Recently had a bonus £150 from a long forgotten insurance policy and been told my my wonderful wife to spend it “on whatever bike tat you wish”
I mainly focus on time trials (10 miles mainly with some 25 milers) but also started to dabble with CX. I have a TT bike, road bike and CX bike.
So do we think best use of cash would be:
A - new skinsuit. Current skinsuit is 2nd hand, poor quality and not an amazing fit. To be honest bib shorts and jersey probably not much different. Could get v highly rated Velotec skinsuit for about £100.
B - TT bike fit. Local shop has good reviews Retul for bike fitting (including TT fit) to maximise position for power and uses a ‘virtual windtunnel’ (their phrase not mine!) to improve aerodynamics. From what I can tell this is basically a video camera in front of a green screen that calculates frontal area (obviously not as good as proper aero testing but generally smaller area usually more aero???). This is £150 so all the cash.
To give an idea last 10mile TT was on a closed circuit (Local motor racing track) so no traffic assistance with small hill each lap (but as loop obviously back down too). Avg power was 265W (FTP then was about 275-280W) and did it in about 24 mins (one race just over 24mins and one just under 24 mins off similar power. Only about 20 secs difference).
C - Any other ideas -( already got fairly decent helmet)
I did a similar green screen aero fit session at a place called Cyclologic here in Arizona. We went from 0.4135 meters squared to 0.3934 which was 18W. I’m a brick! The thing about the green screen aero session is that the position I got into that saved 18W was a snapshot in time. Whether I can hold it for 30-60 minutes is unknown but, I doubt it. Point is maybe over the course of a TT I’m only able to save 5-10W whereas the skinsuit will be constant over time.
I actually have a Velotec and would recommend it given what you describe above.
Of those two I’d go for the skinsuit, especially if you’ve got a decent helmet.
You can work on bike fit yourself at no cost to yourself other than time and a well fitting skinsuit with modern fabrics will guarantee that you’ll go faster without any position changes. The frontal area is easy to measure yourself with an iPad/iPhone and the Bike Fast Fit app if that’s available to you.
In all seriousness - go smaller than you think if you do buy a win suit. They’ll stretch out. I currently have a small in Primal for cx and the sleeves are a fuzz long. and im’ not even that small - 5’9 and probably 150 right now. Race weight isn’t much lower than that. Of course YMMV with what brand you go with.
A A A A A. I’d thoroughly recommend the Bioracer SpeedConcept skinsuit. It’s super fast and it has the Nopinz pocket built in. And right now it’s reduced to exactly £150!
Also, I’m sceptical of the benefits of the “frontal area” system of aero testing. Not that hard to do to get a decent idea yourself with a friend and a camera, and so many variables that it doesn’t cover regarding airflow. Just get low and your hands close to your face!
BTW, here is the BioRacer fitting me like a glove.
I’m about 6’2" / 189cm, 69kg at race weight, and I squeezed into a size small. The guys at Nopinz were happy for me to order the size small and the size medium, then return the one I didn’t want for a full refund.
Like someone said above, don’t be afraid to go tight, as long as it’s not actively causing discomfort. It’s a skin suit, after all.
Agreed on the skinsuit as long as you don’t need parts to get a better fit (stem, aero bars, whole new bike, etc…) I went from a road bike converted to a TT bike (aero bars, -25 degree stem, fast forward seat post) to a full blown TT bike and dropped 1.5min off my best 20k with less power.
Also don’t be afraid to scan your local classifieds you might find some screaming deal you didn’t expect, as an example I picked up a wheelbuilder aerojacket for less than $40 off craigslist.
Another thought occurred to me… I’m sure Velotec is also a great skinsuit and would save you £50 from the Bioracer (they both come out well from this test). And if you didn’t already have a disc wheel, you can get disc wheel covers on Ebay for about £50 which is another decent £/watt purchase.
