Do people actually ride these crazy tri bikes?!

[ripvanrando]

Originally Posted by mtechnica

What matters here you see is whoms't is the inflamer and whoms't is the inflamee.

I wonder if there's a thread on a tri forum called "Do people actually ride these crazy vintage bikes?!" and links a picture to some vintage masi with downtube shifters and toe clips, then has 5 pages of everyone saying how dumb that bike is.

Better yet, go onto a recumbent forum. Y'all are "Wedgies" and the scorn and ridicule towards you "upwrongs" is deep.

[Mark McM]

Originally Posted by unterhausen

It's funny how slow the bike industry is sometimes. How many years were they making aero bikes before someone thought to put a bike in a wind tunnel? And bring the rider's arms in?

Who is this "they" of whom you speak? The people involved in bike racing have not always been as technically savvy as one might expect. Or, they may have had preconceptions that had never been fully tested. But people of a more technical/scientific bent have accepted a lot of these innovations earlier.

Wind tunnels were hardly as common in days past (and aren't all that common today). So without having put a bike in a wind tunnel to get real data, it was likely that the importance of air resistance was under estimated. How many times have we heard newbies make assumptions like, "My friend goes downhill faster on his bike than I do on my bike, he must have better wheel bearing."

Of course, anyone who has done any technical research will know that at typical riding speeds (on pavement) air resistance is the largest portion of drag. But cycling has long had a lot of traditions and inertia of belief, so it is often slow to take on ideas from outside the sport. Just as an example: It was long believed that tubulars are faster than clinchers, but only recently has it been accepted that clinchers can be faster than tubulars. But in reality, the data showing that clinchers can be faster has been available for close to 50 years - why did it take so long for the cycling world to accept this?

As far as bringing your arms in for aerodynamics - it's pretty obvious that anything reducing frontal area will decrease aero drag. Bringing your arms in to reduce drag has actually been known for a long time in cycling - holding the handlebar near the stem instead of in the drops when descending has long been known to increase speed due to reduced air resistance. But cyclists also sensed that they could not produce as much power when they held their arms together (which has since been confirmed with power meters). So the conventional thinking was that the reduction in power could not be compensated by the decrease in aero drag. Only "oddballs" were willing to challenge this thinking. And it was only after these "oddballs" starting winning using aero bars did the thinking change.

[unterhausen]

Originally Posted by Mark McM

Who is this "they" of whom you speak?

Does it help if it's in French? Personne n'y a pensé

[mtechnica]

Originally Posted by Mark McM

Who is this "they" of whom you speak?

Do you really not realize he means people in the bike industry designing bikes? You couldn't figure that out? You have no idea who he meant? *pounds head against wall*

[tomato coupe]

Originally Posted by mtechnica

Also thanks for the infraction :rolls eyes:

Wow.

[m_sasso]

Originally Posted by oldpotatoe

Started and worked in one of the few tri specific shops in the US(Nytro in San Diego was another..we almost became a Nytro franchise) that only did tri bikes and stuff like wetsuits.
ProPeloton(1995-ish).
Softride and Quintana Roo.
Tri people aren't swimmers, runners or bike people..they are tri people. It was and is one of the few disciplines that ALWAYS culminates in a competition/race.
I never met anybody that did these 3 things, with tri people's dedication, 'for fun'.

So..money is no object. Most have the disposable income to 'buy speed'. They also have the time to do these 3 things, along with stuff like 'transition training'.
A fancy bike is like a real expensive pair of shoes or a super slick wet suit. They care zero about aesthetics..it's great and worth it is it results in a lower ET...

Some of the most dedicated and weird tri people I met were 'age groupers'...yikes...'Some' natural talent but would do anything, spend anything to lower their tri times by fractions...

Modern TT and Persuit bicycles are constantly evolving as the UCI relaxes their Lugano Charter rules. The changing, convoluted 3 to 1 rule in regards to frame structure and components being a prime example.

And yes, speed is often a matter of dollars spent. I have changed up the front end/bars on both bikes since the posted pictures, the Cervelo P2 now has Vision TFE Pro Extensions on a P5 3T Aduro base bar and the Cervelo T4 has Vision TFE Pro Extensions on the TFA Aerobar with the Snake Bite Stem.

You think bikes are nuts won't even mention what's happened with skin suits!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1JAkr-Z7_M8

[Hellgate]

^^^ Those look great.

I love technology and change. I love the innovation that's occurred in cycling over the past 40 years to so. The difference between my Peugeot Super Competition and my S5 is chalk and cheese.

I think it's great that people are passionate about developing and making change. It is good for the sport. It is also good that there is something for everyone as it's all about people riding bikes, be it granny on her morning neighborhood ride, some trigeek all decked out, or a hippie dude hucking big air on a flow course. People are doing what they enjoy.

[El Chaba]

That may be the ugliest bike that I have ever seen.

[Black Dog]

Originally Posted by El Chaba

That may be the ugliest bike that I have ever seen.

Is it?



Is it really?

[reuben]

Originally Posted by Black Dog

Is it?

That's a lotta spokes for such deep aero rims.

[tomato coupe]

Originally Posted by reuben

That's a lotta spokes for such deep aero rims.

That's a lot of kickstand for aero bikes.

[Hellgate]

I'm trying to get my head wrapped around the brake lever position. Interesting

[m_sasso]

[oldpotatoe]

Originally Posted by Mark McM

Who is this "they" of whom you speak? The people involved in bike racing have not always been as technically savvy as one might expect. Or, they may have had preconceptions that had never been fully tested. But people of a more technical/scientific bent have accepted a lot of these innovations earlier.

Wind tunnels were hardly as common in days past (and aren't all that common today). So without having put a bike in a wind tunnel to get real data, it was likely that the importance of air resistance was under estimated. How many times have we heard newbies make assumptions like, "My friend goes downhill faster on his bike than I do on my bike, he must have better wheel bearing."

Of course, anyone who has done any technical research will know that at typical riding speeds (on pavement) air resistance is the largest portion of drag. But cycling has long had a lot of traditions and inertia of belief, so it is often slow to take on ideas from outside the sport. Just as an example: It was long believed that tubulars are faster than clinchers, but only recently has it been accepted that clinchers can be faster than tubulars. But in reality, the data showing that clinchers can be faster has been available for close to 50 years - why did it take so long for the cycling world to accept this?

As far as bringing your arms in for aerodynamics - it's pretty obvious that anything reducing frontal area will decrease aero drag. Bringing your arms in to reduce drag has actually been known for a long time in cycling - holding the handlebar near the stem instead of in the drops when descending has long been known to increase speed due to reduced air resistance. But cyclists also sensed that they could not produce as much power when they held their arms together (which has since been confirmed with power meters). So the conventional thinking was that the reduction in power could not be compensated by the decrease in aero drag. Only "oddballs" were willing to challenge this thinking. And it was only after these "oddballs" starting winning using aero bars did the thinking change.

Stars and WaterCarriers..Olle Ritter TT. Wrenches replaced the grease in BB, with oil(probably hubs too), looked like crows foot wheels(24h) and he tucked his jersey into his shorts...'aero'...

[GParkes]

I have a friend (tri-nerd) that had one and barely used it. I want to say he sold it circa 2019 and took a bath on it. Now.......another friend just bought one, like three weeks ago, to use in local TT's. I told him he was nuts for buying it if for no other reason he'll never be able to get any $$ back out of it. That and the fact that I will not be promoting my 8 week summer TT series this year and his opportunities to use it are now greatly diminished.

Ever wonder who the person is that pulls the trigger on these things in a design meeting........"Yeah, that's it!!! That's what we're looking for". Oooooof