Fred D Mentor Group - Part II (Page 61)

Just checked the long range forecast, and the high for Sunday is only supposed to be about 20C (68F).  After such a hot summer this is going to feel a bit strange.

At that temperature (likely in the low 60's when I get out of the water), would you consider putting on arm warmers?  I know my trisuit will be wet, but there's not much I can about that. 

That's pretty similar to IMMT, high of 20ish and low teens when we got out of the water.  I wore arm warmers and was glad I did but by about half way through the first loop I would have taken them off were I skilled enough to do so without stopping.  

I'd have them rolled up and ready, and just make the decision in T1.

I would likely wear them, but after 2 years in FL and 6 months in AZ, I'm a weenie when it comes to the cold.

13 mph shouldn't be an issue.  I've used my disc cover in winds up to 20+ during a team TT where we were drafting.  If anything, the disc should make you feel much more stable.  Where it gets a little sketchy is if there are very strong gusts.  If the wind is steady, you just lean a little more.

Yeah, I've ridden with my disc cover in some pretty strong cross winds and never felt that the cover had a serious impact on handling.  I would leave it on for sure.

Personal choice, but no, would not wear them in the 60s, as it's likely to get mid hi 60s by the end of the bike.   I run hot, however, last year at Oceanside lo 60s and misty was perfect for me (although I did wear arm warmers due to the mist)

Normal. Perhaps even necessary. But nevertheless unfounded.

I know you got banged up and are not quite as prepared as you'd like in terms of the last few weeks, but you're awesome.

Agree - bring them and have them in transition so you can decide on the day. 

I did that when I did Muskoka two years ago and I was happy to have them.  I did a similar thing for IMMT but I didn't want to lose my nice arm warmers so i just bought tube socks from Giant Tiger and cut open the toes. I wore those for a good portion of the ride and tosseed them at an aid station once the day was warm enough ...

Those same guys (Cycle technique) told me the same thing and suggested Ultegra brakes.

Yeah I am racing this weekend too (again!) and going from one extreme to the other.  I have raced in mid-high 50 degree temps in a tri suit and was fine with nothing on the arms.  This will likely be perfect race conditions for me.  So my advice would be to wear nothing additional.

I am headed off on vacation to Lake Huron and area with not the greatest mobile coverage.  Looking forward to a relaxing long weekend with the wife and peanut....and a triathlon .

Good luck to Tom and Neil this weekend.  Hope you guys do great!  Have an awesome race!

GO RYAN!

And have a great holiday!

Only tri related in that I will be putting bikes on the thing...  my new tri ride 

http://beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=459416&posts=1&start=1

The Rev3 Maine Race Report is up.

I know I'm on the team, but they do a seriously awesome job. If they're in your area, go race. The $10 post-race Lobster bake was delicious.

A guy got his bike stolen from the expo, and Rev3 offered to lend him a Quintana Roo for the race and for a few weeks afterwards until he was able to replace his bike. Luckily, the bike was found - some dude was trying to sell it (a Shiv) for $200 - and someone alerted the police.

Nice...

I guess all those commercials during the NBC Kona broadcast worked. 

I was gonna say: Does Chris Lieto come with the car?

Nice ride BTW!

Thanks for all the feedback - I'm usually the guy who overheats in the winter, and suffers in the summer, so like Tom I think I'm starting to stress about the little things.

On a side note, I tried to put my Conti 4000 onto the borrowed 404 last night and had to give up after 30min.  After all the tire changes I've done this was one of my most frustrating experiences ever.  I've had the tire sitting in the sun all day to give it another go when I get home - other wise I'm using the hair dryer this time.

I was going to post this in TT, but I didn't feel like getting flammed before getting a feel for what others thing.

The compact vs. standard debate comes up all the time.  I agree with Fred that only the top 5% of bikers (in general) should be riding standard.  But I'm not even sure that the other 95% should be riding compact.

I have standard on my tri bike because that's what it came with, but I would change it to compact if given the option.  I consider myself a FOP cyclist, and if I'm choosing to run compact, what are the cyclists who ride 20-30% slower than me supposed to use? 

Should it be something like

Top 5% Standard
Next 25% Compact
Bottom 70% Triple?

Knowing what I know about gearing, if I was a MOP/BOP cyclist, I would definately run a 52/39/30 crank with a 12/25 cassette.  Check out the gear spacing...I think it would be very beneficial to a lot of cyclists.

Thoughts?

I'm decent on the bike and lightweight but not top 5%.  But I ride standard.  Prob about 3.5 w/kg when I'm healthy -- and still improving.  My comfortable cadence is 80 and I've never encountered a hill on a tri course that made me wish for more gears.  Sure I might change my tune about Savageman or St. Croix but I have no plans to ride those in the near future.

The deciding factor for me was my intended bike usage.  I ride occasional time trial events and compact just doesn't make sense for those -- for a guy, anyhow.

A lot of times this question comes up from women and frankly, I can't think of any I know who ride standard.  Not to sound like a sexist answer but it's just a reality for smaller riders.