As an extension to this does anyone know what effect your equipment can have on performance?? I understand that the higher the numbers the better your equipment but what tangible effect does this have.
From the Career Guide:
I don't know how much difference it makes; I've read that it's only a few percentage points. But it's nice to have. In any case my first puchase is the Campagnolo wheel series (but not the TT wheel) -- the Hyperon and Bora Ultra are two of the most complete wheels in the game and can be used consistently at the highest levels. For helmets, the Catlike Kompact is the best free helmet, and the Kompact 2 is the best mountain helmet. The K2 is my second purchase (obviously buying the so-so TT helmet on the way).
Third purchase: The first series of frames. I use the next-to-last as my mountain frame and the last (the Orca) as my flat frame until I can afford the best mountain frame, which is in the second series, last frame.
Fourth purchase: TT gear. The Catlike Lobster is fine (the last TT helmets are all roughly equal). The Mavic IO Batons is the wheel I use, and along the way I purchase the other Mavic wheels just to get to it. If you can't afford that, second-best TT gear can include the 2nd Catlike helmet, the Mavic back wheel and a regular front wheel and frame. The TT frames are all roughly equal so I usually purchase the one from the first series.
Fifth purchase: The Limar series of helmets to get to the 950, which is the flat helmet I use.
If you will not have money for a long time, the Shimano wheels are decent second-best wheels that will work in quite a few situations and are relatively cheap.
-- For mountain stages, you want 4.40 in mountains; for flats you want 4.40 in flats, for time trials 4.40 in time-trial. For hills you can get 3.40 in both mountain and flat using the second series, last frame, bora ultra wheels, and the k2 helmet. I have seen suggestions that it is better to have a higher mtn than flat for hills, so give that a try if you feel like it.
the best wheels in game are shimano and hed. hed for mountain (also mountain TT) and time trials, shimano for flat and hilly stages.
best helmets in game are giro atmos for mountain and hilly stages. for TT and flat stages all brands are the same.
frames i use are orbea for flat, TT and even hill stages. for mountain stages i bought the time frame vxr who also has some TT stars.
my set up:
flat: orbea orca(frame), shimano 7801 (front wheel), shimano 7801 (rear wheel), limar pro 104 (helmet). this leads to 52 on flat, 30 on mountain, 21 in TT.
hilly: orbea onix (frame), shimano 7801 (front wheel), shimano 7801 (rear wheel), giro atmos (helmet). this leads to 40 on flat, 41 on mountain, 24 in TT.
mountain and mountian TT: time vxr ulteam (frame), hed stinger 60 (front wheel), hed stinger 60 (rear wheel), giro atmos(helmet). this leads to 30 on flat, 50 on mountain, 29 in TT.
