What’s your FTP / Time Goal? I do think for most people a 28 or a 30 will be better. I’m on a 32 at a ~8:30 time goal.
But, you have to be able to 100% make the change quickly and get a little time on the bike to make sure everything’s working correctly. Sometimes a Gear Change requires a chain change or you impact shifting (I went from a 34 to 38 for training and shifting was a little off, but 34 down to 32 was no problem)
Any issues or worries this close though, you’re better off sticking with what you have.
My Silver Rush correlates with about a 9:20 finish time and I got stuck behind a lot of people walking because I was in 400th place up Dutch Henry Hill. Of course I am going to try for sub 9 but everything will need to go perfectly.
I think you’ll be fine on a 32, I think if I had to pick “ideal” for you it might be a 30?
If you really want to up your cadence on the climbs and have everything on board to do it, get to it and switch to the 28. But you’ll need to make sure everything works as expected and you don’t end up messing with shifting or your chain length.
Help please! Trying to come up with a rough plan for my wife. FTP of 195 (at 4,500ft) and weight of 112.. Curious what ya’all think of her prospects of a sub-9 and what you would suggest for a rough FTP target on climbs, as well as flats? This will be round two, having finished in 9:40 last year without seemingly pushing it too hard (rode the full course with her friend and was there “just to finish”).
Messing around with Best Bike Split now but the smallest of inputs seem to have drastic implications on forecasted time. For example, what input do I use for “Course Road Condition” and “Course Terrain” for leadville. Inputs seem to impact times drastically (~1 hour difference between ‘offroad gravel’ and 'offroad dirt) so want to make sure I have this right. Any input here appreciated!
I’m the same. These 30t are a bargain that have worked fine so far. WolfTooth 30t
also works fine. (both are 104bcd because that’s what both our bikes have in this household) No affiliation. Purchased both on amazon last week because I didn’t trust the knockoff until I used it. It’s probably 5 grams heavier if I had to guess.
Has anyone used a top tube non-braze-on bottle mount that they trust to hold their bottle and not flop around?
I was on powerline yesterday and saw a couple guys in a truck with bikes on the back, and one of them had something that looked like it simultaneously strapped on a spare tube and a bottle above the top tube. It looked perfectly stable even though the truck and bikes were bouncing all over the place.
On BBS, I set my descending max speed to 25mph. I know I’ll go faster on some segments but will also be slower than what BBS assigns for others so this seemed like a reasonable compromise. I experimented with different maxes for my target just under 9 hrs and a 5mph max difference resulted in about 5watts - meaning, when I went from max 30mph to max 25mph, I need to average about 5w higher on the pedally stuff.
I am debating basically the same thing. Actually, have a 32t with Power2Max PM on the bike now but I brought with me to Leadville a 30t and my Favero MTB pedals thinking I may want to do the swap. The day after Silver Rush, I pre-rode up Powerline and walked some of lower but managed to pedal the rest. Yesterday, I pre-rode Columbine and didn’t have to walk any. This makes me think maybe I should stick with the 32t but then I know I won’t be fresh on race day and won’t have perfect line options. Then again, I’m scared to make a change this close to the race. Decisions, decisions
I think for someone who doesn’t have a lot of experience with this course, adjust your FTP for altitude (80% of Sea Level - ballpark 170w) and then Climb at 80-85% of that (135W-145W?). The goal is really to try to stay under your FTP and not burn matches as much as possible. If you spike upwards while climbing, ideally those spikes are for the most part keeping you under FTP. On the flats she should be trying to tuck in and stay out of the wind, but not going above FTP to stay with a group unless it’s brief to get on someone’s wheel or something like that.
I use Heart Rate and RPE as a good combination to this, because HR is still rather consistent for me at altitude, and am only rarely much above 80% Max Heart Rate. But, this is different for everyone.
At the same time - no noodling along unless you’re hiding from the wind in a pace line.
This is some of the best (and toughest) advice you can get. The climbs are certainly critical, but there is a ton of time on the course where it’s easy to back way off and take it easy after a climb or tough stretch into the wind. Unless I am spun out, I try to keep deliberate pressure on the pedals all day. I set a wattage floor that I try to stay on top of. For me, that’s about 76% of my altitude adjusted FTP. Feels super easy early, but requires real focus as the day goes on.
My prior XC bike (scott) only fit a single bottle in the triangle, so I would frequently mount a bottle cage on the top tube. I used a bit of thin bar tape between the cage and top tube (to protect the frame and give some “bite”) and then used zip ties through the cage and around the top tube to secure it. I would use 4 zip ties, 2 crossed pairs and it was super sturdy. I had a wreck once with this config and it broke the outer cage, but the mounting point didn’t budge. I think the key is finding a cage that has good routing for the zip ties. I always used specialized rib cages. I would also put a thick rubber band on the cage and loop it over the end (top) of the bottle to ensure it wouldn’t move forward when banging around or descending hard.
Arrived in Empire last night after a long day flying over from the U.K. it’s 8600ft here. We all slept well last night though and woke up this morning feeling refreshed.
Built the bike up this morning and after the flight the rear wheel is out of true and there is a wobble on the tyre. Was able to drop it off at the Cove Bike shop and they are going to have a look at it and also picked up some co2’s. Pick up the bike in the morning so hopefully all sorted by then. Will do a few rides from here before we head up to Leadville ok Thursday (well copper mountain).
We came back over Loveland pass which was beautiful. Just been chilling in the hot tub at the Airbnb now.
For reference, I’m shooting for sub 9 in red corral:
I am happy that I’ve changed from 34T to 32T this year and it’s been a nice confidence boost being able to clean every segment of the climbs on pre-rides however I still plan on walking the top 2 sections of Columbine and the bottom of Powerline b/c I have to do 120% or more FTP sustained on those sections which is a no go for race day.
The big difference I’ve noticed are on the lower grades of Kevins outbound, the middle of Sugarloaf, and lower Columbine where I can still spin really well and stay at 90-95% of ftp. In all, these add up to over an hour of less mashing for me which I think will be huge.
So even though you’re making me nervous talking about setup changes this close, if you do have a lot of bike maintenance/time to ride multiple times then I think lower gear is better. My terrible estimates based purely on my experience: Sub 9:00 - 32T, Sub 10:00 - 30T, 10:00+ consider 28T.
3.8 W/kg at 4500 feet translates to about 4.15 W/kg sea level equivalent.
The general rule of thumb is 4 W/kg at sea level to go sub 9 at Leadville. Although, your wife is on the lighter end of the range of Leadville riders, so I’d guess for someone her weight, a higher W/kg would be needed to go sub 9.
All-in, I’d guess she could get close - but would need to push consistently, and have a good day with pacing, fueling, hydration.
No reason to worry. My concerns are likely related to self doubt after riding the steep part of Powerline.
I walked it last time I raced exactly for the reason you alluded to. I would burn too many matches to ride it. Yesterday on the steep sections I was at 110-120% of FTP.
That steep face of powerline is not the place to let your ego take hold. I’ve seen multiple folks blow up trying to climb that face on race day. Walking a bit isn’t much slower and can be a nice rest for your pedaling muscles.
I’m referring to elevation adjusted and from what I know of frequent posters on here, I’d guess they’re also referring to elevation adjusted. With that said, take it all with a grain of salt. FTP itself is a rough estimate and then the percentage of that you should take for altitude adjustment is very person dependent, and then further complicated by the fact that it probably differs by another 7% just from the low and high points of the course! So my best ‘guess’ for my adjusted FTP at 10,000ft is about a 20 watt range and then who the hell knows for the top of Columbine.
I do plan on paying attention to HR more though than anything else. Personally, for whatever reason I can only sustain a HR avg of about 10 bpm lower than I can at sea level. So race day, I’ll be trying to stay around 130-135 most of the day and really dial it back on the steep sections if I start to see 145+. (I have a pretty low max HR even at sea level). A lot easier for me to focus on than watts and I’ve figured out my ranges over the prerides the last two weeks and paying close attention to RPE.
