Old 05-15-09, 11:58 AM
  #9  
CafeRacer
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Too many people use the idea of aero equipment as a crutch for going faster. Maby in a pusuit this works but If your a kilo rider you probably spend a fair amount of time in your areo bars. In the same breath you dont need to go out and buy all sorts of fancy **** to shave a few seconds off your PB time.

Wheels: If this was your excuse to go out and buy a set of pie plate fancy wheels (Zipp, Easton, Cane Creek) then by all means go buy them but you dont need them. What I would do is get yourself a set of wheels built (or bought) that are stiff, have fast hubs, and tubular rims. Have some half decent high pressure tubulars put on them. There is no shortage of them online. Anytime your doing a speed specific workout use these wheels that way your used to how the faster wheel feels at speed and it may help your speed training. Having fast wheels can save you easily a second when your fairly beginner.

Areo bars: Guys who train as kilo riders spend half their time on areo bars when they're on the track bike. If your going to do 2 or 3 a year I wouldnt be so worried about it. The trick here tho is getting them set up right. Most people slap them on and assume its instant speed. If you compare side by side a sprinters Kilo bike to say a regular sprint bike the base bar is slightly forward and ever so slightly higher than a drop bar. The key here is your bar has to be in a placement that allows you the hardest and best start possible. I spent close to a months worth of standing start work with just a base bar on untill I got it in the right place. Once that position is acheived you want to set your areo bars up so that your back and head angles dont change when you switch hand positions, all that changes is the closure of your frontal area. The differance areo bars can make varies between riders. If set up properly and you know how to ride them you can save alot of time. In the same breath a year or two ago Jason Quelly who is an olympic champion rode a 1.02 on his drop bar.


As for the rest of it its a tottal commitment or its not worth it. Meaning if your going to wear booties you might aswel be in a tight fitting skin suit and have a propper areo hat on your mising out. AT the end the day areo kit can save your a couple tenths.

At this point your best bet for improvment is wheels, and to work on training your limiting factors in a kilo.
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