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Race Wheels/Set Up for IMLP

Danielle SantucciDanielle Santucci
in Racing Forum 🏎
After hearing my local bike mechanic and friend say "when are you going to get some fast wheels, you know it will give you an advantage at Placid?" I got to thinking. Would renting a wheel set for the day make a difference? I currently race with a FLO 60/90 set up and maybe it's because Ive raced with them for 2 years now, I think they are pretty fast. In Syracuse, the top 10 women in my AG (yes I scoped out all of their bikes!) had Zipp wheels of some flavorful, yet only 2 of those women had a better bike split than I did. Leaving me with the question...does it really matter that much?

What are the thoughts here? I have goals for Placid and any advantage I can get I want. For former LP racers: what would you suggest as a set up for that course?

Thanks!


Comments

  • Mike RobertsMike Roberts

    @DS,

    Race day must be approaching, because you're worrying about stuff you should be ignoring.  Been there.  60/90 with aluminum braking sounds just about perfect to me.  Probably 90% of a TT wheel's "speed" is aero, with weight being a distant secondary factor.  Flo and BestBikeSplit just tested the old Flo's (the ones you're riding) and their new carbon clinchers, which are lighter.  At Kona, the new, lighter 60/90 combo was 1:18 faster than your set-up.  But if you got a pair of those (you can't, because they go on sale on 7/21) or Zipp 404/808 carbon clinchers, you'd be braking on carbon.  If it happens to rain in LP, would I want to be descending at 48mph knowing that the only thing between me and disaster is a couple of pieces of wet cork?  No thanks.  Odds are, you're gonna need/want some braking power.  Save your money and shave a few seconds by installing some GP4000's with latex tubes, buy an aero jersey, wax your chain and shave your arms.  And if those solutions don't get you the full 1:18, go faster in T1 and 2.  Problem solved.  You can now safely return to your taper.

    MR

  • John HenaultJohn Henault
    And today is only the first day of her taper. Wait until later this week/early next week!
  • Coach RichCoach Rich
    What Mike said. To his list I would a wheelcover from Wheelbuilder (see the discount code on the sponsor page here: http://members.endurancenation.us/Store/TeamDiscounts.aspx) and an aero/race helmet if you don't already have one.
  • donymodonymo
    @John LOL!
  • tim cronktim cronk
    Danielle those wheels are perfectly fine! I ran FLO60/FLOdisc last year, would do it again. If you don't have a disc don't worry, I do the same routes many times with disk or FLO 90 and I cant tell the difference and neither can the clock.
  • Danielle SantucciDanielle Santucci
    @MR and TC, thank you for the advice. I have GP4000's but not the latex tubes so I will look into getting some of those this week. Shave my arms? Um, no chance! Ha! Yes, race day is coming soon and I generally do not do well with controlling my thoughts during taper time as you can see image.

    @JH, imagine how fun I am right now to live with…haha!
  • Mike WestoverMike Westover
    Danielle, there's a big benefit to latex tubes but if you're going that route, I would get them installed ASAP so you can ride them a few times before the race. They are tricky to install and sometimes pinches don't show up as flats until they are ridden a bit.

    Big things to watch when installing: put talc all over the tires and tubes to reduce friction, don't use tire levers to get the tire back on, and check all around the rim for tube sticking out past the tire bead (I check once before inflating, then again after putting a little air in).
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