Ironman Louisville : Official Thread (Page 24)

I'm new to race wheels so correct me if i'm wrong....But don't they say that if the race has to many hills then a disc can actually hurt u due to the weight.  I know they aren't good in wind...But i also thought the bike course was somewhat hilly. Yes/no??

It's hilly by my standards, but the hills are rolling not sustained.  The only two longish climbs are on the out and back section.

the old saying of aero trumps weight...

I guess you would have to look at how much the wheel you are going to be using weighs vs the disc you are using.. if you are using a heavy training wheel the disc could be lighter,   compared to where I ride, the course is mount rushmore-ish   but it's a lot of smaller climbs repeated..

LOL!!  I'm not stressing about catfish....yet!  Right now my focus is gators for New Orleans 70.3 next weekend!

I too am curious to hear everyone's thought on this. I have always been told that unless you are holding speeds of 23+ MPH it isn't going to make any difference or even worse could slow you down due to hills and crosswinds. I sure remember a lot of guys last year at the Steelhead 70.3 who were fast off the start, but died the last end of the bike who were using a disc on back and some deeper rims on front. I just have the stock wheels that came with my Felt B12 so far.

Aerodynamic drag is a function of the square of the velocity of the object (bike).  So, improving the aerodynamics of the bike reduces the drag at ANY speed.  Reduced drag means faster speed or ride the same speed but use less energy.  Aero wheels help at 5 mph and at 30 mph. 

Check the weight of most of the disc wheels out on the market.  The weight is comparable to a deep rim spoked wheel.  In fact, my Zipp disk weighs LESS than my 80mm HED spoked wheel.

The wind issue with disk wheels has more to do with the bike handling skills of the rider.  If you can handle your bike in wind then riding a disk isn't a problem.  Riding it in wind may take a little getting used to.  I've ridden mine in 20 mph wind.

Bottom line.  Aero wheels make a difference.  An average athlete can expect 1 mph increase in average speed (my opinion).  Get them if you can.

 The HED site has a pretty good break down.(Clickie Link)  The slower you go the higher the yaw angle you'll be exposed to.

I did some research before I bought a set new set of wheels for my B12. I went with a 66 deep aero rim on the front and back. This set up will give me all the aero advantage I need without having to worry about cross winds on a full disk.

Based on that article a rider in an ironman that takes longer than 5 1/2 hours should not get the deeper wheelset.  I was thinking about getting the SRAM S80's but now i'm more inclined to get the S60's.

Usually it's the front wheel affected by a cross wind.  And unless it's Kona it's unlikely it will be windy enough to not run a disc. 

Will I need the aerobars on my bike? I hear the rolling hills really means constant hills for 112 miles, or are there flat parts where it would be worth it to be in aero? I have clip-ons on a road bike with STI shifting.

Absolutely you should bave aerobars.  For every uphill, there is a downhill.  Most of the hills you won't even come out of aero position anyway.  I used STIs in 2007 and was constantly going back and forth from the STIs to the aerobars.  It was really nice in 2008 when I had shifters on the aerobar and could just stay tucked in to shift.

~Mike

is this a pick up line from the other thread??

Hey Gaaarrrrry baaaaaby, want to put some aerobars on me?

OMG....LMAO!!!!  We are not even close to taper-madness.....this thread should really interesting come August!

Why does the "Ironman Louisville : Official Thread" have like 3 or 4 times as many posts as any other IM thread?  I mean the race is 5 months away.  And there are races that are happening much sooner.  I just can't understand this? Oh, it's 'cause of post like this one. 

I have a feeling that with this group IMLOU is going to be a lot of fun!

Excessive IMKY postings is what got us kicked off IM board in the first place and when they started these "IM groups".  And any group that gets kicked out of a public place is my kind of group!  Oh yeah, we're gonna rock Louisville!

~Mike

 I couldn't agree more!  Since everyone is kind of weighing in on what they'll be riding I figure I'll join the fun.  I'll be riding the Reynolds Assault which are 46mm.  

 Hope everyone is having a good one.  In MI it went from 60 degrees two weeks ago, to colder but decent weather over the last couple of weeks, to a forecast calling for snow tomorrow (which coincides nicely with my first TT tomorrow).  Have to love living here!  Keep up the good work all and hope that training is going well.