fly:yes/land:no

this guy has been tt'ing in a girdle for a few years now (slightly visible around his shoulders in this pic):

TheKillerPenguin

...the hell you say?

I just...
well...
...

Nate552

False.

And yes, that's a tunnel tested statement.
[IMG][/IMG]

Nate552

Stigma, tradition, the "you better win if you're gonna wear that" fear. Rudy Project's Wingspan is actually quite well vented and I wouldn't have a problem wearing it on a warm day. Not 100 degrees hot, but a warm day would be ok.

Nate552

I tried positioning my shoulders kind of like in the tunnel that and it was slower for me. It created an arch on my back. Perhaps it only works on broad shouldered riders and not tiny guys like me.

Homebrew01

Curious that pro teams are still using shallow profile rims in regular road stages sometimes. I don't think they have the same budget constraints as me.

waterrockets 

"You might Rabbit, you might."

Hida Yanra

okay, that's easy then.
Don't buy them.

Do they help? YES
Do they cost more money than a pair of OP/Ultegras? YES
Do you want to spend the money on that? NO

that's not so hard, now is it?

fly:yes/land:no

could be better for bigger guys in comparison. but, i wonder if the arching of your back was from being in that scrunched position or because you had to flex to get into that position. the girdle would pull you in on its own and require no flexing.

carpediemracing 

I've raced with taped vents (in cooler races, but not so cold that the vents had to be taped). I tried to locate a track type helmet with minimal venting and a rounded (i.e. effective in many angles) helmet, like the match sprinter's eggshell type.

TT helmets I think are not legal for mass start, not with a tail. That may be an old rule though.

I took them off at Somerville to avoid any problems. I'll be putting them back on, maybe even today. If for nothing else my SRM mounts up to them predictably.

Racer Ex 

Well put. A lot of the race is determined well before the finish.

Climbing stages mostly, you can do a math equation and figure out which will provide the most advantage. And there's some control issues on stages that are particularly windy. Some of the tops guys are still BUYING their own wheelsets to use, the domestiques got whatever the sponsor provides.

A lot of pro teams have a limited number of wheels of certain types...remember a lot of pro teams don't even have trainer TT bikes for their guys, and in one case I saw a Lotto racer on a generic Taiwanese frame set. Trust me, there are knowledgeable people who shake their heads at some of the pros set ups.

Homebrew01

If I were racing seriously these days, then I would probably find a way to get better wheels.

Hida Yanra

If I were racing seriously (and given that I live in seattle w/ today's high being 65), I'd tape the vents on my helmet & wear a skinsuit... much larger savings as I understand.

mattm

I really enjoyed out-sprinting guys on fancy deep wheels with my open pros in my recent crit win.

The only real question is could I have won by more if I'd spent money on better wheels??

I wouldn't kick aero wheels out of bed for eating crackers, mind you; but you can do quite a lot without them. It's just a tad harder. I accept the challenge, for now.

AzTallRider

In my case, I figure I already have age (56, in my first year of racing) and size (6/6") to contend with, so I want every equalizer I can (reasonably) get. When it turned out there was no discernable benefit to buying the more expensive series frame I had been considering, I spent the 'savings', and a bit more, on getting the Zipp Firecrest 404 tubulars. My training wheels are Bontrager Race. They feel and handle great, but are a -lot- heavier, and non-aero. Mentally, it becomes a "no excuses' thing. Dennis Conner (uber sailboat racer) wrote a great book entitled "No Excuse To Lose". His approach was to do everything there was to do that could improve his chances, so that when he went on the course, he knew there was absolutely no reason he shouldn't win every race. He changed sailing forever. It's easy (at least for me) to allow those little 'excuses'. I'm trying not to do that with cycling. So I have a coach, I have a PM, and I have light aero wheels. And I know it's the engine, and am working really hard to build a good one.

crapweasel

Don't be ridiculous - it's not going to reach 65.

Creakyknees

hah! never made the connection between you and the SSP kit... lolz

captnfantastic

Talking myself out of them not talked.
No decision has been made.
I previously believed that the difference aero wheels made in a race was large but most aero testing talks about time saved in a solo 40km tt effort. I have a difficult time translating that to the last 10 seconds of a bunch sprint finish. I don't think the mathematical translation from tt to bunch sprint looks good for aero wheels.

Hida Yanra

you could always rent a set from any of the various companies who rent them out - try them for a few sprints, and then decide?
I'm continually shocked more people don't give them a real-world-racing try before they splash the cash.

Hida Yanra

*scowl*
I'm racing track tonight - I sure wish it would.

Racer Ex 

If you feel good about finishing second, and saving money, why even bother us? Save the money.

mollusk

Optimally you want light (climbing is important, but "spinning up"/accelerating is also big), aero (don't want to waste power), and stiff (brake rub sucks and chain stay rub sucks even worse!) in your wheels. That combo is not cheap. And none of that makes up for an inferior engine or being brain dead while racing.

Additionally it does give you an "OMG" feeling when you put them on just before the first race of the season after riding your training wheels all winter doing base. And deep section carbon tubulars just make the most glorious sound, especially on a smooth road with a perfectly clean drive train. It is like the music of the spheres.

AzTallRider

I was amazed by that sound - totally unexpected the first time I rode on them. And given the weight of my training wheels, I get that "OMG" every time I swap them out. Total savings is 1.4#.

Now if I could just quiet down the drivetrain on the new bike. It's noisy, and I haven't yet figured out why. No rubbing of the FD (checked it a gazillion times), but when on the BR, it's just noisy, even right in the middle of the cassette. Going to try to home in on it again tonight, as I'm also adjusting the bearing pre-load on the rear Zipp, which I somehow accidentally loosened when swapping cassettes.

Grumpy McTrumpy

KMC chains are loud on the big ring. FYI

mollusk

I take my KMC chains when new and totally clean all of the "factory" lube off with Simple Green. Then I use Finish Line "Dry" to lube the chain. It is pretty quiet until it gets dirty again. I do run mine on a Dura Ace 7900 crank set/chainwheels with a 53 big ring. When the bike was new it came with a Dura Ace chain because it came with buying a complete group. It was not any quieter. Maybe it is different with other crank sets.