the fastest UCI legal tt frame/bike.

[Abenasre]

Hi everyone, I’m looking to get a uci legal tt bike, I’ve heard that giant trinity’s are the fastest, has anybody seen any data comparing frames and/or have any opinions.

Cheers Abe.

[hambini]

From my experience in the wind tunnel, the frame is a bit of a ropey area because what is fast for you won't necessarily be fast for someone else. The bike manufacturers might have you believe their particular bike is faster than everyone elses - it might be for that particular rider.

The difference between bikes is quite small and even small things like your crank lengths can move one bike ahead of the other.

Unless there is clear air between the frames, I doubt you would notice the difference and furthermore if someone says they can measure the difference between modern frames - they are lying.

[wheelsONfire]

Hm, then again this should apply to aero bikes to?

[Miller]

Probably does, yes.

'Fastest' TT bike, I'm with Hambini on this. The major manufacturers all produce credible TT framesets. What really matters is your set-up: clean cabling, decent wheels, and above all, a good body position when you're in race mode. That's where the UCI compliance comes in. The various applicable UCI rules have a significant impact on body position. So, framewise, you might as well choose one that's within budget, allows the componentry you wish to use, that's not too much of a pain to build and maintain (TT frames can be awful in this respect) and that you like the look of.

[kgt]

From my experience in the wind tunnel, the frame is a bit of a ropey area because what is fast for you won't necessarily be fast for someone else. The bike manufacturers might have you believe their particular bike is faster than everyone elses - it might be for that particular rider.

The difference between bikes is quite small and even small things like your crank lengths can move one bike ahead of the other.

Unless there is clear air between the frames, I doubt you would notice the difference and furthermore if someone says they can measure the difference between modern frames - they are lying.

+100

[hambini]

Sound advice from Miller,

Another word of warning is the wind tunnel tests. I have a load of critics who say that steady state flow testing of aerodynamics is perfectly acceptable. I disagree with them and I class it as akin to the village idiot coming into the pub and saying the world is flat.

Here's what steady state looks like, straight streamlines hitting the car,



This is perfectly acceptable for a car that is travelling much faster than the wind speed.

And here's what reality looks like, I videoed the steam with the obstacles nearby to show how chaotic the flow regime is. The wind is coming from right to left but if you look carefully, the steam has localised Swirls (or karmen vortices). Some steam is going up verticallyish, some is moving from right to left at higher speed than other bits.

[mrlobber]

As Aerocoach (and others who do aero testing) have said, almost all people test the fastest on either Cervelo P5 or Trek Speed Concept. That doesn't mean there aren' t exceptions, but, unless you can test all potentially-fast bikes on yourself, either of these two are the safest bet. Just note that P5-6 has UCI illegal fork, so you'll have to look for P5-3 which officially aren't there anymore, even on Cervelo's website.

[Karvalo]

Just note that P5-6 has UCI illegal fork, so you'll have to look for P5-3 which officially aren't there anymore, even on Cervelo's website.

P5 Disc will be dropping any minute though, and that is both UCI legal as standard and more adjustable (and re-adjustable) for fit than the P5. Hopefully they'll launch it for TDs first TT of the season and not hold it back until the Giro.

For the standard P5 a dealer should still be able to order you a Three fork, even if there aren't any complete Three framesets available. Pricier way of doing it though.

[mrlobber]

P5 Disc will be dropping any minute though, and that is both UCI legal as standard and more adjustable (and re-adjustable) for fit than the P5. H

"Any minute" is already like 4+ months (6, if you count the full prototype (?) shown in Cervelo's dealer event in Germany last summer) But I agree, if starting TT build from scratch (no investment in wheels, maybe aerobar & disc), a TT disc bike might be a more sensible choice.

[Karvalo]

P5 Disc will be dropping any minute though, and that is both UCI legal as standard and more adjustable (and re-adjustable) for fit than the P5. H

"Any minute" is already like 4+ months (6, if you count the full prototype (?) shown in Cervelo's dealer event in Germany last summer)

"Any minute" is from now. The dealer event wasn't any minute, because that's when they told us they were going to hold it back for a while so the launches for it and the S5 didn't tread over each other Kona was always unlikely because that's where they're pushing the X.

But now they've got their new UCI team and the second best UCI TTer in the world all ready to showcase their new UCI bike.

[CarlosFerreiro]

As Aerocoach (and others who do aero testing) have said, almost all people test the fastest on either Cervelo P5 or Trek Speed Concept. That doesn't mean there aren' t exceptions, but, unless you can test all potentially-fast bikes on yourself, either of these two are the safest bet. Just note that P5-6 has UCI illegal fork, so you'll have to look for P5-3 which officially aren't there anymore, even on Cervelo's website.

I think the P5-6 fork is legal now, with the revised UCI shape limits? The changes mostly didn't make much difference, but made a big difference for the allowable fork profile.
Disclaimer, I've not measured the fork myself.

[Abenasre]

Thanks, does anybody know if the triathlon p5 is uci approved?

[StrapOn]

Got a P5 with uci forks, think there just P3 forks if I remember correctly. Believe it’s the brake covers as well that don’t pass uci laws on the tri