What cranks and chainrings are you currently using?

A bunch of ppl asked me similar questions as I raced mid pack in Nice so this is my view, I'm 50yra old and my bike split was 6.09 which was about 600th/2000 so maybe u have some idea of my intermediate type level. Ftp 280 rode z2 almost all day as I saved it more for the run, I rode the ascents around 220w avg and tried to push power on the descents even though I don't have great bike handling, made up a lot of places descending though as I rode a 55/42 11-34 which was fine in almost every up section other than km 11 for 2km and a couple of 500m long spots later on, the ascending isn't steep just long and I normally don't ride super high cadence. I did however put time into guys riding 50 34 type smaller compact rings and the road bike ppl from km 65-110 and most of the descents as they topped out spinning. I ran a hed alloy rim front 55mm jet5 and a roval 321 disk at the back since I came straight from Lahti, if I did it again I'd probably go marginally smaller to run a 39 small ring and probably go for a lighter wheel at the back. I run tririg brakes they are pretty good and I don't sit on the brakes too much just flow through the course more

Depending on your power going up I'd go with a bigger outer ring that u can handle so u can power on the descending and rolling, and plenty of range on the cassette to change down to hold your preferred cadence in km 35-60 then 110-125.

These are quite long sustained climbs so u can't be grinding too much if u aren't a grinder, u can't rest as its constantly up. U so need the ability to ride decently fast in the rolling and descending parts as you will be pedalling most of the time to get back to speed not freewheeling it.

For wheel your main question it isn't super technical sitting on brakes non stop but u do need stopping power I'd really consider a set of Hed or older giant slr 1 with the alloy rims they are light aero and brake super well, I wouldn't run a disk probably. Jet 5 jet 6 both quite OK, try to keep the bike light. I run latex tubes, u want lower tire pressures and 28mm tires probably better than 25s.

Bottle cages need to be decent also and preride the course especially km 11-62 km 110-165 which is most of the climb and steeper descent, u can cut across to do this or better still ride the entire course 170km skipping the out and back as it is a lot more up and down than I expected, the best descent is km100-110 then there is a fairly decent climb before the main descent into nice where there are lots of judder bars, bends, shade and little towns. Knowledge helps.

My wife and I had a very bad experience riding carbon clinchers in a theunderstorm at a French 70.3 in 2018. So, when she qualified for 2019 70.3 Nice Worlds we switched her wheels for HED Jet Blacks. The Jets have aluminum braking surfaces. The Jet Blacks add an anodized finish the provides even more bite for pads. Highly recommended for improved braking on steep courses. We were reconning the course in summer 2019 when a thunderstorm rolled thru and it pretty much rendered riding impossible. We had to wait out the worst of it before continuing. That roads end up terribly slippery after rains in that area so braking would only be one factor if you had to race in the rain there!

You would typically have a 52/36 or 50/34 chainring combo. For the Nice full IM course you’ll want as much gear as your bike components will allow. 50/34 and 11-32 wouldn’t be unreasonable. There are some very long sustained climbs in the full course.

I have heard a few 'stories' of the superteam braking surface delaminating under high pressure/heat. One of them was two years ago at Six Gap century ride in Georgia. Never have seen it first hand, but thought it was worth sharing.

For gearing, I have raced at 2019 70.3 WC on a 53/39 and 11/28 cassette, and just raced a few weeks ago on a 54/39 (swapped the 42 chainring out for a 39) with an 11/32 cassette. The gearing for me was good in my mind, it was one of the few things that didn't go off the rails that day. It was nice to have an extra gear to climb, but also have the big chain ring/ratio for when you had some decent speed/momentum at the top of the course after the first 20k climb.

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IG: NCGregory8778

The Jet Black wheels have a "turbine" machined braking surface on the aluminum rims which greatly improves braking. The anodizing is cosmetic.

In terms or braking, there's a lot of secondhand Zipp and Enve wheels out there which brake really well, especially with nice pads (like the ENve brake pads or the Reynolds cryo blue).

On my road bike, I have 404 firecrests with Chris King hubs, DA calipers, and Enve pads- even without the newer "showstopper" brake track, those wheels break and handle like a dream, and spin forever with the CK hubs. Not the absolute lightest (Enves are a bit lighter, you could also make lighter swapping out hubs and spokes) but handle really well in the wind. I have outbraked riders on disc brake bikes with that setup, and never run into serious brake fade even with some technicality.

For Nice, I'd go either 808s or Enve 7.8s with a wheel cover on the rear wheel (the gen 3 braking surfaces are the best, but both gen 2 textured brake tracks are solid as well). Most discs that are Carbon brake and handle like shit- I love my Roval 321 but the braking is non-existent once the brake track starts to get hot. I was descending Lookout mountain in Chattanooga the day before IM Chatt last year, and going into the hairpin near the bottom i had NOTHING out of the rear wheel. Made for a fun little hair raiser the day before the race. Also, if you can, use trig capilers on your TT bike, they're super strong and miles better than any integrated TT brake I've tried (on par with shimano caliper strength, which is a big complement).

So - it sounds like the general consensus is absolutely yes - ditch the Superteam wheelset and upgrade to a better, higher end wheelset?

My concern is precisely the descending - I did Ironman Wisconsin 2022 and had a hell of a time trying to brake with rim brakes and a cheap wheelset due to the rain. I have concerns about breaking during the descents, especially if it is raining.

50/34 11-speed with a 155mm Rotor crankset

The anodizing is a type 3. It is deeper than cosmetic anodizing and resists wear better a cosmetic type 2 ano. We spend the money for type 3 to make the machined feature longer lasting.

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Andy Tetmeyer (I work at HED)

I used Hunt rim brake wheels at Nice a few weeks ago and had no issues. I actually locked up both wheels on one of the hair pin turns that i got into too hot during the descent (frightening...). I had no idea that I could lock my wheels... I also did IMWI last year in the rain and had no issues braking. I've done IMLP and Chatty as well with these wheels. I don't know if Hunt would be considered an upgrade over Superteam but they fit my budget better than some of the expensive ones I looked at.

As Jim said, go look at the HED jet black anodized wheel sets. Unless you are looking for an excuse to upgrade your bike for the race...

Dont over think it. Problem solved with this link.

Hed Jet 6/9 Rim Brake Wheels | eBay