Weighty question & more...

[Curvy_Cactus]

Um... Will the speed benefit of adding cheap (therefore 'heavy'!) tri-bars to my already hefty (10kg) racing bike outweigh (hehe) the added weight of the tri-bars?...

(Does that even make sense?!!!.... I race on the drops at the mo)

ALSO (while I'm here) how on earth are you supposed to run in bike shoes?!!!

(I mean when in transition, not 'run' run! )

[ga02clr]

It depends very much on the course and how well you set them up. Flat course, well set up so you’re nice and tucked without losing any or too much power then they will help.

Hilly course badly set up with a loss of power as you are in an awkward position then the answers they will hinder you. As with most things it’s very dependent on the situation.

With the shoes. Ideally you shouldn't that said you certainly can run with road cleats you just need good balance and it’s not advisable.

Ideally you should have your shoes pre clipped into the bike and mount the bike with feet landing on top; you then slip your feet into shoes when you’re moving. It takes practice and if you’re prepared to go through cleats at a quick rate and transition is small then I am not sure it’s any quicker than running in your bike shoes unless done very smoothly.

[Im Spartacus]

ALSO (while I'm here) how on earth are you supposed to run in bike shoes?!!!

Very carefully

[huwd]

ALSO (while I'm here) how on earth are you supposed to run in bike shoes?!!!

Very carefully

Its more mincing than running

[Zacnici]

In my own opinion I wouldn't worry too much about overall weight as - ahem - some of us carry an extra pound or so, I am trying honest! So rather than spend £500 on a carbon bottle cage it would be cheaper (although not easier) to simply lose weight. Where weight is important is where it is rotational, i.e. wheels, chainset, pedals etc.

Going aero will give definite benefits which will outweigh the weight of the bars but you will need to set the bike up for them. See thread bike-fitting-experiences-t48344.html

Also http://www.slowtwitch.com/mainheadings/ ... kefit.html which if you wade through - there is a lot - explains the reasons why this is important.

Running in cleats - mince.

If you practice a lot you can do the shoes clipped in thing but I have seen a number of incidents where the triathelete on coming in to T2 has their (expensive) shoes bouncing and scraping on tarmac and even digging in flipping the bike over - ouch expensive carbon go scrapey scrape - and in one instance wiping out a number of racked bikes - time saved by having shoes clipped in more than wiped out by having to re-rack three bikes. When done properly which is the majority of the time, yeah it looks cool and does save time.

[PhilH]

Sorry to wake an old thread but it touched on exactly what I was wondering about. Cycling shoes bouncing and scraping along, at T2, if you leave them clipped in and hop off in bare feet.

Zacnici mentioned what happens when it is done wrong. So how do you do it right?

Out of T1 you can use an elastic band to hold the shoes and cranks off the ground and this snaps when you put weight on the pedals.

But coming into T2 it seems out of your control. I've put some duct tape on the heels of my nice cycling shoes to protect them a bit. Anybody got any other ideas?

[md6]

Sorry to wake an old thread but it touched on exactly what I was wondering about. Cycling shoes bouncing and scraping along, at T2, if you leave them clipped in and hop off in bare feet.

Zacnici mentioned what happens when it is done wrong. So how do you do it right?

Out of T1 you can use an elastic band to hold the shoes and cranks off the ground and this snaps when you put weight on the pedals.

But coming into T2 it seems out of your control. I've put some duct tape on the heels of my nice cycling shoes to protect them a bit. Anybody got any other ideas?

Use crap shoes!

sorry that's probably not too helpful...I will chose to use my 'good' shoes or my older, battered ones depending on the set up of transition (assuming i know what it is like) - but as for how to stop them swinging scraping and bouncing - i don't think there is a way, they will always drag because the weight is off centre making the heel hang down. The only way to avoid the scrap would be to lift your bike and run with it in a cyclocross-esq fashion i suppose. without checkig i couldnt be sure this would be allowed though.

[101SUSY]

I've never quite understood why I am supposed to use different shoes for running and cycling so I just cycle in my running shoes, then jump off and start running (or something like it anyway). Am I being really thick ?

[Zacnici]

No, if that works for you then crack on.

The rationale on having cycling shoes is that they clip in to the pedals and give a greater mechanical connection between the engine, i.e. your legs and the transmission i.e.the bike bits. Running shoes have a pliant sole and do not have the same degree of connectivity and less efficient at converting your leg movements into forward propulsion.

Once you have tried cycling shoes you will not go back as you can feel the difference.

Be praepared to fall over a lot when using clipless pedals for the first time so practice on grass and if poss have a catcher, I didn't and fell against a cast iron garden bench - ouch