I had a season of time trials which I enjoyed. To give it a go I just stuck some clip-on aero bars on my road bike, making no other changes. I would like a time trial bike as the setup changes are a pain.

I don’t want to spend much more than £1k at the moment and that is absolute bottom-end for new TT bikes, so I was wondering about building one up from a frame and upgrading bits over the years.

Would something like this:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Qachia-Time-Trial-TT-Triathlon-Bike-Frame-Brand-New/181569944372?_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20140122125356%26meid%3D63cb12f9ffa7461fbc02a60161d81c1c%26pid%3D100005%26prg%3D20140122125356%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D6%26sd%3D181569766945&rt=nc

or even this:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2014-QACHIA-Z8-0-Carbon-TT-Time-Trial-Tri-Frame-set-White-Size-Large/181569766945?_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20140122125356%26meid%3Db1213a09915c4e2986778313b82e5e0a%26pid%3D100005%26prg%3D20140122125356%26rk%3D4%26rkt%3D6%26sd%3D181569944372&rt=nc

be a good start to add components to with a view to getting some decent aero wheels later on? Correct me if I’m wrong but £££ spent for time saved, the frame isn’t top of the list (at my mediocre club rider level) anyway. I could get one of those and use the rest for components / drivetrain (using my road bike wheels) then get some decent wheels later?

Any other thoughts on building something up for that kind of money?

Got a pointy hat yet? That’ll give you more time/£ than a new bike.

I did similar a couple of years ago. Went for a PX Stealth frame in the sales. Stuck mostly 105 group on there. Used some old wheels with a aerojacket cover on the back. Probably cost me less than a grand. Though then there’s the aero helmet, skin suit, shoe covers… etc.

Gradually upgraded the bike with a P2M power meter, Corima disc wheel, PX 50mm carbon front wheel, new Zipp bar assembly, and now thinking about Di2, so it’s now a bit more than a grand 🙂

As far as the frame goes, provided it can accommodate the correct position I think there’s better places to spend your cash.

Got a pointy hat yet? That’ll give you more time/£ than a new bike.

While this is true, assuming you can get a good TT position on the road bike, the setup changes are a PITA and it’s much nicer to have a dedicated bike for it. Also tri bars on a road bike are just wrong!

Bought a 22 year old steel Shorter TT bike with original ZIPP 440 wheels for £450. I’ve upgraded the front end to a used HED carbon base bar, S bends and aero brake levers for another £60. Buy used. TT bikes have an easy life, wheels even more so.

A skinsuit (£100) and aero helmet (£100) like a Giro Air Attack (as opposed to a proper pointy – I have my standards 😉 ) will save the most time/£ after fitting some aero bars to any bike. So a complete used TT bike with older aero wheels plus the above will be the most cost-effective route to “buy speed”.

Next on my list would be a used disk wheel.

Just be very careful with bike size and geometry.
Whatever you get, make sure it has plenty of adjustability esp the bars/stem.
Position is everything, I wouldn’t ride a 73 seat tube angle, and some head tubes are ridiculously tall on some tt bikes
I’d look secondhand on that budget, have a look at the tt forum
http://www.timetraillingforum.co.uk

Another vote for second hand, you’ll find a lot of full set-ups minus wheels for sale – I bought an Argon 18 E-114 in this way and then added a set of Dengfu carbon wheels (80/60mm).

Total spend came closer to £1500 but I’ve got a fairly modern frame (bayonet steerer) with full Dura Ace and wheels that are pretty much as good as I need. I may upgrade to a rear disc eventually, but it’s minimal gains for maximum money with disc wheels, so quite a long way down the list of priorities.

Testers tend to be a very friendly bunch, and buying second hand will give you a chance to try the bike. This is important as most people need a size smaller than they think.

If you are going down the new/ebay route, you always see a lot of Planet Xs and Dolans at club 10s, and if you get chatting to the owners, they’ll usually offer you the chance to swing a leg over it – give you a much better idea of fit than trying to work it out from geometry diagrams!

G

Testers tend to be a very friendly bunch

Provided you don’t try asking them for training tips 😉

When I say friendly, it’s all relative… Compared to road racers, testers are like long-lost relatives! 😆

G

Bought a 22 year old steel Shorter TT bike

You have excellent taste sir, and a sense of history.

I would do the free stuff first and getting position sorted is a good place to start, put your bike on the turbo trainer and take a picture of you on it. There is a TT bike fit thread on bikeradar that will give you pointers

These seems like a good excuse to show off my Argon… 🙂

G

Have a look here

You have excellent taste sir, and a sense of history.

Thanks, that is precisely why I bought it. Columbus Aero steel. It was a Team bike for the Leo Rochford Team. One of the last frames to be built by Barry Chick. It is in team issue pearlescent white with period Dura Ace and 9 speed Ultegra.

Since I’m not serious about TTs (just club fun), I thought it would be nice to ride something with some history. The ZIPP wheels were immaculate with a period Mavic front hub. Corsa CX tubs are like new. I had to remove the Cinelli Angel bars as they were just too extreme.

Agree with all of the above, thanks.

I’m going to get a proper pointy helmet and skinsuit in the new year before the season starts. I realise that those two items and wheels make a big(ger) difference than the frame.

Hence I think second-hand is the way to go. If I spent £2.5k on a new Argon it wouldn’t massively decrease my time because even for £2.5k you aren’t getting amazing wheels, so building a cheap but reasonable frame looks promising, and then getting some good aero wheels later definitely seems the way to go.

I had an email from planetx about a duraace stealth tt for £1499 the other day. Tempting. Would need a wheel upgrade though as vision 30;s

@Gatsby – that argon is lovely – what site did you get it through? ebay?

It was from a guy I met via Timetrialling forum. It’s a 4/5 year old frame, but still looks fairly contemporary due to the steerer/fork arrangement. You tend not to see traditional stems on higher end TT bikes now.

It’s also the frame Botty used to very good effect until 3 seasons ago.

I’ve not competed on it yet, but some initial testing has proved it to be pretty quick – I’ve gone top 5 Strava on a local 2-mile strip I used to test my set up.

You kind of expect a TT bike to feel fast… It doesn’t, it feels like a hard slog like it would on any bike. But when you look at your stats and you’ve held 36mph for 2 miles on the flat, you know it’s quicker than a standard road bike! 😯

G

Did some club tens this year and really enjoyed them – was just using the pompino and had half a mind on getting a cheap tt bike for next year – there don’t seem to be many fixed gear time trial bikes available through the usual outlets, though? Anyone recommend one for less than a grand? Maybe there’d be more options looking at track bikes, prob approximate a tt bike in some cases?

This looks good value:

http://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/FRPXEX2/planet-x-exocet-2-carbon-tt-frameset

On the subject of time trialling this is quite interesting

Andy Wilkinsons TT bike; used for everything from commuting and touring and lots of very fast tt’s incl a 50 in 1h37 to 541 miles in 24hours etc.

fixed gear time trial bikes

Oh hi!

55/13, good for a 20:58 10

thats nice – andy duncan from ythan rides a black version of that to very fast times up here.