What is aero really worth in a time trial?

So, I’m a gear junkie. I freely admit it. It’s impossible to deny if you’ve ever stopped by my place to say hello. If you haven’t, you really should sometime. There’s the modern couch, the handbuilt coffee table, the flatscreen TV… oh and about a gazillion dollars worth of bikes made out of jet fighter material.

So, the road bike is a no brainer. It’s what I do most of my training and racing on, and it’s fairly fast. At least as fast as my fat ass can take it.

It’s the menacing black bike over there in the corner, the one that could be mistaken for a medieval torture device. The one that looks like it’s saying, “F*#@& you man, get on me and I’ll kick your ass.” Yes, it’s my Time Trial (TT) bike. A bike whose sole purpose is to allow me to ride alone, as fast as I can… to compare myself against other OCD freaks like myself usually in some podunk backwater central valley town way too early on a weekend morning.

And this bike ain’t cheap. I won’t go in to details, let’s just say when I put it on my car bikerack, my car doubles in value. That might say something about my car too, but that’s another blog.

Now, I could just as easily ride my road bike to compete in TTs. But, that wouldn’t feed into my bike junkie obsession, and it certainly wouldn’t ever allow me to win a TT. Why? Because in TTs, as with all biking, the biggest factor you have to overcome to go fast on flat ground is wind resistance. Same effort on a road bike compared to a TT bike will always be slower. Because I am not pro – no, I know, sorry to burst your bubble – I cannot depend on a sponsor to give me a bike. I have to buy mine. So really, in essence, I am buying speed. There I said it. The money I spend on my TT bike makes me faster, and therefore better, than you. Unless you are Jesse Moore, Chris Phipps, Chris Lyman, Fabian Cancellera, or J. Carmelo Berkman… in which case, why aren’t you riding your bike instead of reading this blog… because you ARE faster than me even when I drop all kinds of serious coin on my TT rig… ok. hold on. calm down. breathe. okay. I’m better. Sorry, I digress.

What I was trying to say, was… so just how much does speed cost? It’s hard to make an apples to apples comparison, no offense M.Appleman, but last weekend I was able to  make one. Comparison that is.

I did the low key time trial called the Beat The Clock series. It helps you train up your TT awesomeness, and help fight cancer. I’m down with those goals. So, I decided to have a go at two runs of the 10 mile course. One on my TT rig in full skinsuit regalia, and the other on my road bike wearing my normal racing kit. The course is a little hilly here and there, but nothing serious. It was windy out, but not that bad. It was cold and early, but who am I to stand in the way of science. NO ONE. That’s the answer.

Here is the comparison of my two times:

	Full Aero	Merckx Style
Start Time	7:31AM	8:14AM
Duration	23:14	25:53
Work	471kJ	536kJ
Normalized Power	338w	346w
Speed	26.3 mph	23.5 mph
Ave Heart Rate	174 bpm	167 bmp
Avg Cadence	91 rpm	93 rpm
Watts/Kg	4.07	4.16
Position	Aggressive in J bend aero bars	Various. Mostly in drops.
Helmet	Giro Selector with Visor	Garneau Diamond
Kit	Full Arm Skinsuit	Road kit w/ arm warmers
Shoe covers	Team Lycra	Defeet slipstreams (warmth)
Bike	2012 Trek SpeedConcept 9.9	2010 Trek Madone 5
Front wheel	HED Stinger 9 Tubular	HED Belgium w/32 spokes
Rear wheel	Zipp 900 disc Tubular	HED Belgium w/32 spokes
Attitude	Serious, but not race	Why am I doing this again?

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So, there is it. I went HARDER on my road bike, but was 159 seconds slower.

Now, let’s calculate how much I’ve spent on my TT bike, helmet, wheels, industrial strength tub of DZ Nutz chamois cream…. hmmm, let’s just say it’s north of $7k.

So the extra time I gained in this race cost me $47.13 a second, if you don’t allow me to bill for my time.

So what else would cost you $47.13 a second? The mind boggles. Mine actually goes to very boggling places. Dark boggling places actually. I leave it to you to comment? What else would you pay $47.13 a second for? I doubt it would be suffering like a stuck pig, laying on your stomach, going 26.3 mph. I bet.

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Update: Jacob asked me to speak in terms he understands: How much does each upgrade point cost that this TT bike gives me. Yeah, that… TIME TRIALS DON”T SCORE UPGRADE POINTS. I mean they do if you bring home a Stage Race along with that TT… but that takes actual biking skills, not just an ability to suffer.