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Nice Ironman

I'm doing the Nice Ironman next year and I'm contemplating investing in a tri bike to replace my road bike with it's clip ons. The Nice course looks fairly odd however being almost entirely uphill for the first half and then almost entirely downhill for the second half. The question is this: given the nature of the course would I actually be better off sticking to the road bike?

Comments

  • triNicktriNick Posts: 14
    On a course like that I might use a road bike with clip-on's. I can't remember if it's this race or the monaco 70.3 race where they recommend road bikes.

    The pictures i've seen from IM France show a lot of road bikes.
  • I have a TT and road bike and chose to use my road bike. I fitted my faster and lighter (more expensive and precious!) wheels, from the TT bike, onto the road bike, and then fitted clip-ons.

    The 1st and last section, to and from the hills from the sea is flat and very fast. I'm glad I had theclip-ons fitted for the way out from the sea, but to be honest, I never used them again until the stretch along the coast to the marathon start.

    When I was checking the bike in, I saw lots of TT bikes, and was worried I had made the wrong decision. My preference has always to use the TT bike if I can because I just love it! There were also lots of road bikes, probably half and half, and as soon as the climb started up into the hills, I knew I had made the right decision. There are 2 long,long, long climbs, and I found it was good being able to change position. Had I been on the my TT bike, I wouldn't have been so comfortable I'm sure.

    Chainset and expecially cassette choice is the key. I had a standard chainset with a 11-25 on the rear. Personally, I'd stick with a standard I think, but definately go larger on the rear, 27 would have been better. This is just a personal preference as I like to spin rater than mash, and I was mashing for a long time up some of the climbs!

    I'd still say the most important thing is to be comfortable. If you can be comfortable on long climbs and some short, steep ascents, then a TT bike is fine. The descents at the end are long and fast, and I didn't see anyone down on aero bars, I did see a few people by airlifted out though (maybe they were on their bars) The descent is the most fun I've ever had on a bike - enjoy! I felt very fast and comfortable down on the drop witin easy reach of the brakes!

    I'm glad I chose a road bike, next year I'm doing Challenge Copenhagen, that's flat so the TT will make an appearance! The scenry and experience in Nice is absolutely amazing! As I'm writing this I'm wishing I was doing Nice again though, who knows.
  • My husband and I are competing in the France Ironman Nice.  We live in Utah, USA and need to get our bikes over there.  Can anyone out there tell me how you got your bike from the US to Nice?  

    We aren't very mechanically inclined, so taking the bike apart and then putting it together stresses us out.  So, I'm wondering if there is a service that will ship for us or a bike shop in Nice?  

    Any help is much appreciated!

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