Slornow and Wannabefaster's Winter Group version 3-CLOSED (Page 36)

Rene-congrats on the win! Good job.....it would be "interesting" to run a 5k without knowing pace.

Mike-nice job on the race.

Suzy-you are way tougher than I am! Wow. Can't imagine running that far in those temps. Well done.

Good day here. Got bike and run in early. Wife and I went out for lunch followed by a trip to the movies to see "Monuments Men". It was pretty good. I had read an article on the subject matter a couple of years ago and my wife had read a book on the stealing of art during WWII and the efforts to recover it. Good cast. I'll give it 6.5-7 out of 10. Tomorrow is 75 minute bike. Weather looks great with temps in the mid 60s tomorrow afternoon. 

Rene -- Very cool -- OA Female Masters win! Of course, once you turn pro, you can never go back...

Mike -- Nice job on the 5K, especially under those conditons! Anything colder than 30 degrees is Arctic weather in my book.

Suzy -- Holy Cow! Twenty-one miles at -13F! That's off the charts amazing!

Jason -- The "Imelda Marcos of Triathlon."

Nancy -- Glad your leg is doing better. Welcome back to the game again!

We have a winner. 

Blanda--absolutely gorgeous!

Ride done. Off to the Badger Basketball game!

Steve-interesting set up. What do you hook the rubber bands to on the Garmin. Not sure where I would do that on the 500.

For what its worth I like my Torhans set up. I also have the "accessory tray" that connects to the back. The Garmin mounts solidly there but I have to look down and away from the road to check my power.

On Slowtwitch they recently did an Aero Camp and tested several set ups. Seems the Torhans came out best but needed to be back right at the head tube to get the most aero benefit.

Between the aerobar systems I've tried

I tried the Xlab Torpedo system (400 or 100) and it seems to be a decent set up. But, the part that extends out where you mount the Garmin seems a little flimsy and bounces around on rough roads. The bottle also can obscure the line of sight to the Garmin. Biggest pain was trying to get it set up with the spacers to mount the bottle cage to the base. There are alot of parts to the set up. The spacers allow you to mount the bottle cage higher or lower between the aerobars. Seems like they could simplify this better. Easy to drink out of and holds the straw down out of the wind.

Profile Design HC System-Really easy set up and easy to drink out of. Problem is the mount for the Garmin is behind the bottle so again have to look down and away from the road to check power. I messed around with it to see if I could put the compute mount out fron tbut was unable to do it. This would be a good set up it you are not checking your Garmin regularly.

Speedfil A2/Z4 bundle-this looked really promising. So simple putting the mount for the Garmin right on top of the bottle as part of the bottle cage. I used this in one late season race with the Speedfil A2 bottle. You can mount the bottle cage so that the straw for the bottle come out the front or the back. No problem seeing the Garmin but I had trouble getting fluids out of the bottle. The straw does tuck into the side of the set up so it is not sitting up in the wind all the time but I struggle with the bite valve. Also seems that the straw can crimp depending on the angle. This would be a super easy set up if you just want to use a regular water bottle and pull it out for a drink when needed.

Torhans 30 with accessory tray-as started above, my only complaint with this system is the location of the tray behind the bottle. I like the easy setup of the bottle and the ease of drinking with the straw right there. Also easy to refill. 

I'm still undecided what I will use heading into next year. Toward the end of last season, in sprints, I was just using a bottle on the frame and keeping my usual Sram Garmin mount on the aerobars to keep it easy to see. May have given up a little aerodynamically but I felt more comfortable with the Garmin out front.  The Nathan AP Pro looks like a promising alternative but I have not been able to determine whether you can mount a Garmin to the top of the bottle.

It looks like you should be able to mount a Garmin on there but the website refers to the yellow thing going around to the top as a deck clip where you can mount an inspirational quote or other notes.......really?

I would check the DC Rainmaker site. He does lots of awesome reviews and I'm sure he is way more detailed than I am.    

Thanks Randee-that is what I currently use on my tri bike. Works really well. Problem is putting a between the aerobars set up on and still having room for the Garmin/Barfly or being able to see the Garmin. Its a great product on the tri bike. I use a similar Sram product on my road bike. 

Completed my personal triathlon today. Hit all of the targets easily and felt really good doing the workouts. Best part of the day was consuming a very large amount of food afterwards. Good thing there isn't any beer in the house. 

Randy- thanks for the pics and write up on the aero bottles. I'm trying to decide which system to go with for this year. 

Randee, sorry to hear about your computer issues. What a PITA to deal with over the weekend.

Jason- that sounds like a horrible dream. That new easy pace Coach has you running must have traumatized you more than you thought. 

Blanda- I can't imagine running and riding where you live. It is so beautiful but also very challenging. wow.

Thanks for the nice reviews of the various systems -- very helpful.

I used to always wear my Garmin for the entire race. But after what happened a few years ago, I now put it on in T1.  

At IMFL 12 , someone ripped my watch off during the swim. My Garmin now lives at the bottom of the Gulf.  I was able to use the computer to monitor watts during the bike. Not having a watch on the run really sucked. Luckily my coach had trained me to run a specific pace and my body went into auto pilot during the marathon. 

Steve-thanks. As I looked at the various set ups today I realized that the handlebar mount is secured with rubber bands in several of the systems.

Randee-I wear my Garmin 310xt throughout the race. I will have my Garmin 500 mounted on the bike. I'll start the 310xt when I start my swim but I won't look at it on the bike...I'll use the 500 while on the bike. Then on the run I'll use the 310xt for pacing and keeping track of my overall time.

Did a little more research on the Nathan AP Pro and apparently there is no mount for a Garmin on the product. Can't believe that a company would develop a product these days and not incorporate a mount for electronics.

Monday weigh in. 161.5 down from 163

Swim, short run and some strength work today. Have a good week everyone. 

It must have been the night for weird tri dreams.  I was in Russia doing an IM and realized I forgot the velcro straps for my front mount bottle so had to settle for a 16oz fizzy Evian for my only cage.  With that solved I went to jump on my bike only to realize I had forgotten to put the cranks on so had no pedals!

I totally forgot to weigh in since it isn't something that I normally do. The good news is I made it an entire week with no artificial sweeteners and didn't have to jump from a 10 story building to get on my favorite jeans!

FUNNY!  Sometimes, I wake up and realize I have had weird dreams but can rarely remember much about them.