I've ridden the course...once, for one lap. Into a howling souwester I was turning over my 42/21...not easily, but it was going around. I'm no Bjorn, so I imagine that will be fine. I'm sure others will chip in though with their .02c.

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kiwipat

per ardua ad astra

The "hill" (you do do it twice) at NZ would be tough in a 21. I'd rather have a 23. Depends on your wheel size and small chain ring. I'm assuming 700c-39.

The bike is deceivingly tough. You feel great til you hit the turnaround, then it's all uphill til you reach the edge of town... but a very mild uphill.. and usually into a stiff headwind (worse as the day goes on).

The run... while it has hills... is easy in my opinion. As soon as you hit 32km.. it's almost all downhill to the finish... let er rip!

Dont' worry about the short steep hill. It ain't nuthin' (and I'm 87kg so I know all about hills)

I rode a 53/42 front and 12/21 rear with 650C and I had no problems at all. I'ts predominantly flat. It's just the traditionally building headwind on the 4th leg of the bike, up a gentle incline for about 30 miles that is the real problem. Nothing serious however.

The run is undulating which is good so you can share the pain around all muscle groups :-) THe run is actually pretty good unless it is hot. Virtually no shade anywhere so you can get pretty cooked in the afternoon. Don't forget your sunscreen in T2. Remember the damned ozone hole and beware!

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TriDork

"Happiness is a myth. All you can hope for is to get laid once in a while, drunk once in a while and to eat chocolate every day"

Depends on how strong you are on the bike. I rode 700c wheels 52/39 - 12-25, but I strictly MOP, on a good day. The hill is no problem, its the wind and the long gentle climb back into town, sort of creeps up on you. Also the weather can change a fair bit as the day wears on. Loved the run, gentle rollers all the way. Its a great race and Taupo is such a lovely place for a race. Almost wish I was going back again. Good luck and have fun.

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Simple Simon
Where's the Fried Chicken??

I'd say your better off with a 39/23 low gear combo. I had that on 650 and it was about right, but even then I was at a lower cadence to keep in my wattage range. I'm sure you'd have no trouble getting up the hills in a 21, but you'd probably either peak your wattage or need to go pretty low cadence.

Most important thing I can say is bring a decent set of wrenches and tighten everything good. The roads look pretty good around town but there are rougher patches further out. The inspection guys tightened the crap out of my pedals so my Alien wasn't able to remove them for the trip home.

It is a great race and a great trip, your going to love every minute. Try to visit Rotorua if you can.

These are based on my experience at the event last year:

• The worst restaurant there is still very, very good. Great place to stay. Everybody is nice too.
• The swim was as cold as the water in Antarctica. No kidding. It was glacial. I remember thinking in the closing minutes of the swim, "I need to get on the beach in five minutes or there is going to be a problem..." I am particularly susceptible to cold water. It was freezing to me. Others said it was cold, but not that cold. I thought it was colder than Alcatraz by far.
• I wouldn't hesitate in characterizing the bike course as flat and fast.
• The primary obstacles on the bike to me were (in '04) the rough pavement, the damp, cold morning conditions and that is it. That bike course is quite a dream. I did use 22mm wide tires and Zipp 404's I should have used a disk, I may have been quite a number of minutes faster with the disk. any cogset ending in a 23 is absolutely fine. You may use the 23 going up a big roller on the last lap headed into town. By then you're tired and the hills kind of get bigger, or at least your perception of them does...
• Be ready for the trip back into town as you go toward T2: The entire town, heck, it seems like half the island, is waiting there for you. It is awesome. Thousands of people cheering for you. Enjoy that.
• In '04 there was concern on the part of the race organizers that people were "drinking too much". Hmmm. So they pulled one aid station off the run course as they felt it was redundant. Probelm is, on an out and back two loop course pulling one aid station is really pulling four aid stations- since you pass it four times. I could have used that aid station. I lost 11 pounds during the race and spent a few hours in the medical tent. Ouch. I felt very bad the next day. I was supposed to go skydiving and I had a lot of difficulty just getting around. I didn't pee for a day. Not good. No IV's there unless you are on death's door. So, you may want to carry a fuel belt with some extra fluids. I had a Red Bull in my special needs bag on the run. If it hadn't been for that I would have been in bigger trouble.

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Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com

i live where it's held and bike the course about once every 2-3 weeks. bike is a piece of piss unless you get a strong headwind. going out is a bit deceiving tho as it is a slight uphill the entire way back. once u come out of the forest it can be particularly sluggish.

swim aint that cold. i guess ive gotten used to surfing in middle of winter with a shaved head though.

run is alright. wish it was hillier though.