aerobars for the kilo question

Brad Wadlow

Hey Guys,

Im doing the kilo Championship at Northbrook next Moday, June 6th. The velodrome where I live is still inactive and very bumpy. So my training for the kilo has been done on my road bike with regular drop bars. I have aerobars for my track bike and can do very well in them on rollers. However, Im not sure if I should use them in the kilo or not because I dont know how it will feel going into a corner at top speed? I dont know, maybe its just in my head or something but Im afraid I might lose control. You think I should just use drop bars because thats what I have been training on?

Man, whatever I use Im ready to hammer this f****ing thing come Monday.

Thanks

taras0000

Try them in warmup. Do some half assed flying laps with them. Use the base bar for the first banking, and the aerobars for the second. If northborook is 333m then you should have no problem using the aerobars. I've used to aerobars for the kilo on tracks with 50 degree banks and have been able to hold it under the black line consistently. You don;t really steer much with them. I would just warm up with some paceline stuff and then try a lap or two flying with them. You'll know if you're ready to use them.

__________________
Taras

VeloFlash

You will most probably find that once you get the hang of aerobars you will corner more smoothly than with drop bars.

A lot of riders on drop bars apply a "death grip" as a resistance to extract more power. This can destabilise a bike through corners resulting in loss of speed and more distance travelled.

If you lack the confidence for aerobars then compromise and use pursuit bars or bullhorns.

__________________
VF

"Remember, even if you win the rat race, you are still a rat"

topcat

Aero bars probably feel smoother than regualar drop bars going into conrners at speed. give them a go in the warm up and see how they feel....

Woofer

It's June 15. So tell us what happened.

Brad Wadlow

Okay, I did my first ever Kilo June 6th at Northbrook. Many things went wrong so I left the track in frustration before all the riders had gone so I don’t know how I placed. I’m sure it wasn’t too high at 1.16:54. That time would have put me fifth at Frisco TX but I don’t think it made the cut at Northbrook.

Here are some things I learned and some things I did wrong,

#1 Get to the track early so you can do at least one warm up lap or bring rollers or a trainer. I didnt get in even a second of warm up.

#2 Make sure you breath properly so your blood pressure doesn’t sky rocket and cause a severe exercise induced headache. I thought to myself a couple of times that I was holding my breath and knew I was when I finished. My head was POUNDING before I finished my first slow down lap.

#3 Get familiar with the pedals you will use. I think I’m going with Speedplay’s next time instead of Toe Clips and Double Straps.

#4 Listen when someone that knows he tells you the gear your running is too big. I run a 50X14

#5 Even if it’s your first lap around the drome, if it’s for time don’t hold back in the corners. Don’t worry, the bike will stick. My first lap of the TT was my first time on their Velodrome. Didn’t account for Chicago traffic in my plans and got there late. For the first lap I was holding back just a little in the corners and hammering it on the straights.

#6 Be more than mentally prepared when its your time to go. I felt really rushed which made me nervous before the start.

#7 I’ll use aerobars next time.

These are just a few of the things I wrote down before I pulled out of the parking lot. I know they don’t sound like big problems but the Kilo seems to be a very unforgiving sort of TT. I feel a whole lot better about my next one having done this one. I’ll do better in Indy in a few weeks.

Here’s a video clip of it.

http://161.58.97.26/firstkilo.wmv

Woofer

Thanks for the report. Faster than I can do it. But on video it looks like you are barely pedaling. Weird that they let other riders on the track while you are getting timed.

Also, how do you get space for video? I've been looking for something like flickr or pbase for binary files and haven't found anything.

Brad Wadlow

Hey Woofer! Thanks for checking out the video! Northbrook is a huge track, almost 400m and my gear was way too big. Thats probably why it looked like I was not spinning very fast. I know what you mean about the other riders, it was a little distracting.

I have my own web site (www.bradwadlow.com) where I store the videos. I made it in Mircosoft front page and verio dot com is where I get it hosted. Its really not that expensive and its pretty easy to do. Oh, I just thought of something, get a free yahoo e-mail address and you can store videos in your yahoo briefcase. You cant store very big files but its not bad for free. Your own web site is the way to go though.

On a different note, our Velodrome is active now here in St Louis MO. Its a little rough but its a velodrome! They painted the lines on it today. Its been inactive since the 1980's. Here is a little clip I made from a training session we had on it Sunday.

http://161.58.97.26/PenroseVelodrome6-12.wmv

Woofer

Thanks for the info.

One thing on your kilo - almost every one doing a kilo or 500 is standing and getting on top of the gear until the third turn at our 335 track - it looked like you sat down after the first straightaway. I've never ridden at a 400 track, though.

taras0000

Checked out your vid and I have a few suggestions.

1 - your gear, but you already know that. If you're running a time of around 1:16, then I suggest maybe 47/14 or 49/15. Your start looked okay coming out of the "blocks". You have a decent pop off the line in a big gear, so your start doesn;t look like it's lacking (hard to tell these things off of video).\

2 - It's your first kilo. This was evident in the way that you "died". You crashed hard! This can be attributed to three things: overgeared, unfamiliarity, lack of specific training. Get some more track time, and you won't be holding back in the turns like you said. Drop your gear, and you'll be able to stay on top of it when you start to die. More kilo training will aquaint you with the pain that comes with the last few hundred meters and you'll be able to fight through a lot better.

I have a few more ideas but I have to check out the vid some more to figure them out, most of them deal with your start.

For a first time tho, nice shot

__________________
Taras

taras0000

I am working in designing a pedal plate for speedplay pedals that will allow double straps. I currently runa single strap on mine right now. Let me know what sort of interest there is in this and I'll see what's involved in getting them made up and figure out the numbers.

__________________
Taras

VeloFlash

Good first up effort particularly as you were handicapped without a decent warm up.

I would suggest you start with your left foot dominant (after much practice of course).

That deviation down off the track from the start was mainly attibutable to your right foot start on a slight bank. It can be significantly time costly. Power and smoothness away from the start in a straight line is what kilo riders aim for in their numerous practice starts. An elite kilo rider (soon to be an extinct species?) spends an enormous amount of time on practice starts. Those first two pedal strokes can be the difference between winning and losing.

__________________
VF

"Remember, even if you win the rat race, you are still a rat"

Woofer

Go to fixedgearfever.com.
There is a kilo data file you should look at. It's a world class athlete but the guy *averages* 133 rpm. Something to consider.

rayner

No offence or anything but I wouldnt be recommending a 47/14 (90.64). None of the first year u19 here were running anything that spinny. 48x14 (92.57) is about the spinniest I would go for a grown man. You want to be working to get up to the 94's or beyond. 96 was too big for your first time though.