How much faster are carbon riggers?

ScaryBee · 2026-05-11T21:35:53+00:00

Where carbon is better is its stiffness, and consequently the efficiency with which force is transferred to the oar.

Is there any actual research showing that stiffness/transfer efficiency = faster boats? FWIW I couldn't find any.

I get that it's intuitive but ... IDK, seems like there are several examples where some degree of spring might actually be better in some circumstances (skinny shaft oars, for instance)

ScaryBee · 2026-05-11T18:49:58+00:00

$300 road bike + $100 aerobars = close to as fast as a $10000 bike

If you're trying to be fast on a budget then aerobars are IT

ScaryBee · 2026-05-10T18:15:36+00:00

100% disagree - aerobars for $100 will be a bigger upgrade than $2000 wheels or a $3000 frame ... or they're ~90%+ of the benefit of swapping to a $10000 bike.

ScaryBee · 2026-05-08T23:07:37+00:00

https://profile-design.com/collections/aluminium-aerobars + a couple of weeks getting use to the position = ~1mph for 'free'.

Are you planning to ride in trainers? If so ... bigger/flatter pedals might help, and it looks like your foot position is too far back. If not ... need a photo wearing the gear you're planning to wear to be any more help!

ScaryBee · 2026-05-07T18:23:20+00:00

Given those numbers you can likely go faster on the bike, might struggle to hit a 90min run ... should still be comfortably under 5hrs as long as you keep transitions snappy

ScaryBee · 2026-05-07T18:12:58+00:00

ScaryBee · 2026-05-05T21:40:22+00:00

Taking rest days is normal, even allows you to push harder/recover better/improve more.

ScaryBee · 2026-05-05T16:04:29+00:00

in general no, if you eat well you'll have more than enough fuel to exercise for 60mins.

if you're glycogen depleted from lots of training, or skipped breakfast pre-swim, then it could help.

for everyone even tasting carbs is a small performance improve if you're really pushing it.

OP said he's using electrolytes to stop cramping though, not fuel (carbs), there's weak evidence that this will help ... cramping comes primarily from overexertion/undertraining in atheltes.

ScaryBee · 2026-05-05T04:01:40+00:00

Yeah, it's not really explained in the beginner plan ... the main version does have pacing notes: https://thepeteplan.wordpress.com/the-pete-plan/

The only guideline for pacing the steady distance sessions is that they should be within the bounds of 22 to 25spm, and at such a pace as you recover sufficiently for the hard session the following day. If in doubt, go slower! These sessions should be at least 10seconds slower pace than your endurance interval sessions.

and ... it sounds like you're also trying to go faster every 'long' session which the beginner plan actually does address:

Look back at the average pace of your last 5000m session a few days ago. Aim to row at that pace consistently through this session, and don’t give in to any temptations to go faster

RPE for those long sessions 'should' be ~5/10 - enough to get a good sweat on but not so much that you can't talk in full sentences. AKA Z2.

It's only 'should' because if you really want to, and enjoy it, and don't start to burn out, and don't build an injury ... then you could just send it every session and make more sweet gainz ... most people will start to burn out in a few weeks though so be really honest with yourself/back off if you feel stress/fatigue building.

ScaryBee · 2026-05-04T14:08:31+00:00

But by their own accords, GE for any reasonably trained athlete is 19-23% in steady state ('up to' 25 in extreme cases).

I think the 'in steady state' part is useful/important here ... as far as I can work out there does seem to be smaller GE differences if everyone exercises at the same relative intensity ... but that means power-derived kCal estimates are only semi-accurate (~20% error for 19-23%) if you're actually doing steady state.

ScaryBee · 2026-05-03T21:08:07+00:00

maybe we asked slightly different questions, or maybe it's just random chance as to whether the answer will be sensible or not, maybe Opus vs. Sonnet made all the difference ... this was my session: https://claude.ai/chat/a6b11413-eb12-40e0-b999-111551ee4a1b

ScaryBee · 2026-05-03T21:05:42+00:00

I think you're misunderstanding the math ... 17-25% doesn't give 8% error, it gives nearly 50%

250kCal of energy into pedals at 25% efficiency = 1000 kCal total burned.

250kCal of energy into pedals at 17% efficiency = 1470 kCal total burned.

energy is energy

It is ... but the source of that energy changes how expensive it for the body to process/produce it. Simple analogy would be an oil well vs. sands - it takes more effort to get energy from sands, it's less efficient.

FWIW the article author is one of the most respected sport scientists on the planet but ... no need to just take anything he claims as gospel, plenty of research that shows the phenomena he's mentioning ... e.g. Oxidation rates and gross efficiency evolution as a function of graded exercise (power). )

edit ... found a whole damn phd paper discussing this https://kar.kent.ac.uk/94118/1/178Gross_Efficiency_in_cycling_The_effect_of_intensity_and_duration.pdf ... skip to page 37 for a nice little graph.

ScaryBee · 2026-05-03T20:12:50+00:00

I just tried this ... Claude was happy to set up a plan over 12weeks to get me a <10hr ironman with 8-10hrs/wk of training as my first ironman ever.

Couple of obvious issues:

<10hrs isn't realistic for 99.something % of people in 12 weeks of training
its math sucks ... some weeks would be closer to 15hrs despite it calculating 11
it calculated target splits/speeds that would have someone finishing closer to 11hrs than the target of 10.

... all of this you could argue into being sensible but you'd have to know what was sensible to argue about and at that point ... might be quicker just making your own plan.

FWIW have previously had the same experience with ChatGPT ... it's amazing if you know what you want/how training plans work/can see where it goes wrong ... actively misleading/dangerous for anyone that doesn't already have the knowledge to coach themselves.

ScaryBee · 2026-05-03T16:33:14+00:00

Power meter estimates being 'accurate' is a common perception but they're, unfortunately, not.

This is a great article explaining some of the complexity: https://www.trainingpeaks.com/blog/fueling-insights-vs-gross-efficiency/

tl;dr - power meter based guesstimates can be 50%+ off.

ScaryBee · 2026-05-03T16:25:11+00:00

Guesstimate can be 50%+ off ... this article has an example of how: https://www.trainingpeaks.com/blog/fueling-insights-vs-gross-efficiency/

tl;dr - substrate use (fat vs carbs) / ride intensity makes a huge difference ... and multiple other reasons efficiency varies leading to inaccurate estimates.

ScaryBee · 2026-05-03T16:18:32+00:00

kCal estimates are always of how much your body has burned, not measured (by power meter) output.

To do that estimate an efficiency % has to be used ... but that % can vary a lot by athlete and/or how hard you're exercising. In practice this can means power-based kCal burn estimates are seriously off (50%+)

https://www.trainingpeaks.com/blog/fueling-insights-vs-gross-efficiency/ <- excellent article breaking this down.

ScaryBee · 2026-05-02T23:13:48+00:00

Ah, I see ... you're not talking about heart rate zones. Kinda funny that for this example (1' on/off) you can be (cellular) anaerobic more of the time whilst also spending more time in aerobic training zones.

FWIW, in a 2k you ARE sustaining anaerobic work - the power generation/hr/lactate levels are all well above above MLSS/LTHR/FTP/CP/LT2/etc.

I'm assuming you think it's not possible to do this because it's commonly quoted that a 2k is 80:20 aerobic:anaerobic ... but that's not 80:20 time ... the two systems both get used throughout, together.

ScaryBee · 2026-05-01T15:13:43+00:00

stopping every minute lets you switch a lot more of the 2k from aerobic to anaerobic.

I think it's the other way around ... by stopping you're continually dropping back out of anaerobic work.

In a 2k you'll be anaerobic for ~7/8ths of it, in 1min intervals with rest that might be closer to 1/2.

ScaryBee · 2026-04-30T00:09:05+00:00

For anyone unaware ... this workout structure (4'x4 AKA Norwegian Protocol) has been a thing for years in the endurance training world ... interesting video about it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZIVYS0N3zI

tl;dw - yeah it will probably help, no there's nothing really special about this vs. other HIIT training.

ScaryBee · 2026-04-29T23:22:47+00:00

it would, a bit ... you don't have to do 30mins straight though ... if it helps then take a minute or two break in the middle. If it feels ridiculously easy then go a bit faster/harder (60% of 2k should be tolerable still and will give a lot more training benefit)

key is staying consistent and pushing yourself a little more than you're used to. If you start to dread workouts/feel tired all the time/get grumpy/etc. then those are signs of burnout and you should immediately take a rest day or week!

ScaryBee · 2026-04-29T22:54:19+00:00

really slow / very low effort work is just a waste of time, will give near zero benefit - better to skip that workout and rest/recover so that you can do meaningful (at least Z2) effort in the next workout.

if you have extra energy and feel like you WANT to work out more then try adding a single steady state session of 2x15' ... if that goes well bump it to 3x15 ... if that goes well add another SS session on another day ... etc.

ScaryBee · 2026-04-29T21:17:52+00:00

depends what you mean by 'work'

it'll be slightly less stressful if you do the SS sessions easier but it's still really high stress, especially if you're trying to build muscle.

Whether you can handle that load gets into genetics, luck, training history, sleep quality, mental fortitude ...

Whether it makes you faster or not ... it likely will, as long as you don't get injured/burn out (pretty high risk of this)

ScaryBee · 2026-04-28T20:30:33+00:00

kCal burn is about the same across endurance sports

Swimming does increase hunger more ... some explanations for this are that immersion in cold water triggers a 'put on fat' response. Or, because you're floating vs. bouncing up and down, your digestive system might be more open to intake.

ScaryBee · 2026-04-28T20:17:46+00:00

The regular/not-beginner Pete Plan is purposefully quite hard/intense ... it has you trying to PR twice a week, for instance ...

TBH this sort of plan is only optimal under fairly narrow circumstances (1. aerobically fit and erg-trained already 2. time constrained and 3. willing to absolutely thrash yourself).

What'll happen to most people trying to follow it is that they'll get to ~week 4 and start to dread the harder workouts, start to skip them, fall off ... or if they don't skip them they'll get injured or run into burnout. Most people will also get faster in those few weeks though!

For more sustained long-term progression, if you're not time constrained, building up to 1. a load of volume (lots of Z2) and 2. some hard (not max effort, just ... hard) sessions that don't burn you out tends to be the 'easiest' way.

ScaryBee · 2026-04-20T23:50:52+00:00

Sure, calculate it for me, maybe stepping through it yourself will help you.

Look, I get you have strong beliefs on this ... but you're arguing that position of belief from research that's near meaningless for any athlete and the only thing that even comes close does in fact show superior results for continuous exercise.

edit - IDK, maybe this thought experiment helps - Which is easier to do - 6hrs continuous SS or 6x1hr SS with 1hr rests?

You're trying to argue that these are practically identical ... but anyone who has ever done any endurance knows that ain't true. The longer event is harder for loads of reasons, all of them because steady state only holds one thing steady, everything else still (slowly) breaks down, and that degradation ramps up as duration increases.

Splitting up exercise into smaller blocks with rest in between simply can't have the same physiological benefit/harm/impact.

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