Ironman USA Lake Placid : Official Thread (Page 66)

bryancd - 2010-03-11 6:49 PM

Dream Chaser - 2010-03-11 3:26 PM

thelunchbox - 2010-03-11 5:12 PM

You bought the Water Rover, didn't you?

 

Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!

Keep your fingers crossed WTC doesn't ban it like they did in Europe. Although I think it's all silly, bouyancy is only one aspect of wet suit hydrodynamics which actually cuts both ways, you don't want to be too high in the water. If a wet suit lifts your torso too much, it drops your legs, which causes drag. So let manufacturers make whatever kind of suit they want and let the market decide. There's a limit to how much neoprene they can use before it becomes a diving suit impossible to swim in. Bobby, that Cervelo looks hot, my man. Getting sponsored has really allowed me to go hog wild on top end gear. I likely would make more conservative choices if I had to pay retail, though, Jamie and I are savers by nature. we don't have kids yet, so that's big in the time and finance department and we both work so we have a lot of disposable income but we part with it rarely.

You are lucky to be sponsored!  I know what you guys pay compared to retail.

Before I bought the wetsuit I e-mailed De Soto with my concerns of 'what happens if the suit gets banned'.  Chuck Cates, the Director of Marketing, sent me a .pdf stating how much of a percentage I would save toward the purchase of a T1 suit if  the Rover were banned.  The percentages changes and are based off certain dates, and if it were banned you still get to keep the suit (to use in any non-banned races).  I was due for a new wetsuit anyway cause my QR Hydrofull has three repaired rips in it.  I'm hoping that the suit doesn't so much make me faster as keep my legs higher in the water so I'll have to kick less, and thus my legs will be fresher for the Bike and Run.  Atleast that's the theory I'm going for.   

And everytime I do buy something for me, I do put money into the kids college fund and we're going to Disney this August!!  Makes me feel a little less guilty.   Just a little though.

Disc wheel, aero drink bottle, aero helmet, 10mm in the hips wetsuit -- if it's LEGAL and will make me go faster with less effort, I am using it!! 

My YMCA pool is over 80 degrees, and the fear of what chlorine will do to it, will probably keep me from trying it until early April.  I may just do a quick Polar Bear 10 minute swim in the Long Island sound before the 30-day return period is up to make sure it fits okay. 

Oh and fyi:  I never heard of the suit till you told me about it in an Inspire.  So if I beat you out of the water, you only have yourself to blame.   

tasr - 2010-03-12 6:14 AM I was just wondering how hard core you LP guys and gals are as far as your training is concerned.  Do you rearrange your family life to train?  Have you stopped going out on that ounce special night?  Have you gotten into the kids collage fund to buy a new bike or pay for the trip.  Stuff like that.
 
I’ll start.  Yes I rearrange my family life to train.  Its easer now that our kids (3) are grown and on their own.  We, Stacy and I still go out.  Really no special night, but just when the training let me.  Haven’t done a second mortgage on the house, but if Stacy would let me I would be the KING of the tri gear with a pretty sweat new ride.  

I absolutely rearrange my family life to train.  I have to also rearrange my training for family life so it's a give and take.  There are tons of cool things to do on this island so I schedule long weekend runs or rides to end at or near somewhere cool so we can jump right into a fun family activity.  The wife and I still go out, no special night either, just whenever we feel like it.

My kid's college fund is safe but my wife has a problem... and that problem is my old gear.  She has been wanting to spend some serious coin on upgrades for me.  I wanted to wait until I felt worthy of upgrades.  Now that I feel I'm ready to upgrade, we live in Okinawa.  Hard to find tri-bikes (or anything tri-related) on this tiny island and the prices are outrageous.  I plan on getting fitted while we're back in the states for IMLP.  Then I'll begin the bike search process after the race.  So as of now the only thing that is expensive is flying to and from Okinawa to race.

I felt the same way and after last years race season I feel worthy for some race wheels.  Those puppies aren’t cheap. 

jackjack - 2010-03-11 10:49 PM wow, lots of posts in the couple of days I've been away (doing my long training days )!

Seeing that picture of the beautiful Cervelo reminds me of a question about race wheels. I bought my first set back in Nov last year and have not put them on my bike yet but since it has all been trainer riding no issue.
Now it's hopefully time to get outside more consistently, I was wondering whether I should just put them on for a few rides pre race to keep the mileage down on them or whether people use them as their "normal" training wheels too.

Thanks

Not sure which race wheels (tubulars or clinchers) you’re getting.  Practice changing them out and changing tires; even clinchers can be different in changing tires on race wheels.  When you get them put a few rides on them focusing on how they handle and feel in wind.  Then put you training wheels back on training with them.  A few rides before your race put your race wheels back on.  This is mainly to check that everything is in alignment and functions properly.  You will be more then like in a taper mode so your rides maybe relaxed.

My race wheels are 2lbs lighter than my training wheels.

Doesn’t Paul use that suit?  Have you tried it?

jackjack - 2010-03-11 10:49 PM wow, lots of posts in the couple of days I've been away (doing my long training days )!

Seeing that picture of the beautiful Cervelo reminds me of a question about race wheels. I bought my first set back in Nov last year and have not put them on my bike yet but since it has all been trainer riding no issue.
Now it's hopefully time to get outside more consistently, I was wondering whether I should just put them on for a few rides pre race to keep the mileage down on them or whether people use them as their "normal" training wheels too.

Thanks

From what I've read and have been told, the answer of using Race Wheels during training depends 1.) on the brand/type of race wheel and 2) Personal Preference.  The Hed Jet 60 Clinchers are a close-to bombproof wheel, so you can also use them as an everyday training wheel.  It's actually just a Hed Ardennes wheel with carbon fairings attached to the rim.  So the strength and structure of the wheel has nothing to do with the carbon; whereas the carbon on Zipp wheels is directly mounted between the rim and the spoke, so the integrity of the wheel depends on the carbn and they may not fair as well with everyday training.  Although I have heard that the Zipp 404 clinchers can take a beating. 

This was part of the reason I decided to get Hed Jet Race wheels.  I feel if I'm going to drop that much coin on a wheel, I want to enjoy them as much as possible and not just a handfull of times.  Also, the aero wheels handle much different than my stock wheels that came with the bike.   With the aero race wheels the bike goes into corners much faster, handling in crosswinds is much different, and come Race Day I want to make sure I've had enough time using my Race Wheels so I feel comfortable with them.  That's my .02 cents.