halp: I need cheap speed

[kppolich]

Updated list

1. Body Position
2. Skin Suit (Long Sleeve if possible)
3. Head Position/Helmet
4. FTP
5. Tires/Tubes (Latex tubes or tubulars) and fast tires. Vittoria Corsa Speed TLR, Conti Force/Attack, Conti GP4000SII, Conti Supersonic if the roads are nice.
6. Front Wheel Depth
7. Rear Disc/Wheel Cover
8. Ditch all excess stuff, water bottles, cages, keep cables tight and everything out of the wind.
9. Everything else, shoe covers, gloves, etc.

Preparation: If you are planning on racing for 1 hour- say a 40k TT then spend at minimum 1 hour per week on your TT bike in the TT position.

Tire Rolling Resistance Ranking
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...gid=2047093726

Shoe Covers
I use these, they are a pain to get on and off but using some baby powder helps. They are also cheap to replace if and when you get a tear in them. I've had good luck with getting warranty replacements.
https://www.velotoze.com/collections...iant=809239023

[C40_guy]

Spend your money on a good coach. Plan to work with him or her for at least a year.

Coaching, and the improvement to the engine and central governor (your head) will have far more positive impact that anything you can do to your bike or other gear (assuming that your stuff is in pretty good shape).

Interesting story...maybe there's a parallel here. A number of years ago I was autocrossing with the local SCCA chapter. Guy shows up in a rented Chevy Malibu and kicks our butts...every last one of us. Clean and tidy through every turn, posted Fast Time of the Day. Unbelievable. Autocrossers are as particular about their equipment and setup as cyclists...and the parts are more expensive.

Turns out this guy was the local SCCA hotshot. He had just sold his Mitsubishi and was in the process of building his Subaru (or maybe vice versa.) But it didn't matter. It was his skill behind the wheel that made the difference.

Get a coach. Work on the engine and the central governor. Short version of the latter -- your central governor is what tells you to back off when it hurts, survival response to keep something in the tank for when the next animal attacks. You don't really want to do that in a time trial...

[superbowlpats]

Listen to kppolich's advice. Pretty sure he also posts over in Slowtwitch where people are fanatical about going fast in TTs (and by extension triathlons).
For TT's, Watts/CdA typically trumps Watts/Kg. I've beaten many riders with much more impressive W/kg than me due to a more slippery position. At some point the Watts are important but there's typically lots of free speed available. Good luck!!

some info

http://www.cyclingpowerlab.com/cyclingaerodynamics.aspx

[ceolwulf]

Thanks heaps everyone, lots to chew on And yes of course training is #1, I think I have a reasonable handle on that, just needs to get done is all.