Since Ironman is next weekend, I needed to do a quick ride in my race configuration and I wanted to nail my race pace watts and speed so I decided to do some SRM power meter test runs with the Elite. I was surprised at the result!! At 200 watts, the disc rear wheel, aero front rim and aero helmet increased my average speed by over 4 km per hour! That's WAY more than I expected. My race pace is 220 watts and with the aero enhancements, that power input creates 40 km / hour worth of speed. Of course, it will average out much less considering climbs and pauses in peddling, but still - that's a nice cruising speed.

What I was also VERY surprised with is at both 150 watts and 200 watts, the 'aero' Elite was faster than the both the M5 and the Home built lowracer.

I think perhaps there may have been some 'sail' effect due to the disc wheel, as it was a bit windy (around 9 kph winds). That could explain the fast times, as 'theoretically', the lowracers should be faster than the road bike. Or perhaps the temperature difference between the two test dates played a roll in the significant difference?

	Vehicle	Photo (click for large)	150 Watts	200 Watts	220 Watts	250 Watts
			ave speed kph	ave speed kph	ave speed kph	ave speed kph
	Home built lowracer		31.6 kph	35.6 kph
	M5 lowracer		31.3 kph	36.4 kph
	Elite Tri Bike		28.9 kph	32.9 kph		35.2 kph
	Elite Tri Bike rear disc wheel front aero rim aero helmet, aero water container		33.9 kph	37.7 kph	40 kph	41.1 kph
	Lean steer trike		27.3 kph

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