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Nice looking Cervelo in Burlington, VT
 

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Matthew Currie
Joined: 11 Jan 2004
Posts: 800
Location: Vermont

5/8/19 10:13 PM

Nice looking Cervelo in Burlington, VT

At the Resource store in Burlington, Vt (on Pine St.) I stopped for my usual fix of old windows and stuff, and they had a pretty spiffy looking Cervelo bike, aluminum frame, pretty small size, Ultegra stuff, time trial handlebar and brakes, no saddle or pedals, fairly standard deep rim spoked wheels, not too exotic, looking very clean, for $250. In solid yellow. That was a couple of days ago. I figure if there are any TTF'ers up that way in need of such a thing it might be worth a look.

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Sparky
Joined: 08 Dec 2003
Posts: 19068
Location: PDX

5/9/19 9:22 AM

I always like the very understated Logo on the AL TT frame in the sea of "Hello!" art on bikes for the period.

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dan emery
Joined: 11 Jan 2004
Posts: 6884
Location: Maine

5/9/19 10:19 AM

TT bike

Kind of a hard sell these days I’d guess. There used to be lots of tts around here, now I don’t know of any. Not sure if they use those for triathlons.

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April
Joined: 13 Dec 2003
Posts: 6593
Location: Westchester/NYC

5/9/19 1:59 PM

Tri


quote:
Not sure if they use those for triathlons

I think that's what all serious tri geeks ride

$250! Isn't the wheels alone worth that much?

Last edited by April on 5/9/19 9:01 PM; edited 2 times in total

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Sparky
Joined: 08 Dec 2003
Posts: 19068
Location: PDX

5/9/19 4:34 PM

Re-purpose of Tri/TT not really a good option either. My Litespeed Blade lives as a non derailleur 2 speed [SRAM Automatix hub] and carbon MTN bars. Looks like a SS, have the reverse track type dropouts for SS type use.

Novel and fun, but not best use of Ti Money. ;)

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stan
Joined: 14 Feb 2004
Posts: 467

5/10/19 8:50 PM

That Cervélo has lots of spacers. The owner must lack flexibility. I can’t imagine much aero benefits with that setup and they probably could have stayed on a regular road bike that’s more comfortable and not lose anything.

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April
Joined: 13 Dec 2003
Posts: 6593
Location: Westchester/NYC

5/11/19 7:25 AM

Why you say that? The handlebar is a good couple inches below the saddle. One of the spacers are ABOVE the stem. That’s hardly a sign of lacking flexibility, is it?

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stan
Joined: 14 Feb 2004
Posts: 467

5/11/19 10:05 AM

With a tri/tt setup, the idea is reducing drag as much as possible. That means a forward leaning position with head and shoulders nearly level with the back and top of the hips.

My point is if someone can’t get their hands and shoulders that low, they likely are just as well, if not better off to ride a regular road bike and use the position their legs are used to in generating power and be more comfortable.

I’m also talking about the yellow Cervélo and not Sparkys Litespeed just to avoid any confusion.

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Sparky
Joined: 08 Dec 2003
Posts: 19068
Location: PDX

5/11/19 10:14 AM

For a lot of amateurs it is about not taxing the running muscles while on the bike leg. Pretty thru the air too high cost for some i guess.

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Brian Nystrom
Joined: 26 Jan 2004
Posts: 5096
Location: Nashua, NH

5/11/19 1:35 PM

I've also read that getting narrow is more important for aerodynamics than getting low . If you look at the pros, you'll see quite a variation in how low they get.

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stan
Joined: 14 Feb 2004
Posts: 467

5/11/19 5:36 PM

Sparky, exactly my point about an aero position on a tri bike versus a regular road position. If a newbie isn’t used to the position, different muscles are used and the net result is poorer performance. So someone might gain a few seconds on an aero position but lose more from inefficiency. This bike seems to offer no advantages.

Brian, true and these aero bars should really help in getting narrow. The rest, not so much.

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April
Joined: 13 Dec 2003
Posts: 6593
Location: Westchester/NYC

5/12/19 6:49 AM

Muscle


quote:
If a newbie isn’t used to the position, different muscles are used and the net result is poorer performance.

But everyone is a newbie once! That doesn’t mean they will pick up a tt bike and do a race without even getting on it first.

The ONLY way to get the muscles “used to” that position is to buy a tt bike and train on it! The tri geeks I know they ride their tt bikes during training too.

(on the other hand, aero bars are not allowed on club rides, so many tri geeks ride alone, and have a regular bike for social rides)

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stan
Joined: 14 Feb 2004
Posts: 467

5/12/19 5:32 PM

Here’s a very similar bike bike with a more aero position. This one gives good benefits but the original doesn’t. My point is the original bike doesn’t really help with tri and tt that much and may actually hurt the rider unless they train a lot in that position.

April, you are certainly right with training. I just don’t see someone with this bike being that serious. Of course I could be totally wrong too

http://i47.tinypic.com/1zrb5.jpg

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April
Joined: 13 Dec 2003
Posts: 6593
Location: Westchester/NYC

5/12/19 8:20 PM

I’m not going to argue with you on how serious or not serious the average tri geeks are. Who knows, maybe you know a lot of tri geeks? Or you’re just projecting your own prejudice onto others. I have no basis to make any meaningful arguments.

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stan
Joined: 14 Feb 2004
Posts: 467

5/12/19 8:36 PM

Sorry. Didn’t mean to come across that way. I’m, or I used to be one. Can’t run anymore so gave it up.

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April
Joined: 13 Dec 2003
Posts: 6593
Location: Westchester/NYC

5/13/19 9:50 AM

Cool.

Ok, back to the bike setup. I actually like the "saddle forward" position for long flat rides, even though I don't do tri (only run to catch a subway train!). So I prefer my road bikes on the side of longer top tube to allow a more forward position without excessive stem length. But I don't go for the low part, to avoid neck strain. (and of course, no aero bar).

Not that I want a tt geometry bike. But I can see why some people, even triathletes, may prefer a relatively high bar even on a dedicated tri bike.

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stan
Joined: 14 Feb 2004
Posts: 467

5/13/19 4:15 PM

As a general rule, a forward position uses quads more while a set back position uses hamstrings and glutes more. So you might have very strong quads that makes you feel better being forward for long rides. That’s good you found that out because many don’t and suffer from it.

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Brian Nystrom
Joined: 26 Jan 2004
Posts: 5096
Location: Nashua, NH

5/14/19 7:46 AM

Small frames like April rides typically have steep seat tube angles to push their smaller riders forward in order to achieve a KOPS position.

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April
Joined: 13 Dec 2003
Posts: 6593
Location: Westchester/NYC

5/14/19 8:03 AM

Not that small

I've noticed that peculiar geometry anomaly in the extreme end of many brands. But I'm JUST tall enough to ride a "normal" geometry in most brands. (TREK, which served me well, had a relatively steep head/seat angle to start with. Hence my going to 1 size larger to get a longer TT)

"Small frames like April rides typically have steep seat tube angles to push their smaller riders forward in order to achieve a KOPS position."

I think it's the reverse. The steep ST often put the rider too far forward. So, depending on the rider's body proportion, they may or may not have the option to push the saddle back to achieve a KOPS position.

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Sparky
Joined: 08 Dec 2003
Posts: 19068
Location: PDX

5/14/19 8:09 AM

April, ever try TREK WSD geom? Elaine has a WSD Madone and in 15' of rolling I could see her de-lite. But if you size up for TT length they may have short TTs, but I don't remember specifically the differences.

I have always preferred i up size for road bike. Steeper [faster mare neutral feeling] front end and longer TT, and usually a touch longer WB all positives for me being in between sizes pretty much. I have long femurs as well.

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April
Joined: 13 Dec 2003
Posts: 6593
Location: Westchester/NYC

5/14/19 8:17 AM

In my case, I still have room to move the saddle back and forth to suit my preference. I just prefer to be a bit forward. I got the idea from a bunch of triathletes I rode with when I started.

That position is not as strong for climbing. But as I'm usually ahead on climbs, I can accept the sacrifice. Still, my position is NOWHERE NEAR what a typical tri setup. It's still mostly a road setup, with a slightly more "forward" bias.

Also unlike the tri-geeks, I have a relatively wide handle bar.

None of that is done for aero benefits. I just found that allows my body to perform better. I'm usually not riding to beat the clock or people. So my criteria is how hard it feels (on hills) during the ride, how fresh I'm after a (long) ride, and how loudly my joints/muscles complain.

When I first started riding, I had a difficult time to get low. That improved after a couple seasons. But now I'm getting older and less flexible (and rides less), my setup started to creep back up. (also, the occasional report of neck issue for serious cyclist is another motivator)

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Sparky
Joined: 08 Dec 2003
Posts: 19068
Location: PDX

5/14/19 9:04 AM

I start from setback BB and saddle position to judge if the rest of the bike is in range.

I can say this though. My trend these past few years of shorter cockpit with zero setback posts [yes, less setback] , more stack, shorter reach is reversed back to 5 years ago. I am comfortable on the bike again more slammed and longer cockpit than ever. Funny [not ha ha] how much that 30 lb gut got in the way on a lot of levels.

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April
Joined: 13 Dec 2003
Posts: 6593
Location: Westchester/NYC

5/16/19 8:50 AM


quote:
April, ever try TREK WSD geom?

Wrong direction you're moving if you read what WSD is!

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