I did Escape 2 years ago and used a Colnago Dream with Profile Jammer GTs and a thomson center mount seatpost with my saddle 1cm. farther forward than my traditional road position. I had STI shifters. It was perfect. The bike course at Alcatraz requires a little different breed of bike. The course is very crowded, there is a lot of high speed cornering and some ass-knockin' short, steep climbs. A 78 degree seat tube angle bike might not be the best choice on that course. My Colnago worked pretty darn good on that course. In general: Flat and fast= tri bike. Hilly, technical and crowded with lots of weird pavement changes and bizarre turns= some version of road style geometry modified for the course. That's my take. The ultimate bike for that course? The Yaqui Mariola DL.

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Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com

I think a DL is what Simon Lessing rode to victory this year.

I have no idea if Simon Lessing's bike had DL geometry or not, but I think he was riding an Ocotillo with a carbon seat stay. At least that's what I remember Ves telling me when I picked up my Ocotillo. Simon's bike definitely didn't have an aero down tube.

Rusty

I think alcatraz is too technical and hilly for a steep bike. I was a first timer this year at alcatraz and took my road bike. Trek 5200 with size med syntace bars. Steep decents with 90 degree turns at the bottom.

BTW, alcatraz ranks a tie for #1 as most memorable race for me along with Kona IM.

Yeah, that was his Ocotillo Carbo DL. Same bike he used at Baker's.

I've done Esacpe about a half dozen times since the mid-80's (although back then, course was different) on everything from a steel Pinarello to a carbon Kestrel KM40. On the modern course, my best times by far have been on a Kestrel. The ride does have hills, no doubt. But there are also plenty of long stretches of flat or slight incline/decline where the aero poistion can be utilized very effectively.

Overall, the course is flat from T1 to the base of the Golden Gate Bridge. Then its a short climb up one road. The next road is steep incline/shallow climb (depending how tired you are). Then nice long-ish down hill (gradual curves). Then some flattish/rollers to another hill (straight road up to the Legion of Honor) then a short downhill, right turn on another incline/shallow climb (depending how tired you are). Then its a short, steep downhill into a sharp left/ a sharp right and another downhill (some turns). Then you get your longer flat periods again - Flat along the Great Highway (Pac Ocean on your right), left turn into Golden Gate Park and overall flattish with an incline. Turn left on flat road, turn left again for more flattish (with decline) back to Great Highway. Then back over same roads to the finish.

So as you can see - there are climbs and turns, but its not super technical IMHO and a true "tri geometry" bike will do great. I did try my Colnago Ti Ovalmaster this year for a change, but had a disappointing ride (hell - my whole race was disappointing...but hey - still better than a day behind the desk). So, based purely off of my personal experiences, I'd go with a tri geometery (but that doesn't mean many people can't beat me easily on a road geometry bike....and many do).

Have fun - its a great race!

Alan