I am doing Ironman Germany next month and I was wondering if anyone out there has done the race and could recommend what wheels would be the best choice. I was planning on running Zipp 808 up front with Zipp Sub9. Not having done the race before and reading about all the hills, I am wondering if the disc wheel is the right choice or not. Any help would be great.
Run the fastest, deepest wheels that you have. I did the event in 2008 (http://forum.slowtwitch.com/gforum.cgi?post=1866786;search_string=hugh%20blake;#1866786) and found that hils are not all that challenging. I used a tri-spoke up front and a disk rear, as did many others.
i did germany last year and agree that the hills are REALLY not bad at all. i’m definitely NOT a strong cyclist and was thinking they would be hard, but you’ll gain a TON on the slight down hills and flats w/ the disc. this was my first IM and i did a 5:28 bike split (10:52 overall) and felt fine on the run. i used an 404/808 combo and it was fine, but a disc would’ve been better.
http://supersko.blogspot.com/search/label/Germany
if it helps at all i did lake placid (3 weeks later) and did 12:22 and that was HILLY on the bike and run!
good luck! you’ll love the race…be prepared for the swim. probably hot - ~75 degrees and 2 laps w/ ~5 turns each, which make it super congested. run is flat. you’ll fly.