Right now I’m at 760 but going to go to 720. I have the stock 60mm cockpit on my Epic and going to look at 100mm and maybe a -25 drop but undecided on the drop. I’m 5’6" on a small frame and feel ‘full eagle’ when I’m hanging out on 760mm right now
I’m down to 690-695 on bar width, but I do have another set that are wider I can swap back on. Lengthened my stem 10mm and slammed it about as far as it can go too. Didn’t notice any handling difference on course last week.
I recently chopped my bars down to 690. I was frequently riding with my hands gripped narrow on the brake reservoirs anyway so this pretty much puts me back onto the actually grips.
As for stem I put a 100mm -17 on my size medium Epic about 6 weeks ago (I’m 5’10”). I make sure to stay on top of my stretching routine but judging by the window test as I’m out riding I think it gets my back quite a bit flatter, even without going full puppy paws. My back is totally flat when I drop onto my forearms. No problems with handling on my local singletrack so it’s likely what I’ll run for the race this year.
Not to derail - I’ve been eyeing a new skin suit that isn’t my team branded one for some incognito racing, and the Castelli you referenced is on sale at BikeTiresDirect. I feel that’s a pretty decent gain for those looking!
Clearly thinking ahead here but trying to plan out my chances of getting into this race in ‘27. Know some of you have been through this a bunch so…
Plan A is the combo camp/registration. If I’m hitting refresh as soon as it opens am I likely to get in or is it still tough?
Plan B is the lottery which is, well a lottery.
Plan C is to go the stage race route. I understand this sells out quick now too so similar question to the camp, if I’m in right as it opens what are my chances?
On the east coast so qualifiers or volunteering is tough unless I do better than expected in the stage race and even then traveling back a few weeks later might be difficult.
Plan A - you should be fine. Pretty sure they said there were 100 Camp + Entry slots this year.
There are a number of other options too - Coaching or Fundraising Packages become available that include entries.
I swapped the stock 60mm stem for a 80 on my XL and did a long road ride today. It was pretty life changing, thinking about trying a 100. But i will probably do a trail test with the 80 first. On the road, the position with the 80 felt so much better and more powerful. Not sure why I never tried a longer stem before, just figured it should be good since I sized up the frame.
Yeah, it definitely feels like a bit of an unlock for some free speed between Powerline and Columbine. I’ll shorten things back up for a couple slightly more technical races later in the fall, but think long and low is the move for Leadville.
Good discount on this one and other Cycplus pumps right now:
I’m mixing up my leadville prep this year and actually incorporating a little technical trail time on my rest days. Crazy thought that I might actually do some MTB riding to prep for a MTB race…
I’m usually 99% road training (and trainer time) on my MTB until I get to leadville and start pre-riding. I have no idea if it’s going to be any benefit for Leadville, but I always struggle with the surgy climbing on powerline inbound and figured some technical uphill work might get me a little more efficient and accustom to those kind of efforts.
I don’t see it hurting? Working on body position, navigation/picking lines while climbing and descending will surely help you. I do 90% of my training on my mtb, but I also love riding mountain bikes and live in one of the best areas to ride.
I also feel more trail time on the bike will help dial in what feels good. Those surges you mentioned, and also needing to do things add-lib like ratchet pedaling when you’re in a weird spot etc.
I think spending some time in technical terrain helps for spots like Powerline Inbound. Other than the steep bottom part, I’ve had no problem cleaning the whole thing unless someone unclips in front of me, and it’s good practice to be able to surge and recover, surge and recover, repeat across all of those technical sections.
Around here, it’s just hard to get any continuous training efforts off road. The trails are generally punchy and no extended climbs. The vast majority of my trail time is the second half of the year where I’m not training for anything and just riding/racing for fun. I’ll squeeze some fun times in during the season, but I’m mostly business prepping for my target races.
When I did my locals’ Leadville the weekend before the race (had never done it or any of the trails/roads out there), I will say going up Kevins and powerline outbound had some spots where you had to have focus, pick a line, and keep it going. Then I thought, this has to be 10x harder when you have hundreds of people around you. My respect for everyone doing it went up immensely.
For sure. I get it and looking back at my comment, it probably came off a bit harsh and I didn’t have that intention with it.
Whatever you’re doing is working! Trail time will probably help.
I think where the practice and skill comes in - getting comfortable cleaning terrain like that at different speeds. If you can go slow, fast, mid speed it gives you a lot more flexibility. Powerline for me for example is mostly being able to work my way through the technical sections while staying slower so I’m not blowing myself up, and reserving the surges for when you need them.
Pretty similar for me - I’ve taken to doing trail rides on my 60 min recovery days or 90 min Z2 days, and I just focus on keeping my effort as consistent and measured as possible, and not surging. Sort of like above - I pick the ascents and try to clean them slowly at low power without unclipping.
We are finally get some much needed rain here in Summit/Lake counties, but since it’s so dry out, it probably won’t do too much. Another dry spell is in the cards and hopefully the monsoons will kick in.
Yeah, that’s the kind of stuff that I hate. I’m much more comfortable on sugarloaf, columbine, and the last road climb where you can dial power up to the edge of sustainable pace and just hold it. I may try working in some 30/30’s late like I’ve done for Unbound the last couple years. I know the surges on powerline aren’t those kind of efforts, but maybe they would help with the ability to recover from the surges without the big power drop. Or maybe Powerline is just always going to suck for me 80+ miles in. I’d like to get to a point where I feel like I’m still racing on powerline, it’s always just felt like survival mode.
I spent some time at camp this year thinking about this. I think it’s always going to suck - but it’s easier on you when you can pick your way through those steeper technical sections at a slower pace and keeping it under threshold as opposed to going faster (and harder) so you have the momentum to make the technical aspect easier.
Basically - allows you to make the climb less punchy so you’re not feeling like you’re dying all the time.
But I’m with you - the steady climbs are way way easier.
This for me at elevation is always a challenge so I’ve been working on doing lots of over under work. I’m not sure it will help but after those little surges I have a hard time with my breathing so even just practicing that I’ve found to be beneficial.