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wheel jacket and aero helmet - wow!

rmillerrmiller
in General Training Discussions

So - for Quassy I used my LG TT helmet for the first time, and my wheelbuilder aero jacket for the second time (used it once before on a training ride just to see how it would handle in the wind).

At the time, I didn't feel like I necessarily noticed anything - but this weekend on my rides, going back to my roadie helmet and without the jacket, I really felt the difference.  I must have checked my rear tire 100 times to see if it was flat, or if the brake was rubbing or something to explain why it felt like it was dragging - then it occurred to me that I didn't have all that aero jazz on.

I know they say a helmet is worth a lot in terms of wattage savings, and the wheel jacket is worth a lot as well - but it wasn't until I actually got a taste of what it was like to ride without them that I realized how much I felt like I was a hot knife slicing through butter when I had them on!

Just wait until I actually get a tri bike and ditch the roadie image

 

Comments

  • Coach RichCoach Rich

    Yup. In 2011, when I was training for IMWI, I put in the wheelcover, and a set of latex tubes + Open Corsa clinchers about a month out. Crazy fast, but I didn't train with the aerohelmet cuz I'm not a dork and have a carefully crafty rep I need to protect 

  • Al TruscottAl Truscott

    Posted By Ryan Miller on 10 Jun 2013 10:27 PM
    !

    ...Just wait until I actually get a tri bike and ditch the roadie

    ASAP, man! Getting your frontal surface lower means you WILL be riding faster with fewer watts. Remember, the rider is 80+% of the drag, the bike less than 20%, so it doesn't much matter how "aero" a bike is, only that its geometry gets you down and forward .


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