Going off of information I’ve read on this site, Nina should never have had the lead she obtained in Kona. I was looking at the race photos on xtri.com and noticed the following:
Slack seat angle frame.
Clincher rims
STI shifters on the ends of bullhorn base bars.
Going off the majority of the advice I’ve read on this site (and others) she should have never lead the bike, let alone beat Natasha by over 15 minutes.
Kind of makes you wonder, eh?
There is a definite bias on this site towards steep bikes, but consider whose site this is. Dan’s idea of the steep seat tube and 650 wheel was pure genius, but isn’t the only way to ride.
IMO, the steep bike works well for me and many people but there are others that may do better or just as well slack. My own wife runs just as well off her road bike as tri bike. I can’t run worth toot of a slack angle, not than I can run any ways, but I’m even worse off a slack angle. Consider LVL and Lessing, etc. and their success on slack angles.
It’s really just a matter of determining what works best for you.
Notice the lack of aero tubes and cutt-out as well…
Yeah, imagine that, Ironman is more than measuring swimsuit, bike and running shoe specs. It involves an actual race among athletes. And the athletes are not all the same! Who knew!
With regards to Nina’s position, steep works for some, slack works for others. But I am 100% convinced that steep would work for more people than realize it, and the steep/slack percentage in Kona should not be 50/50 but 80/20. Most serious roadies don’t time trial on road bikes anymore, why would triathletes?
What made me wonder was the choice of clinchers over tubulars. I always felt that all elites ride tubulars but I guess I am wrong in her case.
I’ll be going back to clinchers next year after 2 years of racing tubulars. Rear PT wheel with covers for race and a Hed 3 clincher front. Took me 15min to yank off/change my tubular during my last race.
Nina has ridden with a forward seatpost in the past and believe she did so this year as well (maybe wrong?) … either forward OR straight post with seat forward on the rails.
The whole package works for her!
From the pictures it looks to me as though she is riding fairly far forward. The bike may (or may not) be a steep angle bike but it looks like she is riding in a pretty godd position with respect to balancing comfort and power (and it sure seemed to work for her). As for the inflators on the seat tube … I took 2 spare tires and 3 CO2 cartridges with me after seeing an awful lot of people out there with flats the week leading up to the race. Any “aero” disadvantage would have been more than compensated for if I had gotten a flat tire (thankfully that was one obstacle that I didn’t have to overcome last week).
How do you know she is riding clincher rims? Nothing in the pictures indicate that they are clincher rims.
Oh look, no one is perfect on a bike - well maybe the best of the best pro cyclists, but whilst on the bagging bandwagon:
Shes not riding compact cranks or a 54 chainring, very uncool.
Her aerobar extensions arent ‘s-bent’ - more loss of style points.
And lastly most of the aero advantage gained in the day from her wheelset was gobbled up by her 4min drafting penalty. I say make it 10min - like at IMOZ!
pinkboy
"She’s found what works for her; a big-ass engine and a comfy, smooth bike. "
LC
Larry has the exact point of my original post. Superaero/cutout/steep/speedplay/tubular/s-bend/whatever the heck you want. When it comes down to it, the engine makes the difference. I’m all for new technology and improving what is out there. But a design that saves you 4.8 seconds on a 40K time trial, or is the most aero whatever in the wind tunnel, may not do squat for you in a triathlon. I wasn’t trying to bash anyone, just pointing out that her bike equipment/position/choices go against 60%+ of the conversations on most triathlon forums. I completely acknowledge and appreciate the huge benefits I’ve reaped from the work of people like Slowman. But her race reminds me that everytime I think about upgrading to a new, aero whatever…maybe I should take that time to put in a few more miles on what I have.
I am more amazed by the fact that her STI cables were tucked in. I know that it can be done ala Record-style with Nokon cables, but not tucked like what I saw on her bike.
She was riding a forward post at Germany, I doubt she changed it for Kona.
Why would you ever want to put STI shifters on bullhorns?
Because that’s what she got from her bike sponsor and she didn’t want to drop any more of her own $$ for bar ends.
Because that’s what she got from her bike sponsor and she didn’t want to drop any more of her own $$ for bar ends.
She couldhave sold them on ebay for $100 and then bought some Dia comp brake levers for $20 and some bar end shifters for $60 and pocketed $20 to buy a nice meal.
She had a fast bike and won. It works for her, that is all that matters. She could have raced on a CX bike and done just as well.
I checked the pics. All I see are aluminum rims. Aluminum rims does NOT mean clincher. The Hed Alps, and H3, and Disc all have aluminum rims and are tubulars… That being said, they do look like Michelin IM tires, which are clincher. Anyone know for certain that they are clinchers?? If the clincher info came from something other than the pics, my bad…
Clinchers are, despite what some people say, faster to change. Unless you’ve glued lightly (which can be a problem) and have a well stretched spare. And clinchers tend to be more round than tubies and with lower RR since they are usually truer. Tubies ARE safer in the event of a flat (it has been said that Beloki wouldn’t have crashed so hard on tubies, since it was his tire peeling that caused him to go down so hard…)
I don’t think tubular vs. clincher should make or break most people wheel choices. Especially with the new Tufo Tubular Clinchers, which are neat and and seem to combine the best of all worlds. I ride tufo tubies on my race wheels and tuo TC’s on my training wheels…
“a big-ass engine and a comfy, smooth bike”
Hey, that sounds like me! Oh wait…that would be just a big-ass and a comfy smooth bike.
(I’m sorry, sometimes I just can’t walk away from the easy ones and to be very honest, I’m surprised Mr. Tibbs wasn’t all over that.)
J
“Yeah, imagine that, Ironman is more than measuring swimsuit, bike and running shoe specs. It involves an actual race among athletes. And the athletes are not all the same! Who knew!”
Gerard,
Brilliant!!
You think Nina Kraft is hammering along the Queen K wondering about her seat-tube angle.
Bottom line it’s a race. Not a swim, bike or running expo!
Fleck
“Yeah, imagine that, Ironman is more than measuring swimsuit, bike and running shoe specs. It involves an actual race among athletes. And the athletes are not all the same! Who knew!”
Gerard,
Brilliant!!
You think Nina Kraft is hammering along the Queen K wondering about heard seat-tube angle.
Bottom line it’s a race. Not a swim, bike or running expo!
Fleck
So after buying and talking about all the fancy equipment I have to actually train to go fast? My couch and kegerator are going to be very pissed at me!
Yeah and you also would have to leave your PC (and ST) and actually race! 