Planning on targeting Alpe d’Huez long course and the UK 1/2 IM at Wimbleball Lake this summer (very tough hilly bike leg), and looking to build a bike suitable for the job! Both non-drafting events.
Thinking standard road bike, not a TT bike, but would like a lightweight aero setup. Any thoughts?
My local specialised dealer as a lovely 2013 s-works venge in my size for £1,100 which I’m thinking will be a good starting point!?
Thanks
I’ve done the Alpe d’Huez long course a couple of times and had a much better race the 2nd time on compact cranks. I wouldn’t bother with any kind of aerobars for this bike course as you are either climbing on 6-9% or descending on a VERY technical course. The first 20km to Séchilienne is the only flat part of the course and it’s slightly downhill so you’ll knock it over in no time flat on the drops. This is the only part of the course where having aerobars would be nice but they will add weight to your bike and the vast majority of your time will be spent sitting up climbing.
If budget was no option, these are my dream wheels for the Alpe d’Huez - or any Alp cycling you might do as they have an outstanding braking surface:
http://www.mavic.com/wheels-road-triathlon-r-sys-slr
You don’t want carbon rims as this is one course where braking is crucial. Also, high chance of rain in the Alps, even in Summer and the final descent into Bourg d’Oisans has a doozie of drop, off the right side of the road. If money is tight, I believe a good set of reliable alloy rims would be fine.
I have no idea about the Wimble Lake half IM but putting on some clip-on bars and swapping in some deeper rimmed race wheels could be the go.
Thanks thats good advice.
Does anyone know if the UCI 6.8kg limit applies to either of these races???
Cheers
It won’t apply to Alpe d’Huez - this is just a small independently run race that has nothing to do with UCI.
I’ve never had my bike checked for UCI compliance at any Ironman branded race either or any triathlon for that matter as an age grouper.
Only time have had a bike checked by UCI officials was at National TT championships in both Masters and Pro cats.
Ok thanks, but technically does the UCI weight limit apply in Ironman run events? I know the frame tube shape limits don’t, but it’s unclear if the weight limit applies??
99.9% sure it doesn’t but you want to drop IM an email to be 100% sure. Never seen a set of bike scales at an IM check-in.
What about doing a light weight road build like suggested but with some aero drop bars that accept aerobars so you could run some shortly bars (ITU style aerobars) give you the option for aero when you can use them and the weight penalty is minimal.
I’m a fairly strong cyclist (and light). I plan to use my road bike for AdH tri. I have 53-39, 11-28.
I was pondering getting a semi-compact 52-36 crank to give me a little more granny gear.
39-28 at 60rpm is 10.5 kmh… I’m sure I can do closer to 12-13kmh up AdH. Should I bother with a new crankset? Shimano 105 is pretty cheap.
As the previous poster mentioned, compact cranks are a great idea for Alpe d’Huez. I made the switch at the last minute and was very glad I did. I rode a Madone with 404s and clip-on aerobars. You won’t need the aerobars much, but there are a few sections (mainly at the beginning) where they will definitely help.
First year I did the race I rode regular 53/39 cranks with 12/26 cassette and got through it ok in perfect conditions - however, I cramped like buggary on the run. That’s where I paid the price for my bike gearing.
Following year I rode compacts 50/34 with 12/26 in Arctic conditions where I expected the bike split to be slower due to torrential rain but bike split was a slightly better than year before - however, ran like a friggin’ gazelle! (probably due to fear of hypothermia).
Was running SRAM Red which had a 110BCD for both standard and compact chain rings so swapping to compacts was relatively cheap.
What about doing a light weight road build like suggested but with some aero drop bars that accept aerobars so you could run some shortly bars (ITU style aerobars) give you the option for aero when you can use them and the weight penalty is minimal.
Can’t answer for 70.3 UK, but for Alpe d’Huez, light aero road bike, 34x32 small gear (remember, it’s not about being a hero on Ornon and Alpe d’Huez you still have to run 22K at 6000 ft above sea level at the end…I ride 34x28 while fresh in that area and I’m not doing a 7 hour event with that much running) and certainly alloy braking surface. As BMANX said, shorty clips ons ITU style could be an added option.
Also a road bike with drop bars so you have something to push back against on technical descents is nice. If you do it on a TT bike get ones with an upturn and not the flat ones. The flat ones turn into “minus 10%” when you going down a minus 10% grade so your hands can literally fly off the front and you really don’t want that if it is raining…add to that carbon braking and there are cliffs you can fly over the side of quite easily on that course.
Here is the set up I used at 70.3 World’s modified for riding Stelvio and Gavia on race week. You see I have TT cowhorn bars with an up turn, and what I did for my Stelvio and Gavia rides was I rented an alloy surface front wheel (I brought both sets of brake pads) so that I could safely deal with the descents. This is what you see in the picture. For 70.3 WC’s with only one “not so technical” descent, I just went with the dual Bonetragers.
I’m a fairly strong cyclist (and light). I plan to use my road bike for AdH tri. I have 53-39, 11-28.
I was pondering getting a semi-compact 52-36 crank to give me a little more granny gear.
39-28 at 60rpm is 10.5 kmh… I’m sure I can do closer to 12-13kmh up AdH. Should I bother with a new crankset? Shimano 105 is pretty cheap.
Don’t be a hero, get a compact. You’re not going to ride 13 kph on AdH on that gearing that late into the day (you’ll need to ride at almost 4W per kilo for that so your FTP better by closer to 5W per kilo if you are going to have a good run) and then run well at altitude. Keep in mind that the last quarter of ADH is at >5000 ft so altitude effect also kicks in compounding the bike pacing problem and associated gearing. I’ve climbed ADH fresh in 57 minutes on a triple and pretty well used all the gears available, so there is no shame in lower gearing. On that ride, nothing before nothing after. You’re talking about going around the same speed on harder gearing, with a swim and tough riding before and a hard altitude run after…for that, you need an FTP of >5W per kilo. That’s likely not you.
The math of all this gearing is really simple. Take your FTP, then duration of the race and you know what percent of FTP you can ride. Then at that wattage, for the max sustained grade what speed do you end up and what does that equate for RPM. For some reason everyone wants to fool themselves into riding with pro cyclist gearing with age group triathlete FTP.
Heck a totally juiced up Tyler Hamilton pretty well introduced the protour guys into compact gearing riding AdH and other climbs with a busted collarbone so he could not get out of the saddle and needed to ride seated for most of the 2003 TdF mountain stages. Tyler’s FTP was likely north of 6W per kilo and he was ONLY riding 4-6 hours per day not having to swim and run too.
I come from a running background, but am a pretty strong cyclist. Last year I managed 48:30 up Alpe d’huez (full strava segment) which, if I remember correctly worked out about 16kph avg on the mountain, I use a 53/39 and 11/28 setup for that holiday and plan on using the same!
Should be in similar cycling shape for the race, but I wasn’t swimming or running last summer so it will be a challenge to improve those whilst holding riding form!
I come from a running background, but am a pretty strong cyclist. Last year I managed 48:30 up Alpe d’huez (full strava segment) which, if I remember correctly worked out about 16kph avg on the mountain, I use a 53/39 and 11/28 setup for that holiday and plan on using the same!
Should be in similar cycling shape for the race, but I wasn’t swimming or running last summer so it will be a challenge to improve those whilst holding riding form!
That gearing is fine for standalone for a 48 min climb. You might be OK with that gearing given your FTP (I estimate it is up near 5W per kilo) and still swim and run fine. Keep in mind that Ryder Hesjdahl last year only climbed 44 minutes if I have my memory correct, so 48 minutes, you are dropping many Tour de France sprinters. At the peak of the EPO era Lance and Pantani were doing 38/39. Lemond and Hinault on “old vitamins” where doing 44. 48 is a different league for a triathlete.
To be fair we did just do a warm up and then blast the mountain! So unless I get in much better shape I’m not going to be doing 48minutes on race day! I’d guess more like 52/53 minutes?
With regards to a compact setup I’ll take a decision based on the form I’m in at 1/2 ironman five weeks earlier! As I’m sure my current gearing will be more than fine for that.
Think I’ll get the venge frameset, unless anyone what’s to tell me it’s a ridiculous idea! As I really can’t find anything close to it for the money! And it’s pretty light for an aero setup with the same geometry as the Tarmac so should be ok up hill!!!?
Also thinking of getting some aero wheels…currently thinking 404s? Or maybe 303s? There are some great deals on them at the moment!
For some reason everyone wants to fool themselves into riding with pro cyclist gearing with age group triathlete FTP.
Nah. I’m just don’t want to have to buy a new crankset!
I just did some rough calculations using Sheldon Brown’s calcular and a chart of w/kg vs AdH times… looks like I might want that 36 unless I’m crushing the training this spring…
Who/what is sheldon Browns calculator!? And is it useful?
I’ve done the Alpe d’Huez long course a couple of times and had a much better race the 2nd time on compact cranks. I wouldn’t bother with any kind of aerobars for this bike course as you are either climbing on 6-9% or descending on a VERY technical course. The first 20km to Séchilienne is the only flat part of the course and it’s slightly downhill so you’ll knock it over in no time flat on the drops. This is the only part of the course where having aerobars would be nice but they will add weight to your bike and the vast majority of your time will be spent sitting up climbing.
If budget was no option, these are my dream wheels for the Alpe d’Huez - or any Alp cycling you might do as they have an outstanding braking surface:
http://www.mavic.com/…-triathlon-r-sys-slr
You don’t want carbon rims as this is one course where braking is crucial. Also, high chance of rain in the Alps, even in Summer and the final descent into Bourg d’Oisans has a doozie of drop, off the right side of the road. If money is tight, I believe a good set of reliable alloy rims would be fine.
I have no idea about the Wimble Lake half IM but putting on some clip-on bars and swapping in some deeper rimmed race wheels could be the go.
Did it last year and I pretty much agree with all the advice given above.
My setup: 2012 S5, Compact 50x34, 11x28 cassette, Cosmic SLR wheels (aluminium brake track).
My advice to the OP is to get there a week before and do the course on your bike (even by stages) so you familiarize yourself with the climbs… but especially the downhills. A LOT of free speed to gain there, the number of people who weren’t comfortable in these technical descents allowed me to make up quite some time (esp. after seeing how slow I was on the climbs).
Expect rain and freezing weather or scorching sun and no shade.
Have fun - it definitely was my best race experience to date. And the town of Alpe d’Huez is great if you come with your family.
Don’t know about AdH, but do know about Wimbleball. Did it about five times during my time in the UK.
In an ideal situation a TT bike would be best, standard crankset, 11-28 on the back should be suffice for a biker of reasonable ability. The worse you are at biking (eg you’ve looked at some of the inclines on the Exmoor course, and mapped them onto similar inclines in your locale, and you’re exhausted doing them), then maybe think about a compact or a 32 on the back. At the very worst, think about a road bike with drops.
If you’re set on a road bike to cover off both courses, then get some aerobars for Wimbleball. There’s some long stretches that they can be used on, and you will put yourself at a disadvantage by not having them. For example, the first stretch across the top of the course, and the second stretch down to Exbridge are prime places to get low and pick up the average speed.
Oh, and standard advice applies: don’t smack yourself silly on the climbs or you’ll shred your legs for the run course (which in my opinion is more challenging than the bike course). Bring your C game and you’ll still be overtaking the majority of the people on the run course.
Hope this is of helps.
Who/what is sheldon Browns calculator!? And is it useful?
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/gears/
I just plugged in my gearing to calculate speed at 60 and 80 rpm.
I then used this chart I googled to guess my time up AdH using my estimated watts/kg during the race (3.5?) and then calculated the speed of ascent.
I’ll probably be ok with 39-28 if I get enough fitness…
