Clyde/Athena Tri-N-4- Weight Loss Mentor Group -OPEN AGAIN!! (Page 40)

Peter is the expert. I'm a little more than a novice and would be happy to take a look and give my 2 cents on something you find. The one but I will give you up front is get a bike fitting and make sure you buy the right size. Different manufacturers have different sizing so there can be some variations. I.e., not all 56cm bikes are created equal. Also, keep in mind for budget reasons, you're going to want to add accessories, etc. (every time I find something new for my bike, Randi asks if I'm done yet).

So, the transition bag is packed. The checklist has been checked (twice). I'm ready for the 2nd sprint of the year. I'm a little bummed because this is a repeat race from last year and I was looking to PR. They went and switched the bike course, so in essence it's a new race. The best part of the bike was going up over a causeway bridge onto Long Beach Island. Due to construction, they couldn't get the permit needed, so the bike course is a 3 loop course (only 12.5 total miles). Oh well, whatcha gonna do.

Best of luck to everyone racing this weekend. To those not racing - train hard and train smart!

Thanks man, here are 2 im currently giving a look at.

Yes I know the fit is super important and actually have an appointment next week to get mine done on both my bike and for a future bike


http://louisville.craigslist.org/bik/4488846288.html

And

http://dayton.craigslist.org/bik/4435520255.html

Thank you sir!

At first glance, I like the Kuota more. It lists Ultegra components, upgraded Cobb saddle (which I've heard good things), seems to have better wheel set. I'm not sure of the exact model or year. If you can find out about model and year, you can go to bicyclebluebook.com to get an estimated value. Obviously you need to adjust up/down based on accessories and condition. With any carbon frame, you need to inspect for damage, chips, cracks, etc. I also use google to do some comparison shopping. Just keep the seller honest.

If you're on Facebook, there is a group called Tri n' Sell it. People will post all things triathlon for sale. Bikes come up on there often. Just be cautious, they're not always a bargain.

Here is what I know

Vitora tires

2009 KUOTA Kaliber full carbon


I am trying to think of a good # to offer him, that will be a good deal for me, its been on almost a month and just hope he is ready to let it go

It's got good reviews. http://www.roadbikereview.com/cat/latest-bikes/triathlon-bike/kuota...

It was selling for $4250 brand new in 2009. Honestly, the 1,000 probably isn't a bad price. Maybe go in at 9?

I agree its prob a good deal, but I have 30 kids (well ok 2 but I swear they eat like 30) and $ is very tight which is why this is a top secret mission.

Maybe he is ready to move on and will take 750?....

Time to scheme some

As far as what it has going on, does anyone know anything about these parts


Ultegra Brakes and Derailer

Cobb Seat

Cobra Tri Bars

Vuelta Wheels

Vitora Tires

Im gonna read up on each on my own but any personal accounts would be great, especially if they are worth the $

Also has an Adamo saddle to go with it as well


EDIT- Seat into Saddle so I don't sound like a total newb!



Edited by ECS49 2014-06-20 8:19 PM

Ahhhh yes, well its a little known fact the first "bike" as we know it was built by the ancient Mesopotamian. The word bike is derived from.... lol just kidding, but yes I know a few things about a few things and bikes happen to be on my list!

I'll take a look at those 2 you posted and give my .02 but I'm sure Mike has already steered you in the right direction!

Down side of the guru is I believe that all guru bikes are custom made. While it might fit you just fine it might not be as good.

Yep gonna go with mike for the few extra $100 the Kutoa looks like a much better machine. and honestly you can probably get the Kuota for $900, offer $800 and meet in the middle at $900. The Kutoa looks to have a much better group set and cockpit hardware, not to mention its full carbon what more can you say! I think it's worth the extra coin all day if you have the extra coin to spend.

Yep:

Ultegra Brakes and Derailer - Top of the line Shimano components, really what you want to be looking for in Shimano Gear.

Cobb Seat - AWESOME seat, costs about $180 new so there is value in that alone over the other bike you looked at. Will be adding to my new tri bike when i decide on a bike.

Cobra Tri Bars - Good high end Profile Design hardware, cobra refers to the shape of them, very aerodynamic and light. Again type of components you want to be looking for in a quality bike.

Vuelta Wheels - Quality wheels reflecting the quality components elsewhere on bike.

Vitora Tires - Top tire manufacturer, good quality stuff again reflecting the quality of everything else on the bike. Tires can however be a personal preference but these are name brand leading manufacturer.

Overall reliable, high end and leading manufacturers all around!

Your race is prob long over at this point, but good luck and hope it went great! Can't wait to hear the post race recap, I'm off to packet pick up myself tomorrow's my big day!

Good luck to everyone race and training this weekend, give em hell!!!!!

Wow thanks man,

very good insight. This would be replacing a Trek 1000. It has served me well and I can't complain but its just lacking in many area's and frankly if I'm going to be spending 100+ miles on the bike I think I should be in something a bit nicer. Right? Right??? Lets go with right!

Let me ask this, lets say I offer $800 and he takes it, am I doing well here or with that 800 should I be looking at a different brand. I know NOTHING about high end bikes

GL2u, I am about to go pick up the packet as well.

What I am looking for this weekend:

Swim times- my swim was so bad the first time compared to my training times and right now they are even better, I have been really improving in the pool and I just hope it shows

Bike- Much more comfortable on the bike, feeling good and hoping to improve

Run- I won't improve the run, last run was on a flat 5k and I PR'd the 5k, this is up hills in a national park, BUT, still think I should be in the top half of my clyde group

Edited by ECS49 2014-06-21 10:50 AM

I feel a little left out guys, I never got a bunch of questions ??

Haven't posted much, but been biking steadily. Lots of rain this week, but I still managed to get 4 rides in. Hoping for my longest distance yet tomorrow (25mi) if the rain will hold off.

Where do you all go to get more info on triathlons and what blogs do you follow? I really am hungry for more things to read.

If you search around this site their is a TON to read and dig into.

Otherwise, google is your friend and you'll be able to find tons of stuff

Ill give a plug to this guy, who also lurks around here. His blog is pretty amusing most of the time

http://trifattytri.blogspot.ca/

Edited by ECS49 2014-06-21 12:28 PM

Stafford Tri race recap:

Up at 4am. No problem sleeping, which is always good going into race morning. Got dressed, loaded the bikes in the back of my truck, and had my normal pre-race meal (English muffin w/ peanut butter and a cup of coffee). We had a hour drive to the race location and were there by 5:30am

Checked in, picked up packets, set up transition - no issues. Took a jog around the park with my iPod and got into race mode. The swim start for this race is a bit of a walk and due to a scheduled pre-race meeting, there was no time to go get a swim and get back to the meeting spot in time. Meeting was late and I was a little bummed because I would have liked to get that swim. After the meeting, all of the athletes (yes, believe it if not, we ARE athletes) walked to the swim start. About 5 minutes to warm up in the water before the start, which I took advantage of. Water temp was in the low-mid 70's and felt good. I did wear my wetsuit.

Swim: messed up and didn't start my watch. Great swim! 1/4 mile and I had no issues (none, nada, zippo). There was the first race I've done that I didn't have some sort of anxiety issue in the water. Had some contact with others, but didn't let it bother me. I just swam my race. It was an out and back and on the way back I found someone pacing about the same as me and I just followed his bubbles and his feet. I sighted a few times and we were right on track. My OWS training and clinic was paying dividends. Swim split 9:32 (2:15/100 pace).

T1: long run from the swim out to transition. Ran the whole way. No issues getting the wetsuit off. Bike shoes, helmet, sunglasses on and I was on my way to bike. 2:57 T1

Bike: 12 mile course. 1/2 mile out, make a turn, do 3 loops (u-turn at each end of a straight road). Road was completely closed for the race. This race last year was an 11 mile out-and-back over a causeway bridge ( which was actually really cool). They couldn't get permits this year due to construction on the bridge. The bike was flat, which meant peddle, peddle, peddle. No opportunity to coast and rest on a decent. Bike split 41:21 (17.4 mph).

T2: rack the bike, shed the helmet, put on socks (can't run without socks yet), running shoes, race belt and hat. Gone in 1:38

Run: 3.1 mile course. As always, the run kills me. No problems to speak of. Had some spots where I walked to lower my heart rate. 37:29 for the 5k. Certainly not my fastest 5k, but I'll take it.

Overall race time: 1:32:55. Last year I did this in 1:34:29, but the bike was 1 mile shorter last year. So it's a PR!

Post race: Randi and I stopped for breakfast, not as hungry as I thought I'd be. Then we got home, put bike and gear away, and headed to the Y for a rehab hot tub session. The hot tub felt great and really helped to loosen up some stiff muscles.

Post, post race: got a little nap and feel great! Dinner with the family tonight. Taking tomorrow off from training and going to enjoy the weekend!

Best of luck to everyone racing tomorrow!

Thanks! It was a great race (see last post for full report).

Good luck to you tomorrow. Have a great race!

Have a great race! Those are great goals going into race day.

Hahaha on the questions... I leave that to Peter. We'll give a pass this weekend since he's racing

As far as information, there is no shortage of it out there on the interwebs. BT has great stuff, both in the articles and the forums. Just remember with forums, everyone has their opinion and it may not always fit your needs. Slowtwitch is another triathlon users site with articles and forums. YouTube has some great videos with training techniques etc. (they also have some funny stuff to pass the time... If you want a good laugh check out "Sh$& triathletes say" on youtube).

I also subscribe to Triathlete magazine. They have a website with good info but sometimes it's still nice to read something offline.

Thank you! It feels great!

This is going to be a long and busy post... lots of stuff to cover!

Firstly: Want to add my welcomes to Kim and JoAnn
------------------------------------------

Peter: Two things...
1) Congrats on the job!
2) The pedals arrived yesterday. They look great and I found shoes and cleats for less than $50 for both (ordering today)
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Mike: That sounded like a really fun race. Congrats on the PR, and bummer about the loss of scenery...



I am limited on training time. All I can manage at this point is Swim x2, Bike x2 and Run x3.
Oddly enough, I haven't had any OWS issues. Granted I've only been in the one race, but I was completely comfortable and even getting kicked twice and punched once didn't phase me. I have good tracking (swim well in a straight line), and sighting as well. I chose 1000yds to train for the next race (400meter) is partly due to time constraints, but also there are weeks where my short swim will be over 1500yds. Of course, I can always go longer if I'm feeling froggy . My biggest problem with the run is my inability to stay injury-free . I'm running through a C25K program for the third time just trying to get a full 3 mile run in. I'm seriously afraid that if I add a 4th run, I'll end up on the injured list yet again... As far as bricks go, that's what I like to do for my Saturday workout. I try to run a brick every other weekend and do more as I get closer to a race (or at least that's what I did last time... hehehe)
----------------------------------------------------

Sunday Update:
I didn't weigh myself this morning like I usually do. My schedule got a little wonky and I ended up doing my Sat brick this morning (so... I ate and watered before I remembered to jump on the scale). I was only able to get in a single swim this week. Amy worked Sunday night, so I couldn't get out the house early enough to swim before work on Monday. Friday's swim was different too. We went to the Olive Branch, MS Y for my youngest daughter's birthday (outside swimming playground). I was in the water for 3+ hours, and I managed to sneak away to rip off a quick 700. Did things a little differently this time. I swam the first 500 at my normal pace, then for the last 200 I sped up on the first half of the lap, then back to normal pace for the return leg. Did that 4 times, and I FELT it... wow... I was sucking wind and the muscles were burning . I managed all 3 of my runs this week and got both bikes in as well. The only hiccup was that Thursday I forgot to run in the AM (duh!), so... I ended up doing a reverse brick (2.2mi run, 14.1mi bike). Had a bit of a dehydration issue. Also tried to keep up with the A/B group for a bit and ended up averaging over 18mph for the first half... I died on the second half .

This week is going to be another weird week. Amy is working again tonight, so no swim tomorrow. Plus, we're going out of town for a Family Reunion (kill me now ) on Friday morning, so that swim is out too... I'm going to try to make it to the Y Wednesday before work (Masters on Tue, Thu, Sat). Also, I am going to take my equipment with us to Kansas, but I'm not sure how much time I'm going to have Saturday morning for training... We shall see!

Told y'all it was going to be long...

Edited by WebFootFreak 2014-06-22 8:56 AM

Full recap to come later, but sitting at post race breakfast and thought I would give a quick update. Race went great, couldn't have asked for nicer day, finished in 1:28:32 and that was good for 4th place in the Clyde class. Haven't seen how close I missed third by but I hope it's several minutes and NOT seconds!!! Full recap to come but race 1 done!

Awesome job! Congrats triathlete!