Ironman Coeur d'Alene : Official Thread (Page 62)

Becuase they are made by the same company, the Corsa EVO CXs are a tight fit too.  I was told to put 100-150 miles on it before racing and give it 2-3 weeks to stretch out.     

I'm having wheel angst.

I have a set of heavy (~1900g) piece of sheeet mavic cosmics that I bought as a result of my husband forgetting to put my front wheel in the car for IMCDA 2008 ('both wheels' is now an item on my race pack list even if I'm renting wheels).  The wheels they stood in for are not any better (stock ALEX 220s).

I rode the mavics for all my training rides and races last year, but rented 404s for IMCDA ($150).  This was a big improvement and completely worth it.

My problem is knowing the difference a better/lighter wheel makes I can't make myself race on the mavics again. I've got a HIM on 4/16, thus the wheel angst. I'm thinking of buying a set of ROL D'Huez wheels ($650).  Ideally, I still want to also rent 404s again for IMCDA so I get the aero benefit.  So the real problem is, as always, money and staying married through IM training/racing/spending.  I haven't run this by the hubby yet, but I'm thinking I might have to give up the 404 rental as a negotiating tactic to buy the new wheel set.  Is it worth it?

older non- dimpled 404's is the wheelset - and they are only for races.  train on another set.  Thanks for the advice.  Getting a tweaked bike fit Wednesday with a specialized group and will see what they have.  Thanks again. 

Boy the story of the constant flats with the gp4000s is scary.  I hope to do a mountain century race in September.  I just put the 4000s set on my road bike.  One hill is a monster up and down.  Everyone pray the flat does not happen at 50mph decent.  At least its after CDA.

Both my wife an I will be racing.  My goal: to finish and beat her

first off, let me say hope your ITB gets well asap. just checked out your blog! great write up of what not to do. I need to listen to you too!

second, let me tell you those slime tubes and mich pro3s still got me some pretty solid bike splits last year and two years ago with no flats. so yes, i may have been faster with the suggested tubes and tires, but i think each person has to make a judgment call based on their particular goal and needs.

for me a flat, couldve resulted in a much greater time loss than the benefit of the other tires/tubes. having said that, i may switch over this year if i feel like going for it! thanks to all for participating in the discussion.

and its really cool about the family tandems doing the race. hopefully we can all connect during some pre-race swims on thurs-saturday mornings.

Does anyone have any recent experience with buying carbon wheels direct from china?  I've heard from our local tri trainer about alibaba.  Has anyone heard or bought from of alibaba?

http://www.alibaba.com/showroom/carbon-wheels.html

gremlin327 - 2011-03-09 11:08 AM  I'm thinking of buying a set of ROL D'Huez wheels ($650).  Ideally, I still want to also rent 404s again for IMCDA so I get the aero benefit.  So the real problem is, as always, money and staying married through IM training/racing/spending.

Always a challenge to convince the other half that you need training AND racing wheels.  Somebody had mentioned older 404's without dimples.  Another option is finding a set of Flash Point FP60's, which are made by Zipp and actually are just a re-branded 404 without the dimples.  it is brilliant for Zipp (which is actually owned by SRAM), all the R&D is sunk and they can continue to sell an older model (See Cervelo P2 and P3).  I am not sure if SRAM is still selling them under the Flash Point name or if this is now what they call the SRAM S60.  A friend of mine got a set he uses for training on closeout from a shop for like $800, but with a 5 second google search I found plenty of new ones in shops on closeout.  Heck, for a grand you may be able to get the FP80, which is the 808 version.  This way you can tell your significant other that you are saving $150 every time you race

Here is an article by a guy who uses them for training and racing...

http://texastailwind.wordpress.com/2009/06/11/flash-point-fp60-carbon-wheels-review/

Good Luck!


edit:  Well, here is my answer...
http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=181501&posts=9

I have the SRAM s80 (identical to the flashpoints from what I can tell) wheels and love them.  I use a wheelcover.

I thought about this too Matt, but with the speeds I will be hitting on these wheel I prefer to be on a reputable wheel.  The cost savings would mean nothing if something happens with one of those China wheels and you crash.  Just my opinion. 

I haven't decided on which wheels to get either.  Waiting for my travel trailer to sell to free up some cash.

What are you talking about everything is made in China.

Quality Warranty, After sales, Return and Refund Terms:

. Warranty:

We offer you our high quality and customers-tested products ,We have a quality assurance date which is 1 years. Under normal riding, if there is any damage not caused by human factors, products can be replaced from us.

. Return and Refund Terms:

 If items you received are defective, please contact us within 3 working days and show us the proofs, photos, etc.

 Buyers are responsible for the shipping cost incurred by returns or exchange.

 Refund will be granted after we receive the returned items in original condition.

 New items or Repaired items will be shipped to you after we receive the items for replacement

This warranty claim gives me no confidence.  I have found Zipp and I assume SRAM to be AMAZING with warrenty work.  Had a friends 808 crack at one of the spoke holes, took it to my shop to look at, they sent it to Zipp and they replaced it, no questions asked for free AND paid shipping both ways.  Took a week... done!  PS - this was in 2008, the wheel was a 2005 model (red stickers) and they replaced it with a 2008 version (gray stickers).  I am a Zipp loyalist for life after that service.  Also, the wheel was bought on ebay, but since my shop sent it in (an authorized Zipp retailer), Zipp did not question it and ask for all sorts of proof of purchase, etc... like Quintana Roo did to me on a defective frame...  PS - I will NEVER by a QR bike ever again!  When the decision came to drop $5k on a bike, the $200 QR saved by not helping me out went to Specialized.  Unknown to them, I had already owned 2 QR's and intended to be brand loyal.

Is it just me or is time starting to fly? 

2 weeks out from my first test...Olympic

5 weeks out from my next test.....HIM

15 weeks out from my true test........CdA

I've been looking at the 2010 CdA splits for people in the 11:30-12:00 range.  I think my perfect storm benchmark will be racer #1790.  He swam in 1:17, 8 min T1, biked in 6:14, 3 min T2, ran a 4:01....final finish of 11:45:16.  What's interesting is he was one of the slowest bikers within 15 minutes of his time, but had one of the faster runs.  In fact, only a handful of people in that time range ran a sub 4 hour marathon.  Ironically, that handful all biked in the 17.5-17.9 range.  I guess I will get a better feel for my pace after a few long bricks.             

Yikes, me too!  Can't believe we're only 15 weeks away from CdA.

2 weeks out from the SuperSeal Oly

7 weeks out from the Wildflower long course (HIM)

I'm really looking forward to practicing my nutrition, transitions and, most importantly, my race day attitude.  I want to have fun but need to keep my head in the game, especially on the swim.  No freak outs!

Hope training is going well for everyone!

I was watching an Endurance Nation DVD the other day about IM racing.  One of the guys said..

"There is no such thing as an awesome bike split when you are done and walking at mile 10 of the run"

I hear you and you are right.  To be honest, I've never hit a major time goal.  It's a great motivator for me.  I missed my NYC and Boston time goals by about 5 minutes each.  Austin 70.3 by nearly 7 minutes.  The list goes on and on.  I'm just trying to understand what combination of S/B/R I need to get near a certain finish time.  Typical first timer.  All of this assumes a bunch of stuff: health, weather, equipment functioning, course variables like "eek...hills", etc.  I get it.   

I have some serious bricks ahead of me that should help guide my pace strategy.  I won't be blind going into the race.   I will have 5-6 bricks of 80miles+ on the bike and 6-13 on the feet. 

By the way, I went off schedule (and smarts) today and raced a bunch of my buddies on our hill run this morning.  Man, the feet are starting to generate some serious sparks.  Very happy with where I am in my training.          

Very true and my absolute worst fear for this race.  You can fudge it on a 70.3 as I learned in Austin last October (biked too hard and blew up bad on run at mile 9/10).  However, not on a full.  I have two people screaming in my ear each week to help guide me along my way.  Both raced smart and finished strong.  I hope some of their advice sinks in by race time.   

As a joke, I emailed my 7 mile hill run file this morning to one of the people screaming in my ear.  Average pace 6:43.  Average heartrate 167.  I asked if this was considered "Z2 or Z3".  Response was "Neither, only the Lord can help you at this point".