What kind of bike would you ride on a course like this? I’m seriously thinking of riding my road bike (Colnago Titanium). I climb better with it (its somewhat lighter for one thing), and I certainly go down steep hills with more confidence on it. But it means I’ll be riding Dura-Ace wheels rather than the disc + Hed3 on my tri bike.
Not sure about the tradeoff. Any thoughts?
Thanks!
–TF
I would say with all else being equal (fit primarily), ride the road bike with shortly aerobars. Having been to the world cup the last two years I’ve seen the course (though I haven’t riden it) and the climbs and descents are the key parts of the course, so if you are more comfortable on the road bike on those sections, then go with it. The climbs are quite steep (prob 25 rear cog).
Good luck,
Joel
I’m riding my Griffen Triton Alps front Blackwell disc. I have 12-23 do I need to get 12-25
no reason you can’t run your disc and tri spoke on the road bike.
Cantri I just got an e-mail from the Madeira race site
"The age group, junior and AWAD bike course is tough path are with a 4.8% hill(during 2.76km), a 10% hill (during 1km) and a 19% hill(during 0.39km)
I don’t know what this means mentioning 3 climbs and there are four on the course.
A Line down they say"For the masters age groupers we recommend the use of a crank set 39T and cassette of 23 or 25T.
Good Luck Mike
I’m definitely going w/ a 25t cog.
Tri bike is 650. Road is 700. So wheels aren’t interchangeable, unfortunately.
Interesting info. If you don’t count that little roller in the middle around km 12, you could say there are 3 climbs. The first one starts immediately and looks to be about 150m up over 2.75km = about 5%, so that makes sense. The second climb starts almost immediately after the first and goes up fast to about the 5km mark (that’s probably the 10%) and the last one is that THING at about km 15: that, one would guess, is the 19%er. Ouch!
Don’t know about you, but where I live there ain’t any 19% climbs. OK, there aren’t any 10%ers either. Those are going to hurt!
At least Madeira looks like a v. nice place to spend a week (sans kids) 
–TF
There is a 3mi climb I have to travel 11/2 hr which ranges 7-11% and I’ve done it 3 times on one trip. That dip in the middle is the turnaround so you will have to climb ess. from a standstill and do everything in reverse. Someone told me something about the decent into the finish is technical but they didn’t say in what way but he said he would try to find out more and get back with me(he is in portugal).
Whether you need a 29-25 (700c) - I guess it depends on how strong (fast) you are… but given the grades of the climbs it would be good to have a bail out gear or to spin more so a 25 would probably be worthwhile. You could always bring one and then put it on when you are there after test riding the course.
Also - if you have a computrainer check out the free course download from there site - it’s a PC1 course (old - not 3d).
Joel
I thought I read in the rules that a disc was not allowed, but wheel covers were?
Are there any other rules about bike setup, like aero bar length, bar end shifters, etc?
Cantri I just got an e-mail from the Madeira race site
"The age group, junior and AWAD bike course is tough path are with a 4.8% hill(during 2.76km), a 10% hill (during 1km) and a 19% hill(during 0.39km)
I don’t know what this means mentioning 3 climbs and there are four on the course.
A Line down they say"For the masters age groupers we recommend the use of a crank set 39T and cassette of 23 or 25T.
Good Luck Mike
Cantri,
With grades this steep, you will be faster on your road bike than on your tri/TT bike.
Unless your a great climber already (you wouldn’t be asking this question) go with the 12-25. Maybe even 12-27?
Good luck.
OK, with the bike profile in hand and having ridden these roads in Funchal, I definitly would advise for a road bike with aerobars to race this one. You’ll be climbing a lot, first straight out transition and then out of the turnaround. The time you would gain on the fast parts with a tri-bike is not worth it. Also the descent coming back to T2 is a bit technical, which is to say that for you guys in Flatland, USA, is VERY tricky. So all these favor a road bike.
Paulo
PS - The AG bike course is not the same as the Elite one, next to the AG course the Elite one is actually easy
Looks like there are two flat 7km sections. I would via for the road bike and just hammer in the drops for those two sections. Otherwise it looks like you will be on the tops or hoods for the climbs. The drops for the decents should give you good control and keep you aero enough.
Good Luck!
Yeah, I think its a shame that the elite course is much less challenging than the age group course. Once again its probably going to be the case that the “triathlon” winner = 10K run winner (as long as you get out of the water in time to make the lead pack). Oh well, that’s been true for a while now.
–TF
PS Thanks for the first hand info on the roads/hills in Funchal. I’m going to mount my shorty Cinelli clip ons onto my trusty Colnago and go with that.
Don’t get me wrong, the Elite course is plenty hard. It’s 8 laps of a 5k circuit with a short steep climb in each lap, which makes it one of the hardest bike courses in the WC circuit.