Assuming that weight is a bit of a wash (neither of my bikes are particularly light) would you recommend a road or TT bike for a profile like this:
TT bike, start practicing cornering on it if you haven’t already.
The weight is the same and the 9% climb you will be up on the hoods mostly anyway, then it is flat for a bit and the TT bike will be way faster there if you can corner on it well.
I’d probably go TT bike if they weight the same. Thinking of my bikes, the big difference is the road bike is just more comfortable to climb with. With only a 2.5 mile TT there won’t be time for it to matter and there appears to be a flat bit at the end where the TT bike may be faster.
The Joe Martin stage race has a similar profile. Some people (including pros) are on their TT bikes, but the majority of riders are on road bikes. The fastest times are usually set on road bikes.
I do the majority of my riding on my road bike, so I’d probably do it on my road bike. If you do the majority on your TT bike, the TT bike wouldn’t be a bad option.
The Joe Martin TT is something like 90% uphill vs 60% uphill. Pretty good analysis of it towards the end of this document:
http://wmnoise.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/bikeve.pdf
For the joe martin TT, the top pros should be a little faster on TT bikes, assuming TT bike is 1kg heavier and that power is the same.
For amateurs that would probably switch to the road bike.
But if weight is the same…
If you can pre-ride the course … try both and then decide.
If you can’t … it depends on how well you can climb on your TT bike. Only half the course is spent climbing, the other half is pretty much flat, so a lot of speed could be made up there on a TT bike.
With that said … I think the best combination would be your Road Bike and TT wheels with some clip on aero bars like the Vision set up, then the rest of your regular TT gear (Helmet, skinsuit, bootie covers, etc.). This will give you the climbing of your road bike with most of the aero qualities of the TT bike.
Edit: Looking at the STRAVA segment, the speeds of those in the top ten are in the 14 mph range on average (aside from the top couple of positions) … which means they are not going fast enough for aero gains (overall) and the first part of the course is “Very” steep.
I would definitely do it on a road bike, but still look for some light clip on TT bars for the last section of the course.
can you ride much of it in the aerobars, up and down? if so go with TT bike. If your not going to ride in the aerobars then pick whichever you feel most comfortable riding.
The only exception I’d make is if the downhill is very technical and you feel that you can descend on one much faster than the other. Then chose that one.
2.37 miles is the entire course? I’d do a road bike. At a local stage race, the P1/2’s have a 9 mile hill climb TT and they all ride road bikes - and many of these guys are continental pro’s with free bike quivers. That course is so short, it probably doesn’t matter, but most people climb better on road bikes.
true, but I think this is quite a bit steeper than Joe Martin in spots too. The strava segment makes it look a lot worse than map my ride.
yeah, first mile is 9%. gonna be likely out of the saddle and up on the hoods. if weight is the same, climbing will be too, imho =)
true, but I think this is quite a bit steeper than Joe Martin in spots too. The strava segment makes it look a lot worse than map my ride.
The shortness of a TT course has almost no impact on how advantageous a TT bike is. Hear me now believe me later.
2.37 miles is the entire course? I’d do a road bike. At a local stage race, the P1/2’s have a 9 mile hill climb TT and they all ride road bikes - and many of these guys are continental pro’s with free bike quivers. That course is so short, it probably doesn’t matter, but most people climb better on road bikes.
Unfortunately we won’t have a chance to pre-ride before that day. Meanwhile, part of the question is if it’s worth taking four bikes for the weekend stage race rather than two…
personally I would use the TT bike. after the first mile, it is pretty much flat. 3.4% is flat. so over 50% flat
Ride as much of the first mile in aero as possible as well. don’t spend the first min after hitting the top on the hoods catching your breath
yes, aero helmet too, since you didn’t ask.
maybe it will snow for you, then mtn bike 
…maybe it will snow for you, then mtn bike
'Cross bike, please. Not terribly aero, though.
what was I thinking ?! 
same weekend as single bong, plus too much climbing in RR for me out there in early May. Unless Mark has my P5 in by then and I have to come up to pick it up…
Use this site. Breat the course into the different components and see what it figures out. I find it reasonably accurate.
…The strava segment makes it look a lot worse than map my ride…
Um… Not all that familiar with Strava, but if it really hits 46.8% my road bike isn’t gonna help!
Where are you from? How well do you climb on your tt bike?
I’m from north central WI, and on Rib Mountain (about 2.5miles @ sustained 5ish% with some higher and some lower pitched sections) I’m much faster on my road bike than tt bike. There are some much smaller climbs in the area that are about 1 to 1.5 miles long with a few very short steep pitches but the connecting portions are at 3ish%, I’m much faster on these with the tt bike than the road bike.
Grand Dads bluff is a mix of both. The first mile averages almost 8% with the last 1/4mile ramping up to almost 14%, the second mile is still up, but at a much shallower 2-3%. From the looks of the map and elevation chart the last third mile or so is downhill. With the steepness of the first mile you will probably be out of the saddle climbing without much gear changing. If this is case it would be a wash as far as bikes go. The rest of the race is flatish or downhill, in which case the tt bike wins out. As you said the bikes are a wash in weight, therefore IMO, ride the tt bike…if you have Di2 on your tt bike, it becomes a “no brainer” as you can then easily shift climbing while on the bullhorns
How well do you climb on your tt bike?
I dunno. I don’t mind short steep climbs on my current TT bike, but just to make things interesting I’ll build up a new rig between now and then, so we’ll see. Meanwhile, it’s not as if I’m a great climber on my road bike.
I guess I’ll take both and probably use the TT bike, if only because it’ll be new and exciting and because I have a couple other events this year (Galena TT, Iowa City tri) that will involve steep climbs on the TT bike.
I am told you want good brakes at galena
re climbing, I can see how climbing on tt bike would be slower if you were on your basebar if you did not bend over like on a road bike. however, one should not be standing climbing on such a short hill that really isn’t all that steep. I can’t see it being any worse than Blue Mounds and blue mounds never required me to stand. It’s not like it is Snake Alley