Tri Bike Vs Road Bike

ByMike Byrd

(Originally posted in 2013)

There is always a lot of discussion amongst ‘us racers’ as to whether or not there is a significant advantage of riding a Time Trial/Triathlon bike in a time trial.   Most of us are aware of all the marketing around aero frames, wheels, helmets, position, etc.  You know what I’m talking about, this wheel will save you 40 seconds, an aero helmet will save you a minute…

This year I am riding with a Power Meter on my road bike so I decided to run a test – I did the first Charlotte Motor Speedway time trial of the series Eddy Mercx style (Road bike, road helmet, standard wheels) for two reasons:  1) To get a real world threshold test to get a good training number and 2) to see if a Tri bike is really faster

I haven’t done much racing this season so I don’t have any race fitness, but I have been riding well.  I spent a lot of time in the riding studio at Cool Breeze Coaching.  Coach Sarah has done a great job keeping me fit.  We recently finished up our Tempo-to-Lactate training session and I tested out at 300 watts for my 20 minute threshold test.  Knowing this number allowed me to determine how hard I worked in my TT effort.

During my warm up, I knew it was going to be a rough night because of the wind.  It seemed like the wind was swirling around the track and there weren’t going to be any significant tailwind sections.  I warmed up for about 30 minutes and started my TT right around 7:43pm.

I started out as I usually do and noticed right away that I wasn’t up to TT speed when I entered the track.  Was it my legs or the bike?  Only my finish time would tell me.  I tried to settle into a good pace and see what happened.  My first lap was strong but I could tell by the wind that it was going to be a rough night. 

On my second lap, I was starting to hurt.  This is when the mind games started, was it my fitness, was it my bike, was it the wind, do I suck??  I’m sure most of you can relate to this while doing a time trial.

On my third lap, I definitely was hurting and I noticed something, I was getting passed.  I know that might sound arrogant, but I typically only get passed by the superfast guys that finish in the top 15 overall.  This also added to the mind games.  All I could do was keep my head down and go as hard as I could.

On my 5th lap, I was able to get Leigh-Ann Mueller of Cool Breeze Coaching in sight, but I wasn’t able to catch her.  I chased her as hard as I could but couldn’t get any closer as she finished her TT.  Cool Breeze Coach Sarah Matchett caught and passed me on her last lap and I still had two to go!  My last lap was lonely as I seemed to be the only one on the track.  I finished as hard as I could and felt like I was going backwards the whole time.  It felt like I was on the track for ever. 

My final time was 23:57 and I finished with average of 301 watts for the Time Trial.  What does that tell me?  My watt number tells me I was going as hard as I could and was able to hold my ‘test watts’ for an additional 4 minutes which is a good thing, but my time was slow.  To put this in perspective, I put the following table together that shows my slowest times for each year between 2006-2013.

YearSlowest Time
200621:43
200722:01
200822:01
200921:00
201021:34
201121:38
201222:28
201323:57

Remember, the conditions always play a part in your overall times and I would say that the conditions for the first Time Trial of 2013 were about as rough as I’ve seen over the years.  But, my time was way off from my previous years.  I know my effort was really good based on my power meter. 

I typically ride a Cervelo P3 with a Zipp 404 on front, rear disc, aero helmet, booties and a skinsuit and I’m set up pretty aggressively.  I rode my 2013 Trek Madone 6.9 road bike in this time trial (it is Trek’s new Aero Road bike).  If you take out my slowest time from 2012, I was roughly a little over 2 minutes slower riding my road bike.  That’s a huge difference – right around 10% slower.

What’s interesting is that the A2 Wind Tunnel in Mooresville did a similar test and their results were consistent with what I experienced.  Their conclusion was as follows:  Aerodynamics plays a huge role in cycling efficiency.  Our time trial (aero) configuration showed an aerodynamic savings of 33% over the road configuration, meaning that roughly 70% of the test rider’s power on the track went into overcoming aerodynamic resistance—a number generally agreed upon by bicycle scientists.  You can read the A2 Windtunnel Case Study Here.

I’m looking forward to seeing how my times compare at the next Charlotte Motor Speedway Time Trial when I’m in my full aero setup – although I might borrow Cool Breeze Cyclery’s Demo powertap wheel to get a good power comparison.  But it appears to be true, a Time Trial bike is much faster than a Road Bike!

The Bike Racer

Thanks for stopping by my little corner of the Internet. My name is Mike Byrd and this is my website. I enjoy sports, being outside, new challenges, marketing and anything that comes my way. I am the author of the blog posts on thebikeracer.com. I enjoy writing about cycling, poiltics, coffee and anything else that fits in the "My World" category. Be sure to subscribe to my newsletter to say up to date on anything new that gets posted to thebikeracer.com.

Similar Posts

  • 24HR Burn Challenge in Wilkesboro, NC 2009

    ByMike Byrd

    Another 24HR Burn Challenge in Wilkesboro, NC has come and gone. We (mostly Mike) put together a team consisting of me, Mike Levine, Ashley Drum, Jasen Taylor and Shannon St. Claire (Brushy Mountain Bicycles). John from Cool Breeze Cyclery was our mechanic. Mike rented a sweet RV fifth wheel for us to set up camp – or really so that he could have A/C and a shower. (Which Ashley made the most use of all weekend). Mike went up on Friday night to reserve our spot and set up camp. We definitely had the best spot as we were overlooking the lake and trees on the opposite side of the lake – and got to watch every racer finish his/her lap. Fortunately he was in the RV when the big storm hit on Friday night that would have an effect on the rest of the weekend.

  • Race Across America 2007

    ByMike Byrd

    Most of you know that I returned to San Diego to participate in the corporate Race Across America 24HR corporate challenge a week ago Friday. I had a great time and wanted to tell the story.

    I arrived in SD on Friday and my brother picked me up. We went to JT’s new store (Moment Bicycles in Point Loma) because I wanted to check out JT’s store and I had forgotten my helmet and needed a new one.

  • Race 3 – 2011 North Mecklenburg Cyclocross Series

    ByMike Byrd

    Proper cyclocross weather finally came to the Carolinas for the last round of the North Meck Cyclocross Series on Tuesday night. Racers were challenged with a wet, windy course and temperatures in the high 30’s.  Afternoon rain tapered off before registration opened, but the course got slick and muddy as the night went on.  Promoter Neal Boyd setup a slightly less technical course for the conditions, and DeFeet provided some nice prizes for the final round podium finishers.

  • Race 1 – 2012 Charlotte Winter Short Track Series

    ByMike Byrd

    Sunday was the first race of the Charlotte Winter Short Track Series hosted by Charlotte Sports Cycling.  Everyone was fearing cold weather but somehow Neal ordered a beautiful January day.

    My race was at 12 but I arrived early to set up the Cool Breeze/Trek Bike Store Team tent with Sarah.  My first race of the day was the Sport 40+ class.  I lined up on the 2nd row feeling confident that I could get a good start.  I was joking with my buddy Wayne when the race started.  I usually don’t have a problem getting clicked in but missed my pedal but managed to keep my momentum and eventually get clicked in before the first turn.

  • 2012 Dillworth Criterium

    ByMike Byrd

    The 2012 Dillworth Criterium was my first road race of the year.   Dillworth isn’t one of my favorite courses.  I find it to be a challenging course with a long, steady climb on the front stretch, plus it’s usually the my first road race of the year so my body isn’t used to the effort required in a criterium.

    My race started at 2.  I arrived a little early to catch the end of the Cat 4/5 race to see my friend Mike Levine finish up.  After that, I rode my bike around for about 20 minutes to get the legs going.

  • Race 2 – 2012 Charlotte Summer Mountain Bike Series

    ByMike Byrd

    The first official race of the Charlotte Summer Series Mountain Bike Series hosted by Charlotte Sports Cycling was at North Mecklenburg Park.  I took the Cool Breeze Van down N. Meck and set the tent up.  With this being the first race and at a relatively easy course, the numbers were impressive.  I’m betting Neal had over 150 racers.  The Cool Breeze/Trek Bike Store team had 12 racers!  A great turn out!

    I decided to race the Super Sport class for the summer series.  I considered the Expert class but don’t have a USAC expert license so I couldn’t sign up for the extra length required of the expert class.   We had 12 racers in the Super Sport class which is a great turnout for this class.