Time trial with road bike

scottmilk9 said:

There is a time trial coming up in a few weeks, just debating if I want to ride in this race. Its my first race, plus I would be riding a regular road bike and not a TT bike. I don't expect anything except to finish. Its 40km.
Do you think there will be other people there not on TT bikes?
Just wanting opinions.

Lots of people - especially low level (cat 5's, 4's) experienced racers use their regular road bike with clip on aerobars. The non TT bikes may even out number the TT bikes so don't worry too much about it. Do invest in a pair of aerobars - even cheap ones will speed you up by 1-2 mph.

scottmilk9 said:

There is a time trial coming up in a few weeks, just debating if I want to ride in this race. Its my first race, plus I would be riding a regular road bike and not a TT bike. I don't expect anything except to finish. Its 40km.
Do you think there will be other people there not on TT bikes?
Just wanting opinions.

Depending on your gearing you may be close to what a lot of people ride in a TT if you change the drops to aeros,instant TT bike.
Change the rear wheel to a solid and it will look perfect
Unless it is a Walmart steel boat anchor.
Depending on the distance aeros would only save seconds anyway.
Concentrate on tuning up the engine tuck low and give it hell.

Thanks for the encouragement. I will sign up and try my best. Any experience is better than sitting there watching others ride. I'll let you know how i did after the race. Thanks again.

jhuskey said:

Depending on your gearing you may be close to what a lot of people ride in a TT if you change the drops to aeros,instant TT bike.
Change the rear wheel to a solid and it will look perfect
Unless it is a Walmart steel boat anchor.
Depending on the distance aeros would only save seconds anyway.
Concentrate on tuning up the engine tuck low and give it hell.

A steel Wally World bike don't look that bad:

http://www.teamroadmeister.com/

meb said:

A steel Wally World bike don't look that bad:

http://www.teamroadmeister.com/

I didn't say it looked bad. I said I don't think you convince anyone that it is a state of the arts TT bike.

Your first time trial on a road bike has many advantages. First off is you dont make a huge investment to find you hate TT. When I time trialed I often saw my friends sitting up as I passed, they just plain gave up. Its hard and it hurts BAD if your really going for it and thats 95% of the battle-mental toughness!! Also a big part of what makes TT so rewarding, hitting the finish line at max heart rate, big chainring and ready to fall off your bike as soon as you cross the line!!!!!

Next is you'll be closer to your normal way you sit on your bike instead of a 77 or 78º seat angle. You really do need to get clip ons as well. Its worth a lot. practice with them and dont be tempted to corner on the aero bars-though its tempting!!

Theres many more, but for now the last reason is if you do really well or are at least happy with your performance, you can count down the minutes a new bike, disc rear wheel, helmet, skinsuit, better position and training will yield!!

scottmilk9 said:

There is a time trial coming up in a few weeks, just debating if I want to ride in this race. Its my first race, plus I would be riding a regular road bike and not a TT bike. I don't expect anything except to finish. Its 40km.
Do you think there will be other people there not on TT bikes?
Just wanting opinions.

I'm probably stating the obvious, but you should ride the course a couple of times, if possible (if local), BEFORE the race ...

At least once for familiarity ... you know, those FALSE FLATS can be killers at any altitude.

Perhaps, two (or, three) times to get a benchmark time (or, two) when you are competing with traffic & intersections [where you can recoup during your get-acquainted, "training" ride(s)].

Think about your hydration during the TT -- make note of how much water you ingest during your get-acquainted ride(s) over the course ...

And, think about your eyeware, too ... particularly, if it is over a generally windy course.