Leadville Equipment Dilemmas

Thanks for the contribution. :+1:

After doing Leadville in 2013, I would definitely change the way I did somethings. First off, I didnā€™t ā€œtrainā€ for it. I focused on Nationals that year and let the cards fall where they may, as Leadville was 2 or 3 weeks after Leadville. I was fortunate to pull off a 8:25 from Orlando with 7 days at altitude before the event. That saidā€¦

When you pick equipment, keep this in mind: Leadville not a MTB race. Its a gravel race that happens on a MTB. There is virtually nothing ā€œtechnicalā€ or rough about the race. Its a wide open double track race with 1, short section of single track. I say all that to say: I would hands down recommend a hard tail. For tires, something like a Ikon front and Aspen rear. Im not a Schwalbe fan- too many sidewall issues. A 32t with Eagle will be perfect. I would skip the dropper- no need on this course. The course is pretty kind to tires- so take the previously mentioned with a little grain of salt. However- coming off Columbine, there is a lot of shale rock. That section can be high potential in a tight space to slice a thin-wall tire. If you make it through that, you should be fine. That section of the course tends to be really tight with traffic walking up and you flying down, very, very close to them.

Its a super cool race. Donā€™t forget to look around and take in the experience. On Columbine you feel like youā€™re on top of the world.

Finally: donā€™t forget. Its boils down to eat, drink, pedal, repeat!

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Yep, pretty much. I donā€™t want anyone to misunderstand and Iā€™m probably not explaining it well, but in my case, what if the big buckle cutoff was 9:15? Should I feel better about my performance?

In a nutshell, Iā€™m focusing more on the process or things I can control (did I train, eat, sleep to the best of my ability, was my effort at my limits?) over the results. Racing is fun this way for me and I donā€™t fret over the stuff I canā€™t control. Donā€™t want to get to a place where Iā€™m discouraged from racing because I canā€™t finish under a certain time or in the top 10% of my age group or whatever.

But weā€™re all wired differently and should seize on whatever source of motivation we can!

Iā€™m in for Leadville in 2020 (deferred) and Iā€™m doing the 3 day Leadville stage race this July for course recon. Also hoping to improve corral position (in purple, hoping for green).

Iā€™ve done a bunch of research and Iā€™m planning to ride Aspens on my FS Spark RC (about 24.5 lbs). Iā€™m debating taking the dropper off, I think itā€™s only about a half pound, but would hate to have it fail. I figure Iā€™ll ride it at the stage race and make a decision for next year.

Iā€™m also planning to wear a camel back. Iā€™m debating the strategy for stops. Definitely going to make twin lakes my first stop and going to hit pipeline inbound, but debating whether to stop at twin lakes inbound as well. I donā€™t love the idea of carrying extra water weight up columbine, but Iā€™m worried I might beat my crew to pipeline if I hit twin lakes inbound. Any advice there?

Itā€™s about 12 miles from twin lakes to pipeline. Itā€™s possible your crew will be delayed leaving twin lakes and getting to pipeline in time.

I stopped at twin lakes outbound and inbound. That was it. If you have a camelback, plus one bottle in a bottle cage, youā€™ll have enough liquid carrying capacity to make it from twin lakes to the end. Or fill up the camelback at twin lakes, and bottle if needed at Carter summit from the race aid station. Thatā€™s likely what Iā€™ll do this year.

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Me too. I started with 3 bottles, took 3 bottles at Twin Lakes out, 3 more at Twin Lakes in. 9 bottles total for 9 hours and all of my calories came from the bottles with the exception of the chews I ate right at the start of the race.

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You might want to check out the LT100 podcast, think they did a segment on this in the past few months. Fatty has done the race 20+ times and has great advice on all aspects of the race. Also, they covered this in a TR podcast last Aug/Sep after @Nate_Pearson did it.

Personally, and Iā€™m no expert on this, I wore a camelback from the start to Twin Lakes as I thought it would be tough to drink from a bottle up Kevinā€™s due to traffic and rough climb. Might be less of an issue with the wave start.

Didnā€™t make any stops until Twin Lakes. Make sure you know where your crew will be located at Twin Lakes (which side of the road and before/after the dam). I dropped off my camelback (which was still 1/3 full out of 70 oz) there with my crew and picked up 2 bottles that I kept for the remainder of the trip.

Refilled 1 bottle atop Columbine (canā€™t drink much on way down), both at Twin Lakes (I was stopped to fix a flat or I might not have bothered), and then 1 at Pipeline inbound.

Thereā€™s absolutely no reason to carry extra anything up Columbine. The race provided support is excellent and plentiful. You can refill a bottle or 2 at the top of Columbine in 30 seconds. I drank 2 full bottles between Twin Lakes and the top of Columbine.

I tried to keep things simple for my crew and just planned to see them at Twin Lakes in and out, then met them at the finish. Planned on using the race provided support the rest of the time and it was fine. You could easily do the whole thing without a crew.

If I did it again, I might just go with 2 bottles and top off/refill as needed. Best of luck!

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With Leadville 2022 coming up, Iā€™d like to revive this thread with the following question: for those who have completed the Leadville and were pleased with your bike/setup, what did you ride?

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Hardtail, Continental RaceKings (I think it was that model), UWSE hydration pack and one extra bottle, aero helmet and a plan.

I rode to power and was very conservative until in the valley roads on the way back.

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Scott spark RC full suspension with 2.25 aspens. I ran uswe hydration packs for entire race with regular skratch mix. I swapped out for fresh packs at twin lakes stop both ways. Slammed a bit of coke at the top of columbine and pipeline inbound and also grabbed a coke from someone passing them out on the road climb inbound (maybe at carter also, I canā€™t remember). Cliff shot gels were my only nutrition besides skratch and the cokes. I was getting in about 400 calories an hour and also 400mg of caffeine via gels. I rode with power as well and paced it pretty steady the entire way. 190 NP for the day, which felt about the same as 225ish at sea level for similar effort/duration.

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Hmmmm

SC Blur, Vittoria Mezcals, USWE hydration pack with my homemade drink mix. One frame bottle with plain H2O. Revelate Designs stem bag for food, their top tube bag that attaches to the seat post for tools (I think itā€™s called the Jerrycan). I did not have a crew and this setup worked well with neutral aid. Aero helmet. I used a dropper post and it was very happy I did. The ability to super-tuck some of the road descents well outweighed the weight penalty, and I found it helpful for the off road descents even though they arenā€™t overly tech.

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One other thing I would think about it clothing. It can be cold at the start but quite warm by the end. I wore a vest and arm warmers until I got to Columbine and them ditched them into my special needs bag

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My plans are a Pivot Mach 4SL. Fast Trak grid tires, I think this may be overkill, but itā€™s what Iā€™ve been running for the last few months and really like them. Would rather carry a few extra grams than deal with a higher likelihood of a flat. Plan is to run a pack and one big bottle to twin lakes. Drop the pack and do 2 bottles up to columbine and back to twin lakes. Pack and large bottle from twin lakes inbound.

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I ride a Orbea Oiz TR (120mm FS) with 2.2 Conti Race King ProTections, 32T oval ring, 10-52 cassette. The 120mm bike is definitely not needed for the course but I have 1 bike for both training and racing so thatā€™s what Iā€™ll ride. I ride it fully locked out on almost all the climbs.

For nutrition I do 2 full sized bottles in the cage, no pack. Mix is Tailwind and I will augment with some occasional Maurten Solid bars in the beginning of the day swapping to Never Second C30 gels on back end. No caffeinated gels. Swapping to Run Gum has been transformational for me in terms of the energy I get from it, the lack of a hard crash, and doesnā€™t impact my GI system like caffeine gels do.

For my final soap box - I think 90% of people have the wrong gearing at this race. The FB group is full of people worrying about spinning out on downhills or flats and how you need to have a 34T or some other BS instead bringing gearing that will allow you to spend more time riding instead of walking. People have different physiologies so there are always exceptions, but IMO most shouldnā€™t be considering going higher than a 30T unless you are 4 W/Kg or above. Going from 10-50 to 10-52 gives a little more wiggle room.

Gearing is a huge pet peeve of mine because I have ridden both all of Columbine and Powerline on long pre-rides and know I can clear it, but itā€™s virtually impossible to do on race day because people with bad gearing in front of you will clog up the the trail with the conga line.

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+1 on this. I run a 32 w/ 10-52 and Iā€™d run a 30 (or 28) up front if my power meter crank would allow it. Iā€™m right at 4w/KG (sea level). There is no time I can remember needing a taller gear, but several places I wish I had a 28 or 30.

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If you donā€™t mind me asking, what was your time goal, and did you meet it?

My goal was sub 9 for the big buckle and went 8:45 and had plenty left. As mentioned I was a bit to conservative for 3/4 of the ride.

I forgot to mention I used a 32T oval chainring (with 10-50) which I liked a lot. As others mentioned, the whole course is rideable, itā€™s others getting in the way.

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@Greenswim Out of curiosity - what was your w/KG and at what altitude for that time?

Hoping to race Leadville next year, and am setting up the bike now - Orbea Oiz 100mm. Thanks everyone for the input (@grwoolf @tgarson), already have a 10-52 and a 32 chainring, may go to a 30 chainring.

Personally shooting for a 4w/kg - 4.2 w/kg at sea level.

Interesting reading your comment as I listen to the Leadville Podcast.

I wonder how much of the struggles are to do with too many riders overestimating their speed both in gearing and tyres. Combine 2.25" nearly slick tyre, and a chain ring thatā€™s one or two sizes too big, you end up with lots of people having to grind up the steep, dusty climbs - this a lot of up out of the saddle and general rear wheel slippage that a smaller chainring and/or different tyre might have helped mitigate.

Just thinking aloud.