In most triathlons, the bike leg is the longest both in distance and time. Good cyclists can often place highly in certain races even though they’re relatively average swimmers and runners. Riding Past the Competition I have experienced this phenomenon in most of the triathlons I entered. My best race was at the Wildflower Triathlon in ’85. Exiting the swim portion of the event in 125th place, I wondered if I could possibly get into contention. About 20 miles into the bike, I had the answer: Starting a long slightly-downhill straightaway, I spotted the front of the field, small packs of riders and a few solo guys strung out over the two-mile stretch ahead. The sight shot adrenaline through my system. I shifted into my highest gear, stood for 20 pedal strokes or so to reach top speed, and settled back into the aero position, working hard to accelerate further. I hit 38 mph and literally blew past every rider on the stretch. When I got to the bike-to-run transition, I was in 3rd place. Not bad. That was a memorable performance, sure. But, it wasn’t strictly fitness and experience that allowed me to find the front. A major reason I went so fast and passed so many people was that my bike and my riding position were way better than those used by most of the others in the race. I had the very latest equipment and knowledge and set my machine up to flat out fly. I had one of the first aero handlebars, an ultralight frame, wheels with 12 and 24 spokes and slick tires pumped to 150 psi. Plus, I had dialed my body position to minimize drag. In ’85, when aero technology was in its infancy, equipment and positions like mine were rare. Today, they’re commonplace. Enter a race without aero gear and lesser athletes’ll blow you away. I wouldn’t want that to happen, so I offer this primer to gear and services that’ll speed up your rig. These items are listed in order of importance. Get Aero The first step in achieving a slippery profile is to have an expert fit you to your bike. Besides ensuring that you present the smallest area to the wind, this will also place you in the most efficient pedaling position. Don’t assume that you need a special bike to find a proper aero position. In most cases, it’s possible to increase efficiency and aerodynamics simply by changing the seat and handlebar positions. And it’s well worth the expense ($60 to $125 plus parts) to have the job done by an expert. You can try to fit your own bike (videotape yourself from the side and watch the video), but it’s tough if you don’t know what you’re looking for. A pro will put you on a trainer and watch you pedal in place for a while, then adjust the seat height and the seat fore and aft position to tune your pedaling position. After this, she’ll check your cleat position to make sure the correct part of your foot is over the pedal and that there’s no strain on the knees. Next, she’ll check the stem reach and handlebar position, watching your back, arms, shoulder and neck as she makes adjustments to find the optimum position. The expert can also recommend aero handlebar models appropriate for your bike and body. Aero Handlebars Aero handlebars allow you to rest your hands out in front of the bike while resting your elbows on pads. Having your hands and arms out in front like this with your head leading the way just above the arms pokes a hole in the slipstream giving a rider a slippery missile-like wind-cheating shape. It also provides a more stretched-out and comfortable riding position with your forearms supporting some of your body weight. Just using aero bars will make you faster. But they’re most effective when matched to the rider and bike carefully. The goal is to have a flat back that’s almost parallel to the ground with the elbows tucked in and the head at a comfortable streamlined angle. Bars vary in design, but how they fit the body is the most important consideration. You’ll be more aero if you can keep your elbows closer together. But you don’t want to go so narrow that it affects your breathing. On better bars the pads can be adjusted sideways and sometimes up and down allowing you to find the best position. You’ll see several models of aero bars in the shops. There are short ones that bend inward at the tips and don’t protrude as far. These don’t always include padding. They’re still great for adding hand positions and reducing wind drag a little for centuries and general riding. For triathlon racing, however, go for the fuller models, which are faster and offer more reach, more adjustment and more pad positions. Unless you’re building a custom bike that will be used mainly for racing, stay away from dedicated handlebar systems combining a flat handlebar with upswept hooks with twin protruding tubes in the center and pads. These are great if you’ll only ride triathlons but they’re pricey ($250 to $350) and aren’t well suited to hilly terrain. So they don’t make a lot of sense for general training and riding. Plus they’re not easy to remove. A better choice and our favorites are models often called clip-on because they are easily installed to regular racing bike handlebars. They provide the same aero position of the more expensive units at prices from $60 to $130. Be sure to practice before racing on them because they take getting used to. Don’t ride on the aero bars on dangerous descents or winding roads because if a bump or rut sets the bike wobbling it’s very difficult to get it under control again when you’re hanging on by aero handlebars. Aero Wheels The good news here is that you don’t really have to invest a bunch of money in wheels to go fast. The key to speed is an aero position. If you get yourself aero with a great position and some aero handlebars, you’re well on your way to speedy times. And if your bike already has reasonably light wheels with not too many spokes (standard is 32), you’re not going to lose too much time to the racers with trick hoops. You might consider even simply building or having a shop build you up an aero front wheel, one with a sturdy aero rim and 24 narrow-gauge spokes. Because the front wheel leads the way, it does most of the damage to the slipstream. Reducing the spokes and going with an aero rim can do a lot to reduce drag and it won’t cost a lot to have the wheel built unless you select high-priced components. If you’ve got the bucks, though, and want to completely turbo-charge your bike, go for an aero wheelset. There are wire spoked and composite aero wheels. The former resemble standard wheels but have fewer spokes and sometimes special rims that hide the spoke nipples to cut drag. Some have very tall rims that cut drag further. These wheels are generally very light, competitively fast and not overly expensive at about $350 to $600 a pair depending on brand and model. Composites run higher, upwards of $800 a pair depending on model. They’re faster than most wire-spoke wheels because there are fewer spokes in the composite wheel and they’re shaped to slice through the air. They’re also very cool looking. Another composite wheel type is the disk, which is a wheel with no spokes, just a solid surface ($400 to $500 per wheel). These are among the fastest designs but they can make a bike tough to handle in crosswinds so they’re not for all conditions. When shopping for wheels, you’ll be asked if you want 650 or 700C wheels. These numbers refer to the size of the wheel. A 650 is smaller in diameter than a 700C. You needn’t worry a lot about differences until you build up a custom bike. For now, just match the size of the wheels on the bike you’re souping up (size is printed somewhere on the tire sidewall). Tires There are two types of tires, clinchers and sew-ups (also known as tubulars). A clincher is the standard tire found on almost all road and mountain bikes. A sew-up is called that because at the factory, the tube is inserted in the tire and then the tire is sewn shut around the tube. This creates a round profile and means the tire can only be installed by gluing it onto a sew-up rim made for the purpose. Gluing a sew-up to install it on the rim is tricky. And, because the tire must be cut open and re-sewn to fix a puncture, it’s a pain to patch. Another shortcoming is that only the best tires sit straight on the rim, which means the tread wobbles beneath you adding drag. There is an advantage to sew-ups however: they provide a slightly softer ride than clincher tires and some cyclists feel this makes them worth the added trouble of installation and maintenance. My advice is to stick with clinchers. They’re simple to install and remove, a breeze to patch, and cheaper than sew-ups. But, the best reason to buy them is that they’re faster too. This is primarily due to the construction of the clincher and how it’s held on the rim, which ensure that the tire cannot wobble and that the tread is spot-on. You give up a slight bit of comfort, but you’re pushing so hard in a race anyway, what’s the diff? If it’s really a problem, you can always run the tires a tad soft to get a sew-up feel. Clipless Pedals and Cycling Shoes There’s a slight aero gain when you move up to a clipless shoe and pedal system from toe clips and straps but the best reason to make the swap is to add to your pedaling efficiency. With clipless pedals and shoes, your feet are attached to the pedals and you can apply more power throughout the pedal stroke. This is partly because you can push and pull through more of the circle. But it’s also because the connection between the foot and pedal is better. In a way, your foot becomes part of the pedal, meaning a significant increase in efficiency. You’ll spend roughly $200 to get into a basic system but you should feel more power immediately. Plus with practice, you’ll be able to enter and exit the pedals in a blink. This helps in transitions but it can save you in a crash situation, too. When you get used to clipless pedals it becomes reflexive to get out of them and your feet will pop out on their own if you start to go down. With a little luck you might even land on your feet. That alone is a good reason to make the switch. When you purchase clipless pedals, position the cleat on the shoe sole so that when your foot is engaged on the pedal, the ball of your foot is directly over the center of the pedal axle. Then spend some time riding at an easy pace over short distances on flat terrain. Bring an allen wrench and use it to fine tune the angle of the cleats on the soles. They must be secured in a natural position for your legs. If the cleats are out of position, it can lead to knee pain and ankle and foot problems. If you can’t feel what’s needed when riding, don’t risk injury by guessing to find the right cleat position. Instead, visit a shop that has experience adjusting cleats and have them do the job for you. Besides saving your legs from injury, a correctly positioned cleat will engage and release more accurately. One final tip: when you have the cleats where you want them, mark the position by scratching or drawing an indelible line around the cleat. That way, should the cleat shift, you’ll be able to put it back where it should be. The line also means quick cleat changes when you wear yours out.
