Originally Posted by
rsbob
From personal experience, a lighter bike, more senior friendly gearing, race-fit clothing, better sports and general nutrition, learning the importance of rest, using the gym and I’m sure something I have forgotten,
Originally Posted by
Jughed
I then bought a 2001 Lemond -bone stock except GP5000's- and blew all of those numbers out of the water. Then saw some marginal gains when I put 50mm deep wheels on it.
Why? Body position. The front end is stretched out a wee bit more and about 1.5" lower.
If I swapped out to a full new aero frame and kept the same body position/50mm wheels - I would only expect marginal gains, very marginal. Especially at the speeds/watts I ride at.
These points may not relate much to the pros, but for mere mortals, yeah: nutrition, recovery, position, clothing -- these are all much less expensive ways of getting speed, even if they are less sexy than a new bike. I was riding in a race last weekend, and for a time was behind a guy who had unzipped his jacket and was letting it flap wildly in the wind. If he'd just zipped it up, or removed it and put it in his pocket, he could've ridden away from me pretty easily.
Regarding the comment about your speeds/wattage: bear in mind that aero gains are cumulative with
time -- in other words, if you are riding more slowly, those aero gains may be even more significant if you are riding the
same distance.