Intro: This is the TriDot podcast. TriDot uses your training data and genetic profile, combined with predictive analytics and artificial intelligence to optimize your training, giving you better results in less time with fewer injuries. Our podcast is here to educate, inspire, and entertain. We’ll talk all things triathlon with expert coaches and special guests. Join the conversation and let’s improve together.

Andrew Harley: It’s a new week and we’ve got a new show where two of our esteemed TriDot coaches will talk with us about bike upgrades; specifically kicking around the idea of measuring our purchasing decisions in terms of watts per dollar so we can enter the holiday shopping season armed with crucial info on the aero gains we can milk out of our budget. I’m joined today by TriDot’s very own, Matt Bach. Matt is an accomplished athlete with an Ironman Maryland victory and 72nd overall finish in Kona on his resume. He worked on Wall Street as a trader and portfolio manager for nine years, earned his MBA from Temple University, worked in marketing at UCAN for two and a half years before coming onboard to lead TriDot’s marketing efforts. Now Matt I’ve got to tell you, back when I was in St. George supporting our athletes as they were racing 70.3 World Championships in Utah, I had an athlete very specifically tell me, he said, “Hey, that new Matt guy on the podcast was pretty good. He’s had some good stuff to say!” So, Matt I was unsure about you. I was unsure about bringing you back on the podcast, but now that I got that feedback from an athlete who liked your stuff, I guess we’ll just keep bringing you back on from time to time.

Matt Bach: I’m so glad to have a new fan. Now I can safely say that I have over maybe a half dozen.

Andrew: Nice.

Matt: Maybe one day I’ll have a tenth the following of you Andrew.

Andrew: I’m just cute and adorable, Matt. Everybody loves the cute and adorable guy. Umm, next up is Coach John Mayfield. John is a USAT Level II and Ironman U certified coach who leads TriDot’s athlete services, ambassador, and coaching programs. He has coached hundreds of athletes ranging from first-timers to Kona qualifiers and professional triathletes. John has been using TriDot since 2010 and coaching with TriDot since 2012. John, are you ready to tempt some folks to buy some new stuff today?

John Mayfield: Yeah, now I will say that I’ve always been a fan of Matt. So I knew from the beginning. Matt I was– probably behind your mom and your wife I was fan #3. So I was an early adopter there. But, yeah! We can definitely tempt some folks to buy some stuff, but maybe not. Maybe on the other side. Maybe we can convince some folks that what they’ve got is–

Matt: They’re not going to buy stuff, right?

John: –good enough at least for now.

Andrew: Oooo…

Matt: Maybe.

Andrew: Plot twist! Well I'm Andrew the Average Triathlete, Voice of the People and Captain of the Middle of the Pack. As always we'll approach the show like any other workout. We’ll roll through our warm up question, settle in for our main set conversation, and then wind things down with our cool down.

GARMIN:  Shoutout to Garmin for partnering with us on the TriDot podcast. Garmin is the global leader in GPS navigation and wearable technology and they want to help you make the most of your time spent pursuing your passions. In the fitness and multi-sport market, Garmin products are the gold standard. Known for their compelling design, superior quality, and best value. As a triathlete, Garmin can be and should be your very best friend. They offer best-in-class GPS watches that can track your every swim, bike, and run with ease. You can also bring Garmin into your pain cave with their Tacx indoor trainers and accessories. I tell everyone who will listen that my Tacx FLUX Indoor Smart Trainer is the best investment I have made in my bike training. The best part is Garmin is integrated with TriDot. So your Garmin Connect and Garmin Health data seamlessly streams to TriDot and your training is continually optimized. So head to garmin.com and check out all the cool tech they have to offer.

Warm up theme: Time to warm up! Let’s get moving.

Andrew: Our training and racing inevitably will take us uphill and downhill and depending on the terrain those downhills can get us going pretty fast on our two very skinny tires. Some folks love the adrenaline rush of bombing down a good descent while others approach these moments with fear, trembling, and a white knuckled grip on the bars. Matt, John, from your entire history of cycling what is the fastest speed you have ever reached going downhill and where were you when you hit that speed? Matt Bach, we’ll go to you first.

Matt: I’ve got to jump right out the gate here and say this is not an endorsement. We’re not trying to talk up that we’re going fast. Don’t go out there and try bombing down hills. We don’t want you to get hurt so still be careful. Listen to your–

John: This is not a challenge.

Matt: This is not a challenge.

Andrew: Yeah.

Matt: I wasn’t actually sure to the answer to this question so I looked back at my logs for this one. I didn’t think that I was much of a dare devil because at Ironman Lake Placid which I’ve raced a couple times and have done training camps at I’ve noticed that people were just flying by me. Like people were really bombing down the hills and there’s some turns on those and sometimes it’s pretty bumpy, but I didn’t think I was much of a dare devil, but it turns out that I hit 53.8 miles per hour was my max speed.

Andrew: Wow!

Matt: Yeah that was actually back when I was on the Big Island “working” at the Ironman World Championship. It doesn’t feel like work when you’re in Kona.

Andrew: Sure.

Matt: I went on a ride with a buddy. I was on a Ventum road bike that Ventum let me borrow.

Andrew: How nice of them.

Matt: So on a borrowed bike none the less.

Andrew: Yeah, how nice.

Matt: And we rode southeast from Kona up towards Captain Cook. There’s a really big climb. Anybody who's ridden out that way knows that there’s a really big climb over there with amazing views. It also has really great visibility, a great road surface, and a big shoulder. So on the way back down that hill I bombed it on the way back down apparently because I didn’t think I ever hit that far over 50 miles an hour before, but apparently I did.

Andrew: Ventum will be very happy I’m sure to hear you say that on the podcast.

Matt: Handled really well.

Andrew: John Mayfield, what is the fastest you’ve gone on your two very skinny bike wheels?

John: So this year I think my top speed, as you mentioned, was actually at Alcatraz. I hit right around 40 miles an hour on some of those. It was again nice to be on a road bike as opposed to a TT bike. But, yeah, I don’t have probably as high as some. When I do get out and ride on the hills and even in the mountains I am much more cautious. I am one sitting up riding my back brake as opposed to the front brake because I certainly don’t want to end up going over the bars. But I think the one I would brag on is one time I hit 40 miles an hour on a flat.

Andrew: No. Stop it.

John: So we had a really strong tailwind. I was in a group of some really strong cyclists. I was definitely in my 10-tooth gear with the big ring up front spinning about 115 RPM, but I’m pretty sure that’s my record is I did hit 40 miles an hour on a flat. And again, that was with a pretty stiff tailwind and being pulled by some strong cyclists. But yeah. So both my answers are right around 40 miles an hour. One is the fastest I’ve been downhill this year was 40 and my fastest ever on the flat was like 40.0.

Andrew: Well, my fastest on a downhill is slower than John’s fastest on a flat. So my fastest speed I’ve ever hit, I hit it at 70.3 Greece. The course in Greece had really smooth roads and it was kind of an L-shaped course and so as you were– basically when you were on the coast, obviously you’re at sea level and then the rest of the course you were heading uphill or downhill. There’s just a long, grinding climb as you were leaving the coast so on the way back obviously that long grinding climb becomes a nice long, steady downhill. So there was one particular portion where it was nice and smooth. It was straight. You could see the whole road just unfurled in front of you and so I– as a nervy handler, somebody who is not as confident in his biking skills maybe as you two are. You know that was the most confident I had been just in terms of bombing down a hill and so I pedaled as much as I could and got up to the biggest speed I could. So for me that was 39.6 miles an hour.

Matt: And to our audience– nobody tell our wives.

Andrew: They don’t need to know. They know that we came back from those rides safe and sound. Everything went fine. We didn’t wreck going 50 miles an hour downhill in Kona.

John: With my life insurance I’m worth more dead than alive, so my wife may not be all that much concerned.

Andrew: That got dark real fast. That took a dark turn. Guys we’re going to throw this out to you all on social media. I’m really curious to hear. And this question, shoutout to all of our other athletes that raced in St. George at the World Championships. At dinner that night after the race all the athletes sitting at Buffalo Wild Wings with us were chit chatting and that was kind of the question of the day. There is one huge hill in St. George and everyone was talking, “Hey how fast did you get on that hill?” So that inspired this question. So shout out to our athletes who raced 70.3 Worlds in St. George. But we want to hear from you. What is the fastest you’ve gotten to on your bike and where were you when you hit that speed?

Main set theme: On to the main set. Going in 3…2…1…

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Andrew: Every corner of this sport holds a few products that we can purchase to instantly help our performance, but none more so than when it comes to our bike gear selection. So today, Matt, John, and I will be talking about all the most popular bike upgrades triathletes can make and hopefully somewhere in our conversation you’ll be steered in the right direction for your next purchase. So guys, when we use the term watts per dollar and we talk about buying speed, what do we mean by that? What does the price of an item have to do with the watts it saves us?

John: So it’s somewhat of a value index. It’s telling us what is the benefit of this and then what is the cost of it. So we’re looking at improvements in aerodynamics, weight, rolling resistance, anything that’s going to allow us to go faster given the fitness that we have. So it’s a bit of an almost a moving target or something that’s sometimes difficult to truly quantify simply because quantifying and identifying what the benefit of it is very difficult. So we’re going to talk in some round numbers and the hard knowledge are a little bit easier to attach, but it’s going to really vary based on the product and even from there the user and the product that they buy. There’s a large array of things that we can buy or we can add or we can do that will increase that efficiency and some things are going to make big differences and some of those big differences are very cheap. Some of those big differences are real expensive. Some things are going to be very marginal, but it’s better than where we were and some of those things are real cheap and some of those things are real expensive. That’s really where we get into that watts per dollar. It’s kind of again, a quantification of how much am I going to get out of this? How much does this cost me? So basically, what is that watt per dollar cost?

Andrew: Yeah, and I’m glad you said that John. It’s a great point to make that when you’re shopping, when you’re looking at the cycling industry, and at the items that are out there that you can buy next, so many of these companies have taken their product into a wind tunnel of some sort and they’ve actually done some calculations and so they’ll give you even an estimate or a chart that says “Okay, if you buy our products compared to a different version of this product it is going to save you X amount of watts. It’s going to give you two minutes of time at an Ironman.” And they throw figures like that around and those are great, but it’s important for us to know when you’re looking at those everybody’s chart is a little bit different. When they’re in the wind tunnel with those products they’re measuring that product at a certain speed. Often that speed is 25, 30 miles an hour or higher so the watts that’s being quoted by these companies in their marketing isn’t necessarily indicative of how many watts you’re going to save out there on the course. So when I was actually researching for this episode and looking around at what was out there on the market to kind of talk about watts per dollar and which items are worth your money, it’s very hard to produce a chart that says, “Okay, for you this item is going to save you this many watts.” That item is going to save you that many watts because for all of us it’s different based on our bike set ups, based on the weather of the day of where we’re riding next. So like you said John, today as we’re talking we’re going to do our best to steer people in the right direction. We’re going to be throwing out some watt figures and some time figures and those are all very general and relative to each individual. So it’s a great point you made there John.

John: Well there’s a certain amount of faith and hope that are involved with these purchases because especially when we’re talking about aerodynamics; aerodynamics is kind of funny. There are some things that you would think would improve aerodynamics and they hurt you. Or there can be a diminishing or negative return. So the classic is your bike fit. Obviously as we go from like a road position down to a time trial position, getting lower improves aerodynamics, but there’s a certain point where you get too low and you have a diminished return or even a negative return where dropping a couple spacers out of your stem actually makes you less aerodynamic and that’s kind of a thing that you would think that lower would be better and where is it in that crossover point of how low do you get to improve your aerodynamics versus all of a sudden you feel like you’re doing something that’s helping your aerodynamics and it’s actually hurting your aerodynamics. But again, those things are very hard to quantify and hard to measure. So again, it’s not always about aero or lighter or more efficient. We’re also going to talk about things like comfort and practicality. Sometimes those are actually going to trump being more aero or being lighter, things like that.

Andrew: Yep so before we get to the part like we all just go out and write our holiday shopping lists based on this conversation. You know, there are some things that we can do as triathletes to gain watts on race day spending next to nothing. You know, for the men a prime example is shaving our legs. Before we talk bike gear, what measures should triathletes implement to get faster without even spending money?

John: I think we would be remiss if we didn’t make the obvious point here that what we’re going to be talking about today are very marginal gains. We’re talking about seconds to minutes even over an Ironman distance race. There’s nothing that you can go out and buy that’s going to drop an hour off your Ironman bike split and certainly as the distances get shorter from there your improvements are less. But that said, the vast, vast majority of what is going to determine your performance level is you; the engine that is pushing those watts and doing the work. So that is going to account for 98% probably of your performance. So what we’re talking about here is just kind of that extra 2%, somewhere in that.

Andrew: It’s at the tip of the iceberg.

John: It’s a very small number. Exactly. If that. If not the tip of the tip of the iceberg simply because so much of your performance is based on you which is kind of great. We have somewhat of a level playing field there in that we get the results that we put in as opposed to the results that we buy through gear. So these are some things that cost a little bit of money. So for us we know that doing the right training right, utilizing TriDot’s optimized training. That is going to help you produce your best results on race day. There is a marginal cost to that, but again the gains there– If we could correlate a watts per dollar for that I’m confident that would be far and away the biggest watt per dollar that you can get is following your optimized training and doing the right training right. But even things like that. Improving body composition; we’ll talk a little bit about that as well. If you’re like me and you’re carrying around a couple extra pounds, focus on getting down to a better body composition. So being both lighter and more aerodynamic in that. So there’s kind of two fold there. I can improve my efficiency on the bike one, by dropping weight, but again in dropping that weight my overall body size becomes smaller so in that essence it becomes more aerodynamic. Then doing things like adding strength training. So doing those things that one, are going to help you do the right training right, help you train consistency, help keep you injury free so that you can race at your peak so you can train consistently, but then also get those power gains from the additional muscular power as well.

Andrew: Yeah.

John: So again, it’s really the vast, vast majority of performance is really based on you and what you do with your body. How you build your engine, but we’re going to have some fun talking about those 2% things as well.

Matt: A couple things to add. Definitely the engine is the most important, but a couple things to add here. I’m with you Andrew, absolutely shave those legs. Some people have heard me say it on the podcast before as well as in my article that I’ve written for USA Triathlon. But shaving those legs. Put your ego aside. All shaving your legs costs you is a bit of time and a bit of your ego.

Andrew: It’s an absolute no brainer, right? And I mean the only cost is just the annoyance of the time it takes for it to grow back on the back end. Mine is still coming back in from Ironman Waco. It’s going to take a little while to do so. I remember just even looking at my pictures after Ironman Waco. I’m like, “Man, my legs were so shiny in all these pictures.” Because I’m just not used to seeing my own legs without a ton of hair on them. So it was kind of weird. It was kind of like, are those my legs or somebody else’s legs? I’m undecided on that.

Matt: A couple more on tire pressure. It matters. It’s something that’s free and there’s two reasons actually. So first, it’s because it affects your rolling resistance. The old school line of thinking was that higher pressure was better.

Andrew: Yeah.

Matt: So cyclists were inflating their tires to absurdly high pressures, like 150, 200 psi just going through all these measures to try to get it really up there. But it turns out that that’s only good in the Velodrome when you’re on a track surface that’s basically perfect. It’s perfectly smooth. But out on the open road, especially rougher roads, you will be faster and more comfortable riding on lower pressures. There’s been a number of studies that have come out lately, the last few years or so, that riding at around 80 to 100 psi depending on that road surface is actually better and faster, more comfortable; just better all around. So the second reason though is that tire pressure, it could matter because it’s connected to the 105% rule which I’ll explain in a second. Between 87 and 115 psi most of these tires will grow by nearly 1 mm in width. You want to have your tire be– and here’s the 105% rule. You want to have the rim width be at least 105% of the tire width and that’s– I mean I’m not going to get sciency on you here and I don’t know all the science. I’m not a physics person, but it smooths the dirty air that is caused by the tire as it breaks the wind. So pay attention to the ratio. Just kind of confirm or look at your tire setup there to confirm that the ratio between your tire and your rim size, make sure that that rim size is 105% of the tire width or more. The tire size is easiest to modify. Rims are expensive so you can very quickly and easily swap out a tire if you need to go narrower or maybe a little wider to just kind of keep around that 105% or so.

Andrew; So basically Matt, it’s looking at what wheel you have and knowing that wheel is 21 mm wide internally and then buying a tire that is within 105% bigger than that and the whole thing– the whole purpose of that is to make your tire-to-wheel relationship as aero as possible. You can have the most aerodynamic wheels on the planet, but if your tire is way wider or way narrower you’re not reaping all the aerodynamic advantages out of that tire to wheel relationship if that makes sense, right?

Matt: Yep, and in particular the rim width should be at least 105% of the tire width.

Andrew: Okay.

Matt: So the tire should break the wind and then the wind smooths around the rim width. The rim is actually wider.

Andrew: Got it.

Matt: 105%.

Andrew: So those are some things that we can look at. The relationship between our tire and the wheel. Whether or not we have shaved our legs. You know, doing the right training right. All those things are essentially free or very cheap ways to save some watts, buy some time. So let's move on to the things that actually have a price tag. You know, what are some items that will save us watts and come with a small price tag?

Matt: Yeah, there’s a few of those that are pretty darn small price tags, but they’re going to help you either a small amount or a large amount, but either way the price is so small that it still makes sense. So one of them is just swapping out your tires. Tires don’t cost a ton, maybe 60 bucks or so. I only learned this very recently, but tires with a visible center tread wear, they’re costing you time because– it makes sense– because as the tire wears it flattens and flat is a terrible aerodynamic shape.

Andrew: Yeah.

Matt: So for your A races just make sure you swap out your tires sometime before that. It doesn’t have to be brand new tires. I think you don't want it to be maybe a brand new tire.

Andrew: Probably before your race rehearsals.

Matt: Get out there and test it. Yeah, exactly. So have a lower mileage on there. You just don’t want them to be really worn. Another one is latex tubes.

Andrew: Yes.

Matt: So for anybody who is still running tubes and they’re not running tubeless tires, getting latex tubes and that’s something that people have been using for a long, long time. They’re only about 15 bucks or so per tube. They’re going to save you a couple watts or so and they’re pretty darn inexpensive. So to me that’s a no brainer when you're racing.

Andrew: Yeah you get a couple watts per tube I believe. Because you’re buying tubes anyway and you’re putting tubes in your bike anyway and so to spend I think they’re just four or five dollars more per tube even, maybe not even, and they’re more comfortable honestly. They also lower the risk of you flatting because they are more supple so they bend around divots or debris in the road better than a Butyl tube and then the only downside– I run latex tubes so I’m saying all this from experience. The only downside is you do have to pump your tires up more frequently because the air– those tubes are so supple air leaks out of them at a faster rate. It’s not fast enough to matter on race day or on training day, but every single day if I did my Tuesday TriDot workout and I go back for my Thursday TriDot workout I have to re-pump up my tire because enough air has leaked out in those two days that I have to re-air it. So other than that, you’re already buying tubes so get the latex ones and just a couple watts per tire savings there.

Matt: Yeah and another one is pretty inexpensive, just get some chain lube and learn how to apply it. I mean you can look on Youtube, you could ask a buddy, and it’s very easy to do. Just put some paper towels under your chain, squirt some chain lube on the moving chain while you’re turning the crank, and then hold a few paper towels on the chain to dry off the excess chain lube while you’re turning the crank with the other hand. You’d be surprised how much dirts, sand, grease, all that stuff gets into your chain and adds friction to your drivetrain. And also remember to swap out your chain from time to time because that grit that gets in there. It contributes to something called chain stretch. It’s not actually your chain stretching, it’s just a lot of grit and things that frictions away some of the chain material and it ends up not riding particularly smoothly on your cassette and your rings. So it depends on how much you’re riding how often you need to swap out your chain, but if it’s been two, three, four years you definitely need to swap it out. I typically swap mine out maybe once per year; put a fresh, new chain on at the beginning of the year and that makes sure I don’t have any of those issues with chains being all worn out.

Andrew: Yeah and especially if you have an A race, if you have one A race every single year you know, swap out that chain before your race rehearsals for the A race and just make sure you’re ready to rock and roll. Something all throughout there, because I’m very passionate about it, is making your hydration setup more aero. I see people at local sprints, local Olympics, Ironman races with round bottles on their downtubes and it just makes me want to scream. I just don’t get it because the price difference between a round bottle and an aero bottle is very little. By the time you buy the bottle, by the time you buy the bottle cages, it does not cost a whole lot more to buy an aero bottle. So first of all, if you’re racing short course you don’t need a ton of fluids on the bike. There’s no reason to have a bottle on your downtubes. Invest in a– and they’re not super expensive. Invest in a good between the arms setup or a behind the saddle setup and suddenly you’ve got your hydration largely out of the wind. If you do– if you are racing longer and you need to have a bottle on the downtube, I personally– there’s a couple of brands; Profile Design, Elite. There’s a couple different versions you can buy out there. I got mine off of Amazon and my aero shaped bottles are just three, four, five dollars more than buying a round bottle and it just… I read some studies and the time saved, the watt savings having a round bottle on the tube is creating drag to the tune of four to five watts and making that bottle aero shaped now you’re only losing one watt and in some cases depending on the shape of your bike it might actually be neutral to where it’s not actually increasing any drag at all. So for the price, you’re already putting fluid on your bike anyway so check out the different options to make those setups more aero than having a round bottle on your downtube.

John: So one of the probably undisputed things that we can do, and it’s consistently among the top ranked watts per dollar is utilizing an aero helmet. So there are a lot of options now, a lot of different shapes, budgets, all that. So this is one of those things if you’re racing you should probably put it towards the top of the list simply because the watts to value are there. It’s a known quantity. This is one of the things that there’s not a whole lot of faith involved in. Wear the aero helmet. You can get one for 250-300 bucks. The rule of thumb is somewhere in the 8 to 10 watt range so it’s about $30 per watt which is relatively low down there on that spectrum, on that scale of watts per dollar. So that’s one of those that everyone seems to agree on and what we see too is the vast majority of athletes out there are utilizing them. So definitely one of those things to utilize.

Matt: Yeah, definitely. We’ll talk a little bit more about that later when we talk about value, but another one that’s great value is your sleeved tri kit. We’ve talked about this before on the podcast and in that USA Triathlon article. I mean you have to have a kit anyway, right? So you’re already going to be spending money on a kit.

Andrew: You need to wear something.

Matt: Unless you’ve found a nude triathlon I’m not aware of. I don’t think I want to be part of that though. But a cheap or $100 kit, it’s not going to be the best design or the material. So spend 300 bucks on a great one. It’ll save you some serious watts. It’ll be more comfortable. Wattage wise it might save you around 10 watts. So if you’re– it kind of depends on the fit. You want to make sure that it’s a fit that is very nice and snug on you and doesn’t have a lot of wrinkles. If you do that then it’s a very aero, very comfortable, plus if you get it on the TriDot store then you can get an awesome one that is very aero, very comfortable, and you’ll be representing TriDot at the same time. Also, there’s a new design this year that looks fantastic. If you’re a TriDot subscriber you get 15% off. For the sleeved tri kits though just in general the value is something like 30 bucks per watt; a lot like the aero helmet because you’re saving a good number of watts there and it’s not going to cost you a ton and ton of money.

Andrew: I listened to part of that and I ignored part of that because I was still in my head trying to wrap my mind around what a naked triathlon would be like. And I’ve determined that I want no part in what that would be like. I would much rather wear a tri kit and be wearing something particularly on my bike. But anyway.

John: So would the chaffing be worse or not as bad? I don’t know. Or just in different places.

Andrew: Gross.

Matt: So another one is shoe coverings. They are proven to make you slightly more aero, they can also though make your feet overheat. They might take a little extra time to put on or take off so the verdicts out for me on shoe coverings as far as whether they make sense or not. I think you might be able to find the right shoe covering or maybe the right shoe in order to get there with it. Maybe save a little bit, but it is a fairly inexpensive thing that you can do to potentially save a little bit.

Andrew: Yeah Matt and that’s interesting because aero shoe coverings are not very expensive to your point and that’s where you see– when you watch the Tour de France every year, when you watch pro cycling, when you watch pro cyclist’s time trial 100% of the time they are wearing those. I vaguely remember Lucy Charles at Kona a few years back wearing some aero socks I believe. I could be mistaken on that because I remember the coverage talking about it. But something that a lot of the pros do do is they wear Bont cycling shoes. And I’ll give that specific brand a shoutout. There are a ton of great cycling shoes out there. I don’t wear Bonts personally. I’ve seen them. I know Elizabeth James, from the podcast, she just switched to Bont cycling shoes for this very reason. They have one model that has– because basically with your shoes the deal is the straps, the little Boa dials, all those things on the shoe, those are not very aero in the wind. So if you can cover that up you’re making your shoe surface more aerodynamic and that’s a surface that’s out in the wind for the entire bike ride. So Bont has a model that has a covering that goes over all the dials and straps and it just kind of smoothens out the surface area where the shoe is coming in contact with the wind. Jan Frodeno, Ben Hoffman, several of those guys are wearing those shoes and then they have a dimple built into the design as well. So if you really want to– you’re buying cycling shoes anyway, if you want the most aerodynamic option without trying to mess with shoe coverings you can look up those Bont shoes that are advertised to be a little more aerodynamic.

Matt: Yeah all good points. Another one that falls in this category of a relatively low price is a waxed chain. So, I mean, for what it is it’s maybe a little bit on the expensive side. It’s about 150 bucks or so. It might save you 2-ish watts and it only is going to save you those watts until the wax essentially wears off and then at that point it’s just like any other chain. So the value, it’s about 70 bucks per watt give or take.

Andrew: The last thing I’m going to throw out there as a small ticket aero item is– I do want to give a shout out to there’s a company called TriRig and many of our longtime listeners are familiar with me talking about my TriRig scoops. They’re the arm cups that I use. A lot of TriDotters have bought those now. TriDot Coach Jeff Raines actually rides on a TriRig Omni bike. But TriRig if you go to their website, they have several kind of small ticket aero accessories that each will save you 2 to 3 to 4 watts a piece and it’s kind of a really fun website. A lot of options there so you can kind of peruse and ses what might make sense for you and your setup. One thing I have, I have their front brake. They have a couple other things. They have some aero skewers that instead of having the quick release skewer handle they bolt in and you have to screw the skewer in and so it’s more aero. It saves you a couple watts per skewer. There’s some options there that aren’t big ticket items that can save you a few watts here and there and look really cool as well.

So, moving on from the small ticket items into the big ticket items. These are the things that come with a heavy price tag. What are these items that can save us watts, but at a larger cost?

Matt: Yeah one of them right at the top here and I’m going to kind of go in order of maybe the kind of the worst value or some of the highest price tags down towards the moderate price tags. But, the first one– an aero frame. I know you’re on a bike and you’re on the ground, but the sky is the limit with aero frame cost. I’ve got buddies who’ve spent–

Andrew: Hahaha…Well done. Well done.

Matt: Oh, thank you. Thank you. I knew you’d appreciate that. I really channeled my inner Andrew for that trying to get extra fans you know.

Andrew: Yeah, yeah that will do it.

Matt: I have buddies who have spent– I think we all do right– 10-15 grand or more on their ride and yeah. I mean, it looks awesome. It doesn’t of course necessarily mean that they’re the fastest out there.

Andrew: Yep.

Matt: So having an aero frame– I mean that touches back on what we talked about the engine being the most important thing, but having an aero frame it might save you something like 5 or 10 watts versus another frame, but it could cost you thousands and thousands of dollars. So remember that it’s the rider that accounts for 70% of the drag.

Andrew: Wow!

Matt: The engine is the most important thing, but then as far as aerodynamics are concerned, the rider is most of the drag so the frame itself only accounts for a small fraction of the overall drag. So don’t go crazy. I’m actually still riding my 2009 Cannondale Slice. Am I leaving a little something on the table? Yeah, but it’s not enough for me to go drop a bunch of G’s on a new bike right now. The value here is something that ranges massively between $200 and $2000 per watt, but either way it’s not great value. So if you’re just chasing aerodynamics then not your best purchase. If you’re just in need of a new bike because it’s outdated, it’s not working well for you anymore, it’s not fit right to you, then that certainly could be justification for getting a new bike. But if you’re just trying to save a few watts that’s just not the right path to go.

Andrew: Yeah, and Matt I do want to speak to that. When we talk about saving watts, the first we always talk about the kit and we talk about the aero helmet and we talk about shaving legs, right, because of what you just said. The rider is most of the drag and so we want to start with the items that are going to make us, the rider, more aerodynamic before we get down to the bike items. It’s largely because of that and it’s also because of the price tag. So that’s just something to keep in mind. It’s fun buying the bike stuff. It’s sexy to buy the bike stuff. You like in those pictures to look super aero like the pros do, but it’s not always the best bang for your buck.

Matt: Yep, yep and another one here that’s not really the best bang for your buck as far as saving watts is lighter parts. We’ve kind of touched on this a little bit, but I mean you can swap out steel or aluminum parts on your bike for carbon or titanium to make it lighter. That’s all the rage in certain circles. It was for a while even in the triathlon world to lighten your bike up, but just for reference, most triathlon bikes tend to be between 17 and 21-ish pounds. Road bikes are often 14 or 15 pounds. Triathletes just don’t climb as much so it just doesn’t matter as much and aerodynamics matter so much more than a handful of grams on your bike. So the bikes are just designed for a different purpose. You’re better off focusing on losing your muffin top than spending all sorts of money to trim weight off your tri bike, that’s for sure.

Andrew: That got real personal. That got real personal real fast.

John: I feel attacked.

Matt: Making your bike lighter, it’s not a bad thing. If you’ve got some money burning a hole in your pocket then go for it, but it’s going to cost you a ton of money and the value is not really there if you’re just trying to save some watts there. So it could be anywhere between 300 and 1500 bucks per watt. It’s not cheap.

Andrew: John, what about you? What’s a big ticket item that you want to bring to our attention today?

John: So one of the things– I think they’re actually pretty cool, but they are spendy and this is one of those where you can spend a lot for not a ton. I think in the same point, I think the oversized pulley wheels look really cool and I think that the vast majority of athletes if they were honest would say that is why they went with the oversized pulleys, just because they look super cool and I say it’s even somewhat of an emerging thing. I’d say five years ago we didn’t really think about the pulley wheels that we had. Maybe put on some ceramic ones, but the oversized are relatively new and now they’re coming out with some that even have aero shields and some funky colors and are a great accent to the bike. So they’re going to run 500-600 bucks all the way up to several thousand depending on what you get and what are you going to save? Probably 2 to 3 watts. So you know, you’re looking at $200 per watt and up from there. But you know, not everything we do is all about the watts. Sometimes it’s just about feeling good and liking your bike.

Andrew: Absolutely.

John: So you know, do what you want.

Matt: If it has a mental effect of making you feel like Superman and you race well because you feel like Superman, then hey. Do it. Another one, aero wheels definitely falls in the category of being a higher ticket item if you’re going to go out and buy them. So aero wheels they’ll save you about 5 watts, maybe a bit more. They’re going to cost you 2 grand for a pair of wheels and that’s if you decide to get on in the front and one in the rear, but the problem is that you might want to get multiple for the front, multiple for the rear so that you’re equipped and ready with different wheelsets and wheel combinations for different courses. So you might actually want to get a disc for your rear, 60 or 80 mm for the rear, an 80 mm for the front, and a 40 mm for the front. So if you end up getting all these different combinations it ends up costing a lot of money. It might cost, you might spend 4 grand on this. So I always ended up renting wheels for my A and some of my B races which I used to do for about 150 bucks per race. I guess these days it looks like it’s more like maybe $200 to $300 per race depending on exactly what combination you get and all that. But it depends on how often you race with aero wheels too.

Andrew: Yeah.

Matt: I mean, if you’re going to be racing a whole bunch then it may make sense to buy them, but for me I would only actually use my race wheels on maybe two to three races a year and so for me it just absolutely made sense to rent instead. They often have them available renting for the bigger races, Ironman races and things where you can actually pick them up right there on the site. It’s very convenient. The value if you buy it’s something like 400 bucks a watt. Not cheap at all. If you rent it’s definitely a lot cheaper in the long run if you’re not going to be using them at every race and racing a whole bunch.

Andrew: Yeah, I think my mindset with wheels, Matt, if I could go back and do it again I think especially early in my triathlon career I probably would have been better off renting for exactly all the reasons you said. Because another thing to factor in is I do 97-98% of my training indoors on Zwift anyway. So those expensive carbon wheels are just sitting to the side and not really being used. So they get used in a handful, maybe a dozen outdoor rides a year and then they get used on race day. So for me, I could probably rent and be just fine. I do think if you ride quite a bit outside, life’s too short to run aluminum wheels. Why not have a nice pair of carbon wheels and get to enjoy them on all of your rides. But if you’re largely indoors and you’ve got one or two A races a year, yeah you can save a lot of money and kind of increase your watts per dollar ratio just by renting and probably spend that extra money you’re saving somewhere else and increase your gains. So it’s a great point.

Matt: The last one I’ve got here is a trip to the Win Tunnel. Now it’s not exactly a gear item and most people aren’t going to be able to do that and swing it for whatever reason; money, time, all that. But nearly anyone could save some watts by going there. I did have the opportunity to go to the A2 Wind Tunnel down in North Carolina back in 2016. A sponsor had covered the cost for me and the all in cost I think it was something like $2000 for the all in cost and it was two hours of testing. The reports showed I could save around 10 watts if I accepted all the changes they recommended many of which required me to spend more money.

Andrew: Wow.

Matt: Like on a new aero helmet that was slightly faster than the aero helmet I was using. Other changes required me to be less comfortable; to assume a praying mantis style position on the bike which I did use for about six months. I ended up getting fairly comfortable in it, but ultimately decided to reverse. I wasn’t comfortable enough to justify being that way for nearly five hours on the bike and being able to run well off the bike. But one thing that kind of surprised me, but maybe it shouldn’t have about my experience in the wind tunnel, was that the experts there are solely focused on aerodynamic gains. They don’t address as much or care as much about your comfort or your wallet. So they’re there to help you maximize your aerodynamics through minimizing your CDA, your coefficient. So all in all, in my experience I’m not sure I got enough out of the wind tunnel to justify the cost. The value there maybe it’s there 250 bucks per watt.

John: Well I think that brings up a good point Matt, and this is true for all of these, but especially on a big ticket item like your $2000 trip to the wind tunnel is everything we do there’s an opportunity cost. So for every dollar we spend on something that means we’re not spending that on something else. So instead of going to the wind tunnel and spending two grand, what if you spent that two grand elsewhere? Where do you come out ahead? And that’s something even in a decision where all of these we have opportunity cost and when we buy one thing or we spend one dollar we’re not spending that dollar on something else. So yeah. Especially on some of these big ticket items, do you buy the one ticket item or do you go with ten of the smaller ticket items and then what is the net effect of those? So again, and this is where it all gets hard and there’s no objective concrete answer. I mean the best we can do is kind of hope that we make the best decisions and if nothing else we look cooler at the end.

Andrew: Yeah John, so let’s flesh that out a little bit. Now that we’ve kind of identified what the free items are, what the small items are, what the big items are; let’s kind of talk through best value to worst value just in terms of watts per dollar from all these items that athletes might be considering adding or upgrading.

Matt: Yeah, by value let’s go for the free stuff first because the value there is infinity.

Andrew: Yeah, infinite value.

Matt: Infinite value. You can be selective. Once you’ve done all the free stuff then you can be selective about the items you decide to buy so that you save yourself as many watts as possible given whatever budget it is that you have. So obviously if you have a $20,000 plus budget then go ahead and just do everything. Take you time and do it all.

John: And get me one while you’re at it.

Matt: Yes, yes. But if you don’t have a huge budget like that then based off the value I’ll give you my top three. First a well fitted sleeved tri kit. Again, you have to have a kit anyway. Just go get yourself a great kit. It’s going to be comfortable. It’s going to be aerodynamic. Get the TriDot one that’s on the TriDot store website because it looks awesome and that’s going to save you good watts in terms of the overall value. So like we said before, it’s about 30 bucks per watt which is very, very good value for something that you’re spending money on. The other one, the aero helmet which seriously is just something that keeps coming back as something that is something that is really valuable versus a road helmet. Again it’s going to be about a 30 buck per watt value. Then the third one for me is racing tires, latex tubes. So it’s fairly inexpensive at around maybe 100 to 200 bucks to swap out your training tires and your tubes out. They’re going to save you about 5 watts or so, give or take, maybe even a little bit more and it’s only going to cost you again about 30 bucks per watt for those as well.

John: All good stuff. Yeah, definitely a fan of those Matt. So I think for me my top one again, it’s almost there at the free, but a bottle of degreaser, some water, and some lube. I’ve said it a dozen times on a dozen other podcasts that a clean bike is a fast bike. This is something that one, it’s going to help your bike last longer so you’re going to get a better return on that investment that you’re making both from the longevity of the product as well as the performance of the product. So this is real simple. Again, it doesn’t take a whole lot to keep your bike clean and keep it well lubed. I raced Ironman, gosh just a couple days ago now and there were a couple times where I rode up on some folks and I could hear their drivetrain just making all sorts of noise and it just– aww, it was like– It just irked me. One it was like, I don’t like the sound of it, but it was just like, “Man, you’re racing Ironman. Like take five minutes to clean your chain and put some fresh lube on.” Like you don’t have to go all in and spend 300 bucks on a fancy chain like Andrew, but at least take a towel and wipe the grit and the sand off and put a little bit of lube on it. You know, it’s so easy. So simple and yeah, that’s really going to pay dividends and as we mentioned before it’s going to help with the efficiency of that drivetrain, but also extend the life of the drivetrain as well because all that stuff gets in there and that’s really what grinds it up.

Andrew: And John, I’ll mention while we’re here, one I didn’t spend $300 on my chain. That’s a slight over exaggeration, but not far off. Two, not all lubes are created equal. This is another spot where you have the opportunity to gain just a handful of watts. So because you listened to Coach John Mayfield you’re going to lube your chain anyway so go ahead and look up and with just a quick Google search you can find there’s some different lubes out there and some are better than others. Some are better than others in wet conditions. Some are better than others in dry conditions. So look at what your conditions are going to be on the day and we won’t walk through on this episode all the different chain lube options that are out there. I personally use one that’s put out by a brand called Silka that is not waxing your chain, but it’s kind of a wax based wet lube that I apply to my chain and so there’s different options out there that can give you different speeds. Ceramic Speed I think sells UFO Drip which is absurdly expensive, but promises to be the fastest one on the market and so from that one which is expensive all the way to cheep, $10 bottles, there’s a bunch of options out there and just do a little Google searching and you can find exactly which one is the right fit for you and can save you 3 or 4 watts over a really cheep, more basic lube.

John: Then the last thing I want to bring up are bearings which we’ve talked a little bit on things like pulleys, but bearings is something that you can upgrade. You can go with a ceramic option as opposed to the steel and there are some benefits to doing that, but I think this is also something people often neglect or even forget about the fact that our bikes are largely driven by bearings and those bearings wear out over time. They lose their efficiency. They lose their performance. If it’s been a while, you’re due. If you don’t know exactly when the last time you replaced your bearings throughout your bike, I can guarantee you that you’re due. So this is a good time of year to go out and kind of start fresh. Speaking specifically to things like your bottom bracket. These, again, the price varies based on what you decide to go with. I would say that is probably the one that is going to wear out the quickest and need to be replaced most often. Then as far as the things, what we consider the worst value. Just because it’s the worst value doesn’t mean not to do it. So I think as far as a watts per dollar your carbon triathlon bike is probably not real high up on that scale of great watts per dollars, but a good carbon triathlon bike is really critical especially if you are committed to the sport, especially if you’re doing long course racing, especially if you want to be competitive you really do need to make that jump. If you’re riding a road bike going to that carbon triathlon bike really is a necessity. Now again we get into a huge range of price options and all and so you don’t have to go to theat $10,000 and up super bike. But as long as you have the aerodynamics and the geometry of that triathlon bike that is going to be sufficient. Can you squeeze out some additional gains, a little bit extra wattage? Yeah, but those watts per dollar are going to be real expensive.

Andrew: Yeah.

John: Some of the other things we’ve discussed, several of them, are those rotational weight things. So these are important. They can increase your performance. So when we talk about dropping weight as we did earlier it’s important to focus on those things that are rotational, those things that are moving. You’re going to get better value out of the things that are moving as opposed to the things that are static. So dropping weight off your frame, dropping weight off your cockpit, things like that, those are not going to pay the same dividends as those things that are moving. So things like your wheels, your tires, your cranks, your pulley chains, your chain itself; all those things that are moving, those are going to be more beneficial in reducing weight. But again, oftentimes going from something that’s good to great that’s where those watts per dollars get pretty expensive. And again, as we already mentioned often those things are going to perform quite well as long as they are clean, they’re lubed, and they’re in good shape. Now inevitably, all those things that I mentioned will wear out. Your tires, your chain, the pulley wheels, the bottom bracket. They’re going to need to be replaced. So when they are due, maybe that’s a good time to go ahead and take advantage of some of those upgrade opportunities. Then we mentioned wheels before. Wheels are great. Wheels will make a big difference. Wheels are worth minutes especially at a 70.3 and Ironman distance race, but they are expensive. Especially a disk wheel. So it’s one of those things again kind of undisputed that a disk is going to be faster in the vast majority of scenarios, but those disk wheels come at a premium. So watts per dollars, it’s there. If it’s in the budget, great. You will be faster, but you’ll definitely pay for it.

Andrew: So I mean, a ton of information that you guys have given us just about different items and the watts they save and how expensive they are and what we should be thinking about as we’re kind of forming our shopping list. So this is going to vary based on what gear an athlete currently has. Some people already have some stuff. Some people have entry level stuff. We’re all in a different place in our journey with the sport. So it’s hard to get really specific here, but so just in general, what advice can each of you share on how to prioritize upgrading all of these watt saving items?

Matt: For me it’s about plucking that low hanging fruit. So go through the list of things that we described or recommendations from the highest value and start there. If you don’t have an aero helmet right now or if you don’t have a sleeved kit, go ahead and get those first, but then all the other things that we talked about if you have room in the budget and if you see the low hanging fruit is that you’ve never raced on race wheels before then think about either renting or buying some race wheels. If it’s going to make you a lot faster like something with race wheels for instance, maybe it makes sense to save up or beg your significant other for a nice Christmas present.

John: I saw a great thing that said if there’s something you want, maybe like a nice bike upgrade, just go talk about it near your partner’s phone and next thing you know they’re going to start having ads pop up for those things. So use a little bit of that.

Andrew: What a strategy! Yeah, that’s next level strategy right there.

Matt: That is. I thought you were going to say talk about it around your significant other, but you’re just saying around your significant other’s phone.

John: Exactly, yeah. Yeah. It’s definitely more covert that way and all of a sudden these ads are going to pop up and a little subliminal suggestion there. So I would say build it slow and over time. Triathlon really is a journey and it’s a time consuming journey. I just raced my ten year anniversary Ironman and I can tell you they were two drastically different experiences and after ten years of racing Ironman I’m getting faster still. So I don’t necessarily need to have my bike at 100% for my first Ironman race. My bike now has kind of grown with me. The bike I’m currently riding, it’s almost that old. I had it for a lot of years and we’ve done a lot of races together and we’ve both made improvements throughout those years. I’ve gotten faster, the bike has gotten faster, I’ve been able to make those upgrades just kind of over time. So I would say don’t rush it and if you’re committed to the long term then just kind of stay patient with that. Then make those upgrades when the opportunity arises. So there are, again as we mentioned, there’s going to be times when you need to make replacements. You’re going to need to make upgrades and just wait for those because inevitably they’re going to come along. So I would definitely not suggest going out to the bike shop and just throwing down the credit card to buy all these things at once. They’re going to come due and when they do, just do what you can when you have that opportunity.

Andrew: So RaceX has a really cool feature where you can actually take your plan for an upcoming race and you can run “what if” scenarios to see what they will do to your projected bike split. So for example, before the Escape From Alcatraz I was able to compare what my bike split would be racing on my road bike versus racing on my tri bike. Another example, a good friend of mine shoutout to TriDot Athlete Jonathan Mejia, he was trying to decide what gear item to buy next. So he did some comparisons between his current setup with a deeper rear wheel and then his current setup with a more aero helmet and numerically was able to see how much each possible purchase could affect his time and he made his purchasing decision based on that. So talk to us about how that feature works and how athletes can use it to get a feel for the impact a gear purchase could have.

John: So predicting bike splits is basically algebra. It’s solving for X. So we have a series of variables in there. We know the distances. We can quantify an athlete’s power, their drag coefficient, and there are others that go into it. So when we have all those known or there’s one that we don’t know, or there’s one that we’re changing, again it's largely just an algebraic equation. There’s a lot that goes into determining the variables, but the math itself is pretty simple. So what we can do is manipulate any of those variables and we can see what the outcome of that is. So we know what say the difference between a road helmet and an aero helmet is. So we can plug that into that algebraic equation and see what the impact is on a bike split over a certain distance. So again, we can look at things like changes in aerodynamics, changes in weight, things like that. So that allows us to make a more informed decision as to what is going to reap the biggest benefit for us or what is going to be our best decision on race day just like you mentioned with your Escape From Alcatraz scenario.

Matt: And if math scares you don’t worry. RaceX does it all for you. We give you ranges. We give you approximate numbers based on the science that’s out there in this podcast, but RaceX will give you the numbers that are specific to you and the course that you’re racing. Like I love that example of you on the road bike versus the tri bike in Alcatraz. That’s one where people have talked about that and anybody who has been racing that race knows that it may make sense for you to be on a road bike and there’s not many tri courses that are like that, but that’s a specific example where it really makes a big difference where you can make that decision using the “what if” analysis in RaceX. So you can really use it to dial in how much you would expect to gain from making some of the upgrades that we’ve covered in this episode and the one that Andrew just mentioned.

Andrew: So from all this, you know we’ve talked about a lot. I think we’ve kind of inceptioned in a lot of people’s minds what their next purchase might be. But for you guys as you’re kind of looking at your current bike setup and you’re looking at what’s out there on the market and all these fun toys. Some are cheaper, some are more expensive. What bike upgrade are each of you guys looking to make next and why?

John: So for me, I just spoke fondly of my bike, but I think it’s time to retire that one to the trainer full time. I am definitely due for a new bike. I’ve actually had a bike on order since January. So we are now approaching a year that I’ve been waiting, but I picked the worst time in bike history to try to get a new bike. So things have been held up with factory closures and supply chain and shipping and all those things. So as I mentioned, both me and my bike are getting older. There are certainly some things I wish I could replace on me. You know, a new set of knees and a new IT band would be great, but since I can’t do that I guess I’ll just go with a new bike.

Andrew: Matt, what about you?

Matt: I want a new bike too, John. I would like a new bike, but a mountain bike so then I could join my buddies out on the trails. They’ve been riding without me, having a lot of fun out there. I’m experiencing some FOMO. So I would like a new mountain bike. I don’t own one right now so that’s why I can’t go with them. I just owned one when I was a kid and it was just, you know, your Huffy from Walmart or whatever it was. But yeah, I do actually have an upgrade in mind for my existing bike though and that’s paying attention to my drivetrain. I haven’t paid attention to it in a while. I know I’m losing some watts there. I’m definitely overdue for a new bottom bracket, a new chain. If I’m racing I’ll get a wax chain and the oversized pulley systems are pretty new since even when I was racing competitively and really seriously they weren’t really much of a thing at that point. So they’re intriguing and it’s something that I have never used and I would like to use it. So I would also of course have to clean my existing cassette and the big rings and all that. Definitely needs some tender loving care.

John: So going back to the original question on the podcast, I guess I did convince at least person to spend some money.

Matt: At least me.

Cool down theme: Great set everyone! Let’s cool down.

Andrew: We are huge fans of our friends at deltaG. Training and racing with the original ketone ester has certainly been eye opening. The science behind their product, I mean, it just intrigued us from the get go and now that our whole staff has experienced fueling with deltaG I just wanted to hear ya’ll’s experience training and racing with their ketone ester. You know, folks have heard my experience a little bit. Matt for you, you took a different approach. I’ve done a lot of bike work with deltaG in my system, but you decided to do something a little bit different to test out how deltaG could benefit you. Tell us about it.

Matt: I did. Yeah and I’ll share my experience with it. First though, ever since I started working with Dr. Krista Austin which was actually back when I was at UCAN about maybe three years ago now, ketone esters have intrigued me because Krista draws a very solid line between what she recommends and what she reserves her judgment on or doesn’t recommend to people because it just doesn’t pass the test for her.

Andrew: Yeah.

Matt: And there’s a very short list that is Krista approved and to make that list is no small feat. So UCAN is on that list, ketone esters are as well and that made me just extra excited to try out deltaG. So I decided to– I haven’t been training and racing seriously like you and John so I took the opportunity to set up a field experiment for myself and I was the guinea pig.

Andrew: Sure, yeah.

Matt: So I did two 5K’s seven days apart from each other so as to avoid having any difference in fitness. One that I did with deltaG and one that I did without. So for the first 5K I ran 18:51, that was without deltaG. My average heart rate was 179 and then like I said, seven days later– Identical everything; the time I woke up, the time I ran, the breakfast I ate, the weather was comparable, the same track, the same warmup routine, the same clothing. Don’t worry I did wash them between sessions.

Andrew: Good, yeah.

Matt: I splashed water over my head both times right before I started the 5K. I used the same shoes. Like everything– I tried to make everything as absolutely possible be the same and I ran my next 5K with deltaG this time having taken it about 20 minutes before I began the 5K and I ran 18:27. A 24 second improvement. So 18:51 down to 18:27 and I was like, “Okay, well maybe I just tried harder and that’s why I went faster and that would be reflected in my heart rate.” But no, I look at my average heart rate. It was actually one beat lower than the first time that I ran it and I ran 24 seconds fast. I was like, “Alright, well this is pretty amazing.”

Andrew: And the incredible thing there, Matt, is I’m with you in that 5K range. So I know from experience landing in that time range for my 5K, I mean a 24 second difference at that pace is significant. I was super pleased at Ironman Waco racing with deltaG in my system. I said it in the podcast episode where John and Elizabeth interviewed me, but I just felt so perfectly fueled the whole time I was on the course and I truly believe deltaG was a part of that. Because here’s the thing. I never used it in my race rehearsals. When we first bought some I used it for an FTP test. I used it in a stamina session and I had not replaced my stores of deltaG before race day. So for both my race rehearsals I didn’t have it and at the end of those stamina sessions I was wiped. I was losing steam. I still had time to go and my longest race rehearsal was a five and a half hour ride and so on race day I was out there riding for six hours and 20 something minutes. I had to run a full marathon off of it and I felt better. And part of that’s the taper, but I truly believe part of that was also deltaG. And the kicker came in the recovery. You know, sure, right after the race I was tired, I was sore. You know, the next couple days I was slow moving up and down the stairs in the house, but by Wednesday– the following Wednesday after my Ironman– my muscles largely felt ready to go and do it all over again. Now my Achilles was sore, but that was a different story so that’s kind of held me back from working out again since that race. But the recovery, just holy cow! I felt like I was ready to race again within a week and I think a lot of that was from the deltaG. Elizabeth James, while we were in Waco, she had a long stamina session on the bike where she used her deltaG for the first time and she actually said– you know we made a big deal about the taste. She actually said after hearing us all talk about the potent taste of deltaG, she was expecting it to be way worse than it was. She was like, “Yeah, I don’t see what you guys were making a big deal about. I drank it just fine.” So either we are big wussies in that or she is just way stronger in her taste bud tolerance.

Matt: They always say women are tougher than men.

Andrew: I believe that fully. But she said she had a great stamina session and she was really impressed with her first impression of deltaG. So John, you and I are the only two that have raced with deltaG in our system so far. So what was your experience racing with it in Ironman Maryland?

John: So I started the day with a cocktail of my nutrition, some Precision Hydration, and the deltaG. So that was there in transition and as I was headed down to the swim start that’s what I took and yeah. That taste helped wake me up and get me ready to go. I had a great swim. I set a PR on the bike as far as my Ironman PR. Then I had the same cocktail in T2. So again some calories, my Precision Hydration, and then a serving of the deltaG mixed in there and set out on the run course. I didn’t have the run splits primarily because of the weather that I had hoped for. It ended up being a lot hotter than I had hoped or expected and I did struggle a bit on the run. I still did have a 25 minute, I believe it was, Ironman PR at the end of the day. And one of the things they told us to look for– Because I had this thought of “It’s Ironman. There are so many variables that are going to go into this. How do I really evaluate what this one of a dozen variables is?” And one thing they said to focus on and you guys have alluded to it as well, is keep an eye on your heart rate. And I’ll say that I was shocked that my heart rate stayed as low as it did, especially given the temperature that I was running in. I would have expected my heart rate to spike after being out there for 10-11 hours on the day in the upper 80s and high humidity. I would have expected my heart rate to be significantly higher than it was, but every time I looked down at my heart rate I was right there where I needed it to be. So I think they kind of called their shot as far as that goes. If I didn’t have that explanation– I don’t have another explanation as to why my heart rate stayed as low as it did given those conditions. So they called their shot. So I’ve got to give it to them that that’s what did it. So yeah. It’s largely objective now. It’s tested and I think between the four of us having a similar experience I think it’s living up to the hype.

Andrew: Well that’s it for today folks. I want to thank coaches John Mayfield and Matt Bach for making us smarter bike gear shoppers. A big thanks to deltaG for partnering with us on today’s episode. Head to deltaGketones.com to learn more about fueling with the deltaG performance ketone ester and remember you can use promo code TRIDOT20 for 20% off your deltaG order. Enjoying the podcast? Have any triathlon questions or topics you want to hear us talk about? Head to tridot.com/podcast and let us know what you’re thinking. We’ll do it all again soon. Until then, Happy Training!

Outro: Thanks for joining us. Make sure to subscribe and share the TriDot podcast with your triathlon crew. For more great tri content and community, connect with us on Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram. Ready to optimize your training? Head to TriDot.com and start your free trial today! TriDot – the obvious and automatic choice for triathlon training.

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