Cervelo p2c or Trek Madone 4.5 both dura-aced for the SD ITU? Second question, Zipp 808’s?
are you talking about the age group race or you racing with the pros? my understanding is the age group race is not draft legal.
are you talking about the age group race or you racing with the pros?
If the OP was able to make the start list for the pro race, I would assume that he (she) knows that it will only be a road bike. Can’t answer the question if they are asking about the AG race since I haven’t seen the course.
Tri.
http://sandiego.triathlon.org/news/article/video_getting_to_know_the_bike_course/
Not sure why you would use a road bike. Tri bike all the way.
neither have I
TT bike, deep front, disc rear.
I assume op is asking because the la jolla soledad area is quite a hill climb that is performed twice.
So tri bikes are illegal in ITU? And in addition to being illegal for road racing, kind of lowers my interest in buying one. Does ITU allow aerobars?
I rode the route last weekend and I was debating the same question. I rode it on my tri bike, on the hills I was thinking how nice it would be to have my road bike, then on the flats the tri bike was money. Tough call but I think I will use my tri bike cause it will look better for the race photo. It is better to look good than to feel good.
ITU Drafting Rules (Pros) - Road bike, spoked wheels, mini aerobars only
ITU Non-drafting Rules - Same as any other tri race
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In draft legal ITU races you can use whatever kind of frame you want, but you must have normal drop bars, and shorty clipon aerobars may be added to them.
So you could use a tri frame, and some of the ITU pros do.
If you are going to be doing draft legal ITU racing often you probably don’t need to buy your own bike at all =)
So tri bikes are illegal in ITU? And in addition to being illegal for road racing, kind of lowers my interest in buying one. Does ITU allow aerobars?
. I rode it on my tri bike, on the hills I was thinking how nice it would be to have my road bike,
why?
whatever it is that makes it substantively hard to go uphill than your road bike should be fixable.
in the end, it is your legs vs the hill =)
Tri bike all the way. I rode up that hill the other day. It’s a bitch and you do it twice. But there are 20 other miles where you should be in the aerobars.
On one hand, I’m glad the hill is there to break up drafting. On the other hand fllying down Nautilus Street at 40+ mph with 2000 of my favourite homies could be a freaking nightmare…
The La Jollan geriatric set don’t look kindly on their route to the drug store being blocked. There best be some good traffic control.
Yeah, I’m talking about AGer here.
I was only thinking roadie from a climbing perspective. But I did do Oceanside with the tri bike…are the hills better, worse, or the same?
Just out of interest, which ITU guys are on a triathlon frame/road bar/shortie clip-on setup?
I´m pretty sure the Brownlees are on standard Boardman road bikes, no aerobars.
I think Mike is probably right for most people but I am still seriously considering my road bike because it is lighter and I am a better climber aboard it. I rode the hill late last year and it is a bear. For me, the time and effort up the 2 mile hill (twice) on the tri bile compared to the road bike may not be worth it. I think the downhill is a wash. You’ll be going crazy fast on either bike and will have the ride the brakes with all of the other riders around.
I mapped the course on my ride last year and there are really 14 miles of “flats” that give you an advantage with the tri bike. If I assume I would ride those 14 miles at 24 mph on my Slice, then I would complete them in 0.583 hours (35 min). If I assume I completed those same 14 miles on my Trek Madone at 22 mph, it would be in 0.636 hours (38:10 min).
I averaged 10.5 mph up the 2 mile Soledad hill. It took 0.19 hours (11:26 min) for one trip up so if I maintain that speed on the second trip (highly questionable at my age), it would be 23 minutes for the two trips. If I assume I climb it at 9.5 mph on the Slice (another assumption), then I would do the total trip (2 climbs) in 0.42 hours (25:15 min.).
So mathematically, it is pretty close. I know real world (wind, temperature, road conditions, other riders) really dictate strategy so I hope to put that to the test in a couple of weeks when I ride the hill on my Slice and Madone on successive days. If I feel way better about my climb on the road bike, that is the way I will go.
Cervelo p2c or Trek Madone 4.5 both dura-aced for the SD ITU? Second question, Zipp 808’s?
I’ve ridden the hills on the course at least several dozen times and know the area really well. (I live over the hill) I would 100% use my TT bike. But then again, I practice climbing on my TT bike and am pretty confident on it for ascending and non-technical descents (like the one down Nautilus).
You still have enough time before the event to get used to climbing on the TT bike if you’re not fluent.
The climb up La Jolla Mesa is about a ~5min climb. From there it flattens out to about 1-2% for about a mile, then goes back up to about 5% for 1/2 mile before the descent. It’s more of a power climb than a sustained climb, if that makes any sense.
Just out of interest, which ITU guys are on a triathlon frame/road bar/shortie clip-on setup?
I´m pretty sure the Brownlees are on standard Boardman road bikes, no aerobars.
Josh Ambergs (sp?) - at least last year - was on a P3 w/ drop bars for draft-legal racing.
That definitely makes sense from a climbing perspective. Descent-wise, any issues with a TT bike? I would consider myself a “crafty” descender, if that helps…
Also 808’s? Would shore wind be an issue?
A worry on that decent is that it winds a bit, maybe some jtek aerobar brake levers might be a good idea. As for wind, the windy season is from nov to march
Sweet! Thanks!!!