Maratona dles dolomites- bike weight vs. aero

Hi

Going to Maratona dles dolomites in July…one day race, 138km, 4230 altitude gain (hm).

In short I have two bikes to choose between:

  1. Giant Propel Aero disc brakes (2020 model), 8,4kg, di2, deep section wheel set

  2. Custom made bike built by friend with climbing wheels (shimano C24, rim brake, ultegra, 7,2kg

Which bike should I choose? Should I be a weight weenie or go with disc brakes and more aero?

Rider stats: 4,3watts/kg (315 FTP, 73kg)

Link til course
https://www.maratona.it/en/courses-2020

Imo you’ll gain more time on the descents with disc brakes. I was /am a heavier rider and was losing maybe 100 places every climb and gaining at least that many on descents!

It’s worth running it through bike calculator and seeing what difference it makes in the climb. For instance I just did it the the giau which Iirc is about 10k at 10%, and a kilo costs 40 seconds from a 75 minute climb. You could easily lose that with a less confident descent.

Really though, I’d go with the more comfortable bike (or the one I didn’t mind as much getting damaged by baggage handlers, but that’s a different can of worms!)

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I think with the amount of descending I’d use the propel since it has discs, I’m not good enough to not cook the carbon.

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I have alloy brake surface on my climbing wheels

In which case if you’re climbing under 15kph (I think that’s the speed) I’d use the climbing bike assuming that you’re a more confident descender than me!

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I’m doing the Maratona and (like the last time I did it) choosing my light bike, rim brakes, non aero, alloy rims.

The route is basically either uphill or downhill.