Is A $15,000 Bike Enough To Make Dan Fast Again?

How much faster is modern time trial technology? To find out, Dan put his personal best from 14 years ago to the test in a head-to-head showdown: then vs. now.

First, we take a detailed look at his old race-winning setup: a 2010 Cervelo P3 with Zipp wheels, TT bars, and exposed cabling. Then, we introduce the modern contender: a 2024 Canyon Speedmax CFR, fully kitted out! The goal: see how close he could get to his old time with modern tech, despite having significantly less power.

The results are genuinely shocking!

Chapters ⏱️
00:00 – Intro – then vs. now
01:50 – The old bike
03:43 – The new bike
06:16 – The new clothing
07:06 – The course breakdown
08:28 – Warm-up & final pre-race feelings
09:14 – My pacing strategy for the race
10:17 – The 10-mile time trial attempt!
11:26 – Post-race reaction & initial unofficial time
13:00 – Interview with the winner
14:52 – The data deep dive
16:01 – Final conclusion: how much faster is modern tech?

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[Music] [Music] I have got all the gear and an idea. How close can I get to my 10mi time trial personal best using all the latest, fastest equipment and clothing? We’re about to find out. [Music] I am going to be competing in a 10mi time trial for the first time in 14 years. As many of you will know, time trials are a staple of the UK cycling scene. And whilst I didn’t do many back in the day, I did used to do the occasional evening club 10 in my hometown of Ringwood. At one point I even had the course record 20 minutes and 59 seconds with an average power just under 390 W. Since that time though, 25 riders either equaled or bettered that time. Essentially 25 riders have competed on this course with far superior equipment to what I had available to me at the time. I’m joking, of course. Current course record was actually set just 5 days ago by a talented youngster by the name of Jamie Witcher. He covered the 10 miles in 19 minutes and 8 seconds. Close to 2 minutes faster than I’ve ever been over the same route. Now, I think that is probably slightly out of my reach tonight, unfortunately. But the question I’ve got, how close can I get to my own PV using the latest, greatest, fastest equipment? Handily, for the purposes of this video, I’ve still got my time trial bike from back in my glory days. Now, this is my Sell P3, which at the time was the most advanced and fast UCI legal time trial bike in the world, and I dare say it wouldn’t be particularly slow now. On it, I’ve got these 3T base bars and skis, or bar extensions, if you want to call them that. Uh main difference really between this bike and the one I’m going to show you in a little while is that these are horizontal whereas now there’s much more of an upward rise to sort of block the hole in front of you and make you more arrow. And as you can see there’s also a lot of exposed cabling here. I mean goodness only knows how much air that was whipping up and slowing me down back in the day. Some of that cabling goes down to these things. If you’ve never seen them before, they’re called rim brakes. Unbelievable scenes. Uh the wheels come from zip. So obviously a disc at the back and a Zip 1080 here at the front. Now interestingly this Zip 1080 was and still is illegal to use in cycling time trial events here in the UK. CTT have a rule that at least 45% of the front wheel needs to be open purely for safety reasons. So perhaps I didn’t actually have the course record after all. Uh on those wheels we have Victoria tubular tires. They’re stuck onto the rim of the wheel in a size 25 mm. They did actually have air in back in the day when I was using them. Up top, a physique saddle and the group set is a Stram red 10-speed. I got the rotor cranks with a Quark power meter, 175 mm cranks, and a 54 front chain ring. Now, there is a front derailer because, believe it or not, I did do some hilly time trails back in the day as well. So, that’s my old bike. I don’t still have my old skin suit. Sold that on eBay for 80 quid. I also don’t have my helmet. I’ve got no idea where that went, but none of that is as fast as what I’m using today. Have a look over there. That is my Canyon Speed Max CFR. I’ll let you into a little secret. Until about a week ago, this was actually Dr. Ollie Bridgewood’s Canyon Speed Max CFR, but it’s got my name on it now. Now, Ollie being Ollie, he set this thing up so it goes very fast for very little power. I’m only joking. He’s got more power than me these days. This frame set has actually been around since 2021, this version of it. And since then, it’s had success at the very highest level on the road, on track, and in triathlon as well. I’ve got Vision Metron disc wheel at the back and a Vision Metron SL60 on the front. Very fast wheels. Uh on those wheels, Pirelli P 0 Race TLR RS tires, the fastest tires that they’ve ever made. And with their new superfast P 0 tube inner tubes. I’ve got those tires in a size 28 mm, which oddly informs me is the optimal balance between aerodynamics and rolling resistance. They actually measure up at 29 mm. And I’ve used the Silka tire pressure calculator to ensure I’ve got the optimal pressure, which apparently at my weight and the bike’s weight is 68 PSI on the road service I’m going to be on. Now, these tires are proven to be very fast, and I think they’re going to be the key for my speed today, and I’ll tell you why later on. I’ve got the Aero Speed Play pedals, 170 mil cranks with a Quark power meter, what shot bar extensions, which look and feel much better than anything I’ve ever used before. I’ve also got a ceramic speed aero system to house the jockey wheels. A TT specific Celotalia Watt Gel Superflow saddle with extra padding on the front which is I imagine where I’ll be perched for much of the time trial this evening. Another piece of equipment, a Wahoo Tracker light here at the rear. Now in CTT time trials, you are obliged to use a front and rear light, but this is no ordinary light. It’ll also tell me on my Rome V3 there at the front whether any cars behind me and therefore whether I can take the racing line whilst obviously still sticking to my side of the road. Now you will also notice there is a little black box there on the base bar at the front. That’s me very generously giving up a watt or two so that I can film the effort from a rider’s eye point of view. Don’t say I never do anything for you. [Music] So, that’s the bike. But, as I’m sure you all know, clothing is just as important. And this is where I have to say thank you to Rule 28. They’ve sent me their latest Neo Time Trail suit and a pair of their Neo Aero over shoes, which aren’t UCI legal, but are legal in CTT events. This clothing is so much more advanced than what I would have worn back in the day. I’ve also got this Met Time Trail helmet, which I’ll be doing my very best to keep as low as possible throughout. And I’ve also shaved my legs, although I’ve done so with a Retro Gillette Mac 3 Razor, which I understand has a higher sliding resistance than the latest models. Okay, I’m pretty much ready. Uh, I’m going to go and warm up on the course. And whilst I do that, I’ll describe the course to you. It is the world famous P311 from Ringwood to Sopian back. Tonight’s event is being organized by the Bournemouth Jubilee Wheelers who celebrate their 90th anniversary this year. But there are other events on the same course through Bournemouth Arrow and Pool Wheelers. Now, the course has changed very slightly from 2010. At some point since then, the general public decided that they wanted to be able to buy a cheap broccoli and a hedge trimmer from the same store. purchase of said items are now helping to fund one of the biggest pro teams in the world. Anyway, it meant the installation of a new little roundabout over there, which means the start point has moved. After about 30 m though, I’ll be back on the old course, after which it’s just over 5 mi or 8 km down to the turn in SPY. That’s on a one-way system, which makes it quite fast. Then it’s straight back the opposite way to the finish just next to Morttown Green. 10 mi, 16.1 km, and only 22 m of climbing, which you’d think would make this course very fast. Historically, though, it’s been notoriously slow. Uh, most put this down to the road surface. It’s nicknamed the rumble strip, which kind of tells you all you need to know. Not silky smooth tarmac, let’s put it that way. But that’s where I reckon my Pirelli tires and tubes are going to make a massive difference. So, I’m warmed up. did the whole course. I averaged 222 watts and I did exactly 25 minutes on the dot. 20. Well, no, 25 minutes in a second. Um, so I think I’m ready. I didn’t stay in the arrow position the whole time because I didn’t want my neck, triceps, and balls to hurt already before the start. Unfortunately, my neck, triceps, and balls already hurt just from being in position for about 10 minutes. So, I’m just going to make a couple of minor adjustments for comfort and then I’ll be good to go. [Music] Right, here’s my strategy for the race. Won’t take too long to explain. Uh, being a flat tire trail and without much wind this evening, I don’t need to think too much about changes in power for optimal pacing. So, I’m going to set out at what I think I can sustain for around 22 minutes. Now, my last test on Zift, I did 329 watts for just over 13 minutes, giving me an FTP estimate of 291 W. So, in theory, I should be able to do about 310 W for 22 minutes. However, I did a little test last week on this course and although I named my Straver upload tempo time travel test, I actually couldn’t have gone much harder in that time travel position. I averaged a poultry 271 watt, but everything was hurting by the finish. So, I’m going to shoot for 290 and then see what happens. If I feel capable of raising it, I will. If not, I’ll do my very best to maintain that to the finish. [Music] Three, two, one, go. Heat. Heat. [Music] So that was horrible. I always go off too hard. It’s mental. You know my plan I told you all earlier. Don’t think I’ll be able to do more than 290 watts. Jeez. This guy beat me by the way. More on that in a second. First 3 4 minutes I’m doing 320. Well, I’m flying today. It feels so easy. And then as ever, it bites and then my power pretty much just faded all the way to the line. I’m really pleased with my time. Uh, so I got held up a couple of times. First by a sort of horse and cart thing, miniature horses. Problem with living in a new forest. And then secondly, out the right out the turn on the oneway system. There’s a bit of traffic with motorbikes and stuff. Um, but I did 22 minutes 15, I think. I haven’t got the official results yet, but that’s what I’ve got on my lap timer. So, considering I did 100 watts less, almost exactly 282 watts and I was only just over a minute slower. That’s pretty good, isn’t it? Other things of note, I could not wait to get out of this position in the last like 3 or 4 minutes. The amount of times I was tempted to say stuff it and go on to the bottom parts here cuz it’s so uncomfortable when you’re not used to it. Yeah, I caught my minute man. I caught my two-minute man. So, I was feeling good and then I was overtaken by this guy on a road bike. So, the proofs in the pudding. You can have the best equipment in the world, but if you don’t have the legs, you’re not going to go as fast. We’ll hopefully catch over in a minute and find out what bike he’s using, what power he did, and how he cheated. So, this is Brett, who I was telling you about earlier, who passed me on this road bike. Uh, and he was the winner tonight. Did 2055 is it? Yeah, it was a good night. But seeing you in front in his white shirt, I was like, let’s go for Dan. I like doing on the road bike just because I can’t afford two bikes. So, the road bikes these days are so good and it’s just fun and it’s great that you’re here and it helps the scene. And I say that usually they have seven people on these weekday ones and I think tonight there’s 25 which is amazing and anyone can turn up by the way. Five quid on the line if you’re not a member of the club. Three quid if you are. So cheap as well. Uh what was your power to do? Cuz 20 55 is 4 seconds faster than I’ve ever been on this course. Well, I can look on my trainer peep twilly and normalize 365 average 354, but I sort of freewhely bit. So, yeah, it’s about 360 is what I was trying to average like there and back. Well, it was a great time in this. You got your own you got your own YouTube channel because you’re diabetic. Yeah, I’m type 1 diabetic and I’ve got a diabetic channel, the diabetic cyclist and I just try to promote diabetes in the best way it can be. type 1 diabetes. A lot of people have it and are quite upset by it and it can be bad. I don’t know if you know anyone with it and sort of people hide it, but I don’t. I I promote it. It’s, you know, I’m a healthy lad. I go out racing. I’ve always done motocross from a young age. I’m 38 now, although mentally I’m quite younger than that. My wife would tell me and you’re probably the same. But yeah, diabetes, I tried to promote it in such a positive way. There isn’t got to be an end for anyone. And you know, you can still be health healthy and battle through it. It’s just you’ve got to be control of it. Don’t let it control you. So that’s the way I try to promote it. Well, well done for the win tonight. My official time, by the way, was 2 seconds slower than I told you ear. So 2217, but we’re going to finish this video back in the sec. So I’m going to do some calculations on a site called mywinsock.com. Okay, time to crunch some numbers. So for the 22 minutes and 17 seconds it took me, I averaged 283 watt. However, I probably could have paced it a bit better. So, I did 326 for the first 2 minutes, 310 for the first 5 minutes, 296 watts for the first 10 minutes, but then for the last 5 minutes of the race, I only did 268 watt. Average heart rate was 161, getting up to 169 by the end. Now, I’ve been crunching some numbers on a website called mywwindsock.com. allows you to plug in all sorts of variables, CDA, rolling resistance, estimated power, and pretty much anything else that you can think of. Using it after the race with all the data to hand, I could work out pretty accurately what my rolling resistance and CDA was. And so, I then changed my power from the 283 watts I averaged in the race to the 386 watts I averaged for my PB. Had I done that power this time, I would have had a time of 19 minutes and 47 seconds. a minute and 12 quicker than my personal best. Now, it might be that conditions were better this time around, but at the same time, I didn’t get caught behind a horse and cart last time. Either way, I think I can conclude with some certainty that the setup I use this time would have made me over a minute quicker. Over a race of around 20 minutes, that’s a lot of time. Now, that setup obviously includes my position on the bike, which may also have been faster than I had before. So, a number of variables to consider, but I think it’s been quite interesting. Would I do another time trial? Not in a hurry. No. It was very painful everywhere. Never say never, though, because if you’d asked me this time last year if I do a time trial this year, it would have been a definitive no. Anyway, thanks again to the Bournemouth Jubilee Wheelers for putting on the event and allowing us to film. also to Canyon Vision Met Pirelli Wahoo and Rule 28 for enabling to go still pretty fast despite producing 27% less power. Cheers for watching. Let me know your thoughts in the comments section below.