spent $2,300 on Zipp wheels?
If I beat someone in a race with my S1, will the person I beat refer to the placebo effect by saying to me, "You know, you're really not faster, you only think you're faster on the S1". I would counter, "On the contrary, you lost due because you think your bike is slower than the S1".
The only bs going on here in this thread is by those attempting to discredit the fact that my time is better on the S1 rather than the Roubaix. Your rationalizations are creative, but simply just theories. I'm sorry, but I'm going to rely on the numbers and not the placebo effect psycho-bs.
Cycling shoes will let you apply more power, and use more of the pedal stroke to make power. yes they'll make you faster.
Zipps, assuming you ride fast enough to make them useful, are more aero so yes, they'll make you faster.
Your position on the s1 versus the roubaix will also make you faster because you're a lot more aero on the s1. The difference between the roubaix and the s1 will be much larger than the difference between a box section wheel and the zipps. Flip the stem on the s1 to put you higher up and you'll lose a lot of the advantage.