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which bike for upcomming race

jacksonpt
jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
in Social Groups
Since I'm bored and like to talk bikes...

race format is run/bike/run/bike/run. Each bike leg consists of 3 laps around the Watkins Glen International Raceway:
bike_course_500w.jpg

I've got a race coming up and I'm trying to decide which bike to use. I've got
- Spec Roubaix -typical carbon road bike, jack of all trades, master of none... handles well, rides well, but not "race" fast
- Cervelo P2 - tri bike... stiff and fast but the handling isn't exactly confidence-inspiring

Normally I'd take my tri bike wihtout even thinking about it, but this is a tight course with ~1000' of climbing each bike leg. The Roubaix is going to climb and handle better, but the P2 will be faster in a straight line. The straights on the course are pretty short, so I'm leaning towards the Spec... but I have a race bike for a reason.

Thoughts? Or other random bike talk?

Replies

  • Cyclink
    Cyclink Posts: 517 Member
    Since it's laps around a course, the average grade goes to 0, so an aero bike would help you on the descents but the tight turns lend themselves to a road bike.

    I'd put aero wheels on the road bike and call it a day.
  • narak_lol
    narak_lol Posts: 855 Member
    One more vote to the Roubaix...

    As you described the course is tight and not that much long stretch of straight road seeing from the map, plus 1000 feet in a 3.4 miles course is not insignificant. These don't seem to favour the P2, IMHO.
  • coachlevi
    coachlevi Posts: 16
    Hmm... any way to duplicate some of the corners in practice?

    I've been up to Watkins Glen but never that close to or on the track. Is this the Fly by Night Duathlon you're doing?
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
    Hmm... any way to duplicate some of the corners in practice?

    I've been up to Watkins Glen but never that close to or on the track. Is this the Fly by Night Duathlon you're doing?

    Yes it is the Fly By Night.

    I can probably find some corners that would be close enough...
  • coachlevi
    coachlevi Posts: 16
    Watching this video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gCudf4ZRRk - it does look a little hairy for the P2.
  • jagi410
    jagi410 Posts: 97 Member
    Is using the road bike with the tri/race bike wheelset an option?
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
    Is using the road bike with the tri/race bike wheelset an option?

    Yep.
  • matsprt1984
    matsprt1984 Posts: 181 Member
    Is using the road bike with the tri/race bike wheelset an option?

    Yep.

    I'm curious, what are your race wheels ??
  • lpherman01
    lpherman01 Posts: 212 Member
    I've raced at Watkins Glen and always wanted to ride it on my bike, but the Nascar Nazis there wouldn't let us do that. I would say that you'd be better off with the Roubiaux with the Aero wheels. There are 4 tighter corners (1, 2, 7 & 8) with downhill approaches where I think that it is imperative to maintain as much cornering speed as possible. You don't want a squirrelly handling bike.

    Let us know how it goes.
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
    Is using the road bike with the tri/race bike wheelset an option?

    Yep.

    I'm curious, what are your race wheels ??

    HED Jet 5s
  • jagi410
    jagi410 Posts: 97 Member
    Is using the road bike with the tri/race bike wheelset an option?

    Yep.

    I'm curious, what are your race wheels ??

    HED Jet 5s

    Perfect, a Roubaix on HED's should be a monster for that course. Slap 'em on and go give it hell!
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
    Race is a week away... pretty sure I'm going with the race bike. I've got some good rides in the last couple of week and am pretty comfortable with the handling. Between the wide track and the banked turns I should be good.
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
    Race was today... bike course was brutally fast, it was great. Race bike with HEDs was perfect... contis gripped really well so I could dive hard and carry max speed into the turns.

    Still have to dig through my garmin data, but at first glance looks like max speed was 42mph and avg speed was 22.1.

    Awesome race!
  • lpherman01
    lpherman01 Posts: 212 Member
    Cool. Where did you hit max speed & how was turn 6 (the diving turn leading to the up hill hairpin)?
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
    Cool. Where did you hit max speed & how was turn 6 (the diving turn leading to the up hill hairpin)?

    Max speed every lap was coming into turn 6, and the turn was great. I carried more speed than most into the turn so it wasn't hard to position myself for the corner and the hill coming out of the turn.

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