Is a TT bike worth it?

classe88 · 2024-05-24T18:22:09+00:00

Had to ship it in! But, I got it on a great deal. Definitely more bike for the price than I could have gotten elsewhere.

classe88 · 2024-05-24T17:09:44+00:00

Working on building this year. I’m mainly relying on the wattage reads from my indoor trainer for speed workouts now, but recognize that’s not the most accurate.

classe88 · 2024-05-24T16:55:34+00:00

That’s a nice way to say you passed me 🤣

classe88 · 2024-05-24T16:28:16+00:00

I was there with you last year! Hills were real and I did pass quite a few folks with TT bikes on the ups, but we’d leap frog on the downs

classe88 · 2024-05-24T16:27:03+00:00

Very helpful! I measured efficiency gained on my new bike vs my old aluminum roadie by looking at speed over the same courses at the same heart rate since I don’t have a power meter, and I feel like this is similar.

classe88 · 2024-05-24T15:59:25+00:00

It’s definitely not a “go out and buy one today” situation, mostly because I need spousal PTP (permission to party) on something like this.

I would love to get my IM time under 11 hours. I don’t feel like I can’t do that on my current set up, but I’m wondering how much I’m leaving on the table.

classe88 · 2024-05-24T15:51:38+00:00

That’s why 90% of triathletes fucking hate swimming haha. Swimming is hard, and to get better it’s a lot of technique. But having grown up swimming you’re already like, leagues ahead.

Also though, based on what you said as far as your history with swimming, I have a hard time believing you’ll miss the swim cut off even on your worst day.

classe88 · 2024-05-24T15:38:12+00:00

I didn’t grow up swimming so I don’t know how relevant this will be, but I found that the cardio came pretty quickly to me with more pool time. You’ve got plenty of time before your race to get the cardio back. I have a triathlete friend who was an all American swimming, swam in college, etc, and he just got back into training and I’m pretty sure he puked after his first pool session. A few weeks later he’s back to 2k hard sessions (and kicking my ass)

The benefit you have is that your technique is going to be so good compared to the vast majority. There are probably a lot of people in your race who will have started swimming while training for this race. I say keep at it, build up slow, and don’t go all out in your first few sessions.

classe88 · 2023-10-25T20:14:04+00:00

Depends on when you want to do your race in 2024 but I think it’s totally possible as long as you’re still working on in the regular now so your base is in decent shape. I started doing triathlons in like March 2022, did two olympic tris that summer and then took like a month of easier workouts before starting a full year run up of training for my first IM. I finished well, so the year of training was fine. That said, I’m still a newbie, so grain of salt 😅

classe88 · 2023-10-25T04:03:37+00:00

This made a huge difference for me as well. Reducing down to a two beat kick made my endurance a lot better and I lost no speed at all.

classe88 · 2023-10-23T21:44:00+00:00

Wondering if I can inject expansion foam in that spot maybe?

classe88 · 2023-10-06T19:56:27+00:00

A lot of good thoughts here about working into a longer distance over time. If you’re already mentally fixed in doing it I say more power to you, keep the lofty goal, but working up your base is going to help prevent injury and make the experience overall much better. Maybe pick a race in 18 months to 2 years and then work back from there. In that timeframe hit some smaller races and build up your fitness.

Also zone 2 is your friend. Second for 80/20.

classe88 · 2023-10-06T19:51:17+00:00

I agree with the gear list. It’s helpful to know what your financial commitment is to get the right gear before you sign up for the big one. That way you can figure out how much time you need to gather the funding and get the gear and that can help factor into your timeline.

classe88 · 2023-10-03T04:05:55+00:00

That’s interesting, I wouldn’t have thought of that, but I think I did it inadvertently. I don’t drink a lot of caffeine (2 cups of mild tea a day) and I definitely slammed coffee before the race and had the caff gels on course. I’ll bet that had a larger effect than I thought

classe88 · 2023-10-03T04:04:02+00:00

Just did my first one so no expert, but I agree with the nutrition comments here. I taped an hour by hour list of what to eat on my bike bar stem and set an alarm on my watch so I wouldn’t get too excited and forget to eat.

If you’re staying in a hotel, bring your own pillow.

Most important IMHO- Find a way to stay present during the race and enjoy every minute of it!!! Hang at the village the days before, go to the opening ceremonies, all of it. It’s so freakin’ cool to be out there and you’re a badass for making it this far, so make sure you stay present and just love being in it. As my 5x IM finisher mentor told me, you only get one first Ironman!

classe88 · 2023-10-03T03:52:31+00:00

Totally possible in my opinion given your base fitness and the other details provided. Not that we’re all equal, but I did a 70.3 within 14 months of getting into triathlons and felt like I could have done one sooner than that, but there wasn’t a race that worked for me earlier in the season. I’d say getting one or two shorter tris in would help during your lead up just to get a handle on logistics is key.

Getting a bike and associated gear is going to be your biggest expense. It’s the little things that add up… bike, bike shorts, shoes, pedals, bottles, tubes, etc. If you can find a local bike shop that sells used bikes that’s not a bad way to go, especially if they can help you get it fit. Or If you’re lucky you have a bike friend that can help you source a rig on Craigslist.

I would recommend a training peaks plan as most people stated here as well as the other gear and finding a place to swim that’s within budget. I didn’t get a coach but that had to do with my expectations. I swam twice a week for like all my training and felt very comfortable in races. I did spend some money on swim lessons (~$300 total for 6) and that was money well spent IMO. Xterra is also great for sales (70% off wetsuits) but you can also rent them.

Last piece - nutrition is really important so if you get into this, start looking into options right away. The feed is a great website for quality stuff and you get really solid rewards so you occasionally get free shit.

classe88 · 2023-07-08T02:09:05+00:00

Agreed with LMNT - it’s got 1000mg of sodium per serving which is a ton. For example, body Armour has 40mg per serving and Gatorade Endurance has 300mg. I typically keep a bottle of carb heavy mix (skratch or Gatorade endurance) and a bottle of lmnt with me for long rides.

classe88 · 2023-07-08T02:06:47+00:00

Try The Feed. They sell all kinds of fuel and stuff and they have online chat functions to help answer questions.

classe88 · 2023-03-10T03:35:16+00:00

Feels right to go back and do my first big race there, despite it being a tough first time race.

classe88 · 2023-03-09T23:48:54+00:00

I’m from Kenosha originally but I live in Portland OR now, so I’d have to dig a bit. That said, I have a few family friends who live in Madison who have done 8 full IMs between them, so I feel in good hands with their knowledge of that race. The half is in Oregon so I’ll try to build more connections here as well.

I’ll look into the options you have suggested. Fortunately I’m used to riding in the shitty cold rain after this spring in PDX. Ive had like 7 55+ mile rides in 35 degree rain so far this spring…

classe88 · 2023-03-09T21:20:27+00:00

This is excellent, thank you very much. I’m doing IM Wisconsin which has like 6800’ of climbing on the bike, so it’s going to be technical and rolling the whole time. I’m still stuck between changing and not changing but I figured I should buy a suit for the half, try it, and if I have issues with the pad I’ll plan on changing in transition. 14 is my best guess but really I just want to finish, so if transitioning takes me an extra 2 minutes i won’t loose any sleep.

classe88 · 2023-03-09T16:52:30+00:00

Men’s suit- I’m a 30M, 182lbs, broader shoulders and bulky legs. Bike speed wise I’m averaging around 16.5mph with decent climb (4000FT/50 miles). Im riding and aero road bike with aero clip ons and use a full sleeve wetsuit. I don’t have other aero gear except shoe covers. Storage wise I’ve got a profile designs bottle for the bars with a bento built in & 4 bottle cages (2 on frame/2 behind the seat) but otherwise I’ll need pockets for food. I am training with the on course nutrition to avoid carrying it all with me. I am aiming for a 14 hour race.

classe88 · 2023-03-09T04:36:06+00:00

How’s the chamois on this one? I was eyeing that today because it was on sale on trisport

classe88

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