Would a carbon road bike make me go faster???

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Would a carbon road bike make me go faster???

Postby Urban Panda » 04 Aug 2010 09:06

I promised myself that if Antwerp went ok I would treat myself to a new bike but didn't really think much beyond the idea of eating up the miles on a shiny new carbon bike! I currently have a female specific ally bike with tri bars and normal wheels. I am not confident enough to go for a TT bike as I can really only go on the bars on a traffic free course and I don't want to race on a bike set up that I haven't practiced on.

The nice man at HMRC has given me a refund which in my eyes had new bike written all over it. I think it is actually meant to be re-invested in my pension but WTF!

I was thinking of a carbon road bike with the most aero clip on tri bar set up that I could get (I am not confident but I am very flexible so the actual aero position is not a problem). However having done some more research I have been told that this would just be a total waste of money and that I would be better off sticking with my current set up and maybe looking at some deep section wheels but that a carbon road bike would make no difference in terms of speed on the flat or climbing.

Does anyone have any experience of the comparison between ally and carbon road bikes? Would better wheels help more than a carbon frame?

Any thoughts very welcome - plenty of other things to spend the money on!

Thanks guys :?
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Re: Would a carbon road bike make me go faster???

Postby Seasider71 » 04 Aug 2010 09:51

Hi Urban P,

In my experience (although limited) all you mention above will make a difference - I had an alloy TT bike with normal wheels, when I upgraded to deep section wheels (101 rear 50 front) I found my times increased, I then switched to a Carbon frame and the difference was immense.
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Re: Would a carbon road bike make me go faster???

Postby Jellybaby » 04 Aug 2010 10:27

Deep section wheels make a big difference when you're fast enough to keep them spinning.

Switching from ally to carbon will give you a few mph without trying if it's lighter than your ally bike, which mine was, and make the entire experience more comfortable, especially on the dreadful roads we ride on here.

Call Mike at bridgtown for some impartial advice, and if you want to join me for a trip up in a couple of weeks then you;re welcome to do so.

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Re: Would a carbon road bike make me go faster???

Postby Urban Panda » 04 Aug 2010 10:33

Thanks very much, food for thought here. Not sure that I would be fast enough for the deep section wheels.

My bike is not that heavy but anything that would make riding on local roads better would be great.

Bridgetown sounds like the place to go but I guess I need to have some idea of what I want before going there, I don't want to waste anyone's time!
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Re: Would a carbon road bike make me go faster???

Postby Jellybaby » 04 Aug 2010 10:39

I'd be going up anyway, so if you didn't mind a 4 hour or so round trip then it's only your time being used up, but give mike a call and he'll be able to discuss what the best thing for you is, then you can decide whether you want to come or not :D
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Re: Would a carbon road bike make me go faster???

Postby Urban Panda » 04 Aug 2010 11:26

Good idea. I'll give him a call and see what he has to say. Then, depending on what he says, I might need to take you up on your offer of a lift.

Thanks very much.
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Re: Would a carbon road bike make me go faster???

Postby Ewan » 04 Aug 2010 12:37

Under the same rider, there are 3 primary components of bike speed...

Weight
Aerodynamics
"Efficiency"

Efficiency covers the mechanical efficiency of the components bearings etc and the rolling resistance of the tyres etc. Tyres will make a noticable difference, but in terms of the rest the differences are probably negligible (If I remember correctly ceramic bearings used in the top kit is actually less efficient than metal bearings but weight gains outweigh the "frictional costs"). Basically you don't really need to worry about this, the only thing you might want to worry about here is the stiffness of the frame, but unless you are an experienced cyclist I'd be surprised if you noticed much difference.
Stiffer = better power transfer = faster. Less Stiff = more flex in frame = possibly MARGINALLY more comfortable.

Weight is pretty important because the heavier your bike the harder you have to work to propel it. The steeper the hills the more pronounced this effect. Carbon fibre enables you to have a bike that are both light and stiff. At the top end Carbon is usually the best bet but at the bottom end carbon frames become heavier and more 'wobbley' and so there is considerable overlap with top end Aluminium frames. All of this applies equally to wheels. I'm not sure but I think if you are looking to save weight the order of importance would be Frame, Wheels, Grouppo then finishing kit. [Not 100% sure about that order but it seems intuitive to me]

Aero. Because most Tris are non drafting and on flat courses it is generally accepted that in Triathlon Aero trumps weight. In order for bang for your buck the first port of call for aero benefits should be position. If you can get a good aero position with clip ons on your road bike then great. Many people who ride on road bikes approximate a good aero position using clip ons but the way road bikes are designed makes it hard for most people to achieve the optimal seat post angle/handlebar height and reach on a road bike - This is the most important argument for a Tri specific frame. The second argument for Triathlon specific frames is that many of them have teardrop shaped tubes (only made possible by carbon fibre), but to be honest at the speeds most of us are moving at this is pretty negligible. After you have a good position then wheels are the next most important Aero gain and can make a real difference in Tris.

If you can achieve an aero position that is appropriate for you on a road bike then spend your money on a set of wheels, but if not then get a frame.

my 2 pence worth:
I've said it before but if you are doing triathlon I would advise getting your position sorted (so probably get a tri bike) and use your existing road bike for training and sportives- there isn't much point in having 2 road bikes. Practice getting on the Aero bars, it'll become 2nd nature soon enough (i find it more comfortable than road bars) and will make you faster than any new bike will. Tri bikes are designed to be ridden on the aero bars, road bikes are not designed to be ridden with clip ons... When in the aero position Tri bikes handle better than road bikes. Finally I would be worried that if I got a road bike I'd just have to go and buy a Tri bike in a few months time.

A lot of indfo above but hopefully it will give you an idea what sort of things to be thinking about.

The 2 most important things are to talk to someone who knows what they are talking about (not me then!!) and to get a bike that fits and you are happy with!
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Re: Would a carbon road bike make me go faster???

Postby Urban Panda » 04 Aug 2010 12:44

Ewan

Thanks very much, very helpful. I absolutely agree that ideally a TT bike would be the way to go but I am just not confident enough on the tri bars unless I am on a traffic free course so right now that is just not an option because I couldn't ride it safely to do any training on it and then I wouldn't be confident that I could ride it on race day as so few of the races that I do are traffic free. I have tried a TT bike but I could only get down with my left arm which rather defeated the object!

What you say backs up the idea of upgrading my existing bike and working to gain more confidence so that maybe one day I could move to a TT bike.
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Re: Would a carbon road bike make me go faster???

Postby Ewan » 04 Aug 2010 13:14

Cool, well then I advise practice practice practice :)

Getting comfortable in the Aero position is the best thing you can do and best of all its free!

Try practicing on the turbo, that way your body gets used to the position without having to worry about handling issues.

It might help to adjust the position of the clip on bars (maybe the reason for your difficulties is that they are in an awkward position for you).

Practice a little and often and eventually you'll get used to it. Give it a go on quiet country roads and maybe even in quiet car parks... It'll come! :)
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Re: Would a carbon road bike make me go faster???

Postby Bopomofo » 04 Aug 2010 13:30

Practice makes perfect. You'll soon find the aero position to be very comfy. My race bike is more comfortable than my MTB!

Just from personal experience, when I upgraded to a carbon bike the first thing I noticed was how the damned thing shot up hills. It is a little bit lighter than the bike it replaced, but mainly I was struck by how stiff the whole crank area felt.

I guess you'd get the same with a good quality ally bike, of course, but ally bikes don't have that naked carbon weave on display, do they?? :lol:
I had fun once. It was awful.
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