Weight or Aero?
 

Hey guys,

So today I went to my local velodrome for the first time :thumb: It was great fun and I learned a lot! I also noticed that pretty much everyone there ran deep-dish rims. Now, I'm not on any sort of budget to buy a fancy new aero wheelset, but my friend who also rides fixed (not on the track) has an Aerospoke and a B43 rear. I know, I know, those are heavy like no other, but it's gonna be a lot more aero than my current 19mm or so wheelset. I'm planning on doing sprint competitions, rather than the endurance stuff. I was wondering if the extra weight of the Aerospoke and/or the B43 would be offset by its aero advantages.

Any thoughts? Also, let me know if running just the Aerospoke (or just the B43) will be more helpful. Thanks!

The Aerospoke has no aero benefits to speak of. The B43 is heavy. I would not recommend either one for the track.

Whoa, that was quick!

Thanks carleton :thumb:

Also, generally speaking, aero benefits don't kick in until you are going fast (say over 30 mph) or doing some sort of time trial.

You get WAAAAY more aero benefit by sucking a wheel (drafting off a guy) in a group race than you can ever get from aero gear.

Oh gotcha. Thanks, you probably saved me from dumping unnecessary money on my track bike :lol: This might seem like a dumb question, but what's a good way to time my 200m sprints? A watch seems kind of cumbersome and the computers that come with timers seem expensive.

Also, if it's not too much trouble for you, could you point me towards some good links for tactics and training (like weight lifting) guides?

Thanks so much!

Start separate threads for each topic in the Track forum. You will get help from more than just me.

Also, spend a few hours and read the threads there. There is less chatter and more info over there. The Signal to Noise ratio is better.

But to give you some idea...I've been lifting in the gym for over two hours now. I'm posting between sets.

I'm on the bike and/or gym 5-6 days a week for 3-4 hours each session.

Okay, thanks for the replies though! I'll go visit the Track subforum now

I know you've covered this in your personal thread, but still... WOW how do you have time?! After work I only have 5 hours of free time before I need to pass out for the night. Sounds like I need to take up your sleep schedule.

It's really tough. It's like a 2nd job. You have to make time to train. It gets old sometimes.

When you're doing heavy training for competition, you make time to do things around training, not time to train.

not to mention the rrecovery time

Dude, I've been training like this for 3 years straight. I'm very familiar with what it takes.

+1

Hence, my crazy sleeping schedule.

I can do much more intense workouts after napping for a few hours than I can after working 8-9 hours then riding/lifting immediately after.

Haha I was agreeing with you, just in a more pessimistic way. I spent just under 5 years competing at Nationals levels in swimming. Eventually I just said that all that time training was not worth it to go from a 1:43 200yd fly to a 1:41.

I feel ya. Sorry for being testy (I'm at the end of a tough 3-week block).

I've spent hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars chasing 10ths of seconds just like you.