Reading about your Madone made me think of myself. Sometimes you try for marginal gains and get marginal losses
Backed when I was racing seriously (2004)- I had a somewhat heavy time trial bike. It was an Aluminum Tiemeyer, and it worked great. It weighed over 21 lb. in race trim with a disc and aero front wheel.
But- The bike could "go" and I could "go" on the bike.
Even with a heavy bike I was top 5 in the prologue at Vuelta de Bisbee and 3rd in the tt in Tour of the Gila. Both have significant climbing.
After that I said to myself "I'll get a faster and lighter tt bike and I will go way faster!"
I went through multiple bikes- never again touching the performances that I had on my "heavy" bike.
Quote:
Originally Posted by kgreene10
Nearly every race I do is close at the line and at 48, I’m happy to get ack to my prior season’s ftp each year. A 5w gain from bars would be kinda notable, to be honest and getting a handful more out of a good front wheel would add up to something helpful.
But, I have a Madone 9 that is driving me insane. I just can’t get it to fit right, even after buying a second bar-stem and having several pro fits. Measurements look right but I get a terrible shoulder and neck ache really fast. In fact, I’m futzing with it again in the garage this afternoon. An adjustable bar might help and I would be happy to give up a few watts to be released from this unending fitting saga.
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