Well, I have done the race twice, however, I live close, so, I have ridden the course a number of times. I have ridden sections of it on my road bike while training for the Horribly Hilly Hundreds. I understand her comments regarding the rolling hills, sharp turns, and technical nature of the course. That being said, I road my Guru Crono with a disc for IMMoo this year. Despite the technicality of the course, IMO, this is the way to go. There are far too many sections where aero trumps road set up. The one thing I do recommend is a compact crank. That makes the hills much more manageable.

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If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went. - Will Rogers

Emery's Third Coast Triathlon | Tri Wisconsin Triathlon Team | Push Endurance | GLWR

I second that. I'm not the most experienced person to be commenting on this, but I did race (and finish) IM WI three times with a Trek 1200 with clip-on aerobars. I passed people left and right climbing the hills, but lost out more because my road bike couldn't keep up with the tri bikes on the decents and flat stretches. Go tri bike if you can, unless you're more hardcore (or head-strong and financially constrained like I was).

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Peter
http://www.trirochester.com

"The hills will find you out." -Bill Bowerman

good advice . . . but Joe B does not use compact cranks : )

Heather Fuhr is a great IM athlete but not really known as a great cyclist. If guys like David Thompson, Jordan Rapp or Chris Lieto said that, I would most likely lend them an attentive ear.

Herbert

If I had a quarter of the talent in that man's body, I wouldn't use them either ... ;-)

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If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went. - Will Rogers

Emery's Third Coast Triathlon | Tri Wisconsin Triathlon Team | Push Endurance | GLWR

What do you make of Hillary Biscay's bike setup? She rode a P3C with STI and clip-ons. I think that she did the same thing last year too on a Kestrel Talon? I thought that I saw another female pro with STI this year too. Why do they do this with so much talent, experience and, presumably, advice from coaches/teammates? I ask because I am giving thought to dumping the tri bike for longer/hillier courses where comfort and shifting ease play larger roles. If these pros do it without sacrificing much, an MOP like me surely wouldn't loose anything...


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Dog is God spelled backwards. That means something. I'm just not sure what exactly. But human is namuh spelled backwards.- Marc-Christophe

Hillary Biscay is also an awesome athlete, but I still would not copy her just because she raced her bike like that. Clearly never having raced there I can't really judge the course so I might not the best advice giver here either. But personally I would look at the top 30 bike splits and look at their setups. You can later look online when all the athlete pics are up. That should tell you something.

Herbert

If you're riding a road bike and are losing time to people on tri bikes while descending, it ain't the bike. It's most definitely you.

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Just did the race (5:24) and would say stick with the TT bike and aerobars. Rode in them 85-90% of the time. If you pre-rode the course, the gear changes are well anticipated and not a big deal. I ran a Corima disc, which still had me moving uphill very well, but I'm not convinced a disc is a great advantage over a 404 or 808 wheel, and it may be more beneficial to save 400-500 grams in wheel weight and sacrifice any aero/stiffness benefits the disc offers. This is because 70-80% of the course is up or downhill and I'm not sure you can get the disc going downhill any faster than the 404 or 808. Someone with much more tech knowledge how may be able to better explain, just my opinion. My short take, if the disc does not benefit you on the 35-40% downhill portion, maybe helps you by 1-2 mph on the flats that make up 20-30%, but certainly hurt you for the 35-40% uphill portion, then maybe a light aero rear wheel is a better choice over a disc.

I saw a guy from Colorado on an R3 while going up one of the hills between Cross Plains and Verona. For one stretch he was able to accelerate and get 50 yards on me. I rode up to hill when it flattened out a little and told him there were definitely times in the ride I'd like to have my R3 over my P3. He said, tough call, as it's not so good for him on the flats, as I laid back down on the bars and motored away.

Joe B. rode his TT bike without a disc, as did over half of the pros. I saw him in a road race in San Antonio last spring, so I know he has a road bike as well and could have used it if he thought it were the right bike.

If the bike is geared properly you don't have to stand up to get over the hills...so your hands are close to the shifters almost all of the time.

If you're using gearing that's too agressive and you have to stand to get over the hills, then yes, you're going to wish you had your road bike.

Thanks Khai. Yeah, a lot of it was me. Of the three, I got into cycling last...but then I was in college at the time, so time for training and money for a new bike were both problems. My reference to losing ground on the decents comes from my personal experience. I have not done IM WI on my new bike yet, but in general I notice a difference between the two bikes if I decend the same hill. A Trek 1200 vs a Trek Equinox TTX....time after time doing no work but just sitting aero I'll gain more ground with the TTX. So despite what my legs can or can't do, this is just one of those aerodynamic things that I noticed. Maybe this seems pretty obvious if you compare the two, but I had to state the obvious.

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Peter
http://www.trirochester.com

"The hills will find you out." -Bill Bowerman

If you are looking for a good example, I'd use this:



Joe is 51 and broke his age group course record by over an hour.

what's he got going on with the upside down gatorade bottle? filling up an aero bottle? just doesn't seem like it would stay in like that in a profile or other aero bottles I've seen.

Good. That's me to a "T," 'cept slower.

Joe Bonness is not only an amazing racer and super nice person, he also is a bit of a wiz. He came up with this contraption that BigZach said looked very good, and according to SupportCrew (Joe's wife) might be something he is looking to bring to the market.

Herbert

yeah, Heather's top cycling days seem to be past. I haven't looked, but I seem to remember that she's never been the same since moving off her old Kestrel?

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It was a very cool, homemade looking device - appeared as though it was made to receive a standard bike bottle rather than a Gatorade bottle.

Oh, and Joe was on Tufo's.

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Coach at KonaCoach Multisport

I don't care what the f(*k you ride, it just better be fast- cause the taint burns strong in the Deeg- you are gonna suffer massively

You have to adjust for age, ability and size.

I'm over 50 and a clyde and after riding the loop saturday before signing up on monday, came to the same conclusion she did. Stay with the tri bike but I will make 2 changes, compact crank and put clip-ons on roadbars. I will lose very little in aero (slightly larger cross section) but will able to shift better on the hills.

but she might know a thing or two about riding efficiently during an IM bike leg so you can save your legs for a blistering marathon ;).

I rode a 404 front and disc and perhaps wouldn't again, do 404 rear. Time was OK (5:27) but lost every single bottle I put in the rear bottle cages within minutes of the bottle handoffs. The roads have quite a few bumps and maybe the disc makes that worse.

That's not a flask under his saddle, is it?

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The Ride of Truth - OWN your ride.

You are very wise my friend. :-)

Flask: not under his saddle, it's in a race belt around his waist.




The contraption with the gatorade bottle is not a hydration system at all. Quite the contrary. It is a port-a-potty!
(JOKE)