gripen

Wow, interesting. Maybe I should look at importing my stuff from now on. Sounds like an option. I'll look at the various alternatives now. Thanks for the info. It would be very risky since my front wheel is literally trashed from a small accident so I need a quickish solution in order to be ready for the first Energade Tri (can't use the TT bike.. sigh). Ever had any issues with stuff getting delayed in Customs? is the 17% VAT + Duty? The Scirocco looks about the same ballpark feature + weight wise as the Vento. I'd say if I'm willing to pay more, it needs to be a tad more of an aero advantage. I'll rather go cheap now and get decent race wheels later (if the itch/need arises!)

Interesting. Quick price check reveals the same delta between the 2 options. How's the lead time from the UK? What about customs? Problem is I need these wheels on my bike pretty quickly i.e. within 2 weeks, so I'm a bit stuffed.. Races start picking up from 2 October.

BuyCycle.co.za pricing (indicative): Vento - http://www.buycycle.co.za/custom-up-and-downgrades/campagnolo-vento-wheel-set.html R2699 Khamzin - http://www.buycycle.co.za/buyparts/wheelsets-road/camapgnolo-en/campagnolo-khamsin-wheelset.html R2030 Response from the dealer who quoted me (I questioned their quote where Khamsin was quoted at R2860 and Vento at R2850): "Buy cycle may discount certain products from time to time , we cannot dictate what they may or may not charge. If you look closely at the prices on your links you will see the previous prices and what you’ll save. They also had the Khamsin Wheels for almost R3000.00 before they discounted them. They must be getting a much better price from the supplier because they sell more." What would you recommend?

Shimano wheels or Shimano anything? I don't really understand Shimano making wheels.. more of an SRAM "fan" myself.

Thanks for the comments. Let me see what their actual price is on the Khamsins. I'm ok with either :-) The Vento is ~100g lighter though.

Shimano with Campag freebody unlikely. I'm also not so sure about 2nd hand wheelsets, you never know how many potholes were "navigated". Does the quoted price sound steep though? Apparently the Khamsins and Vento are similar (in price).

Link? Search not turning up anything.. Entry level is fine! I'm a triathlete - this is my cheat bike :-) for draft-legal road races and training.

Anyone have this wheelset? I'm looking at a quotation of R2850 (incl) to fit this wheelset. Sounds a bit steep to me. Need a stupid Campag free body so may as well go for Campag wheels. I was hoping to come in under R2k but it's looking a bit impossible. Anyway, is this a good price? What about the Khamsin?

It's a pity the AR5 doesn't have a reversible seat post, like the Argon E series bikes do. That would make it the perfect versatile machine. Personally I have 2 bikes, more of a Triathlon rider so I got myself a cheapie road bike for the half-handful of road races I do each year. So I would say it depends where most of your races will be. For 70.3 Road bike is actually better (you lose more time going up the hill than you could possibly gain coming back down with a super TT bike). My main worry with the clip ons is that you will not have the same geometry and setup as a TT bike. Remember, it's not about the bike - it's about the run. However, when there are hills involved, a light road bike with a big-ring cassette (26 or 28) or a compact crank will win every time hands down. I can easily ride 5h in the bars but I get buggered after 1-2hours on the road bike, my hands and arms get tired :-) guess it depends where your priorities lie!

I ran quite a tough 25km on Sunday, so I'm thinking only a light 6km on Thursday and then maybe a 1-2km jog on Saturday. Will do about 50% effort on my 2 cycle sessions for the week and then continue as per normal for swimming. There is a Triathlon next weekend :-)

Valid point regarding the 20 mins rule. I think my 10hour goal is ambitious Aim high, shoot low.. I'm training pretty hard so expecting full well to be able to shave 1.5 hours off my time. Seeing as I did walk so much on the 42k this year, I think I can gain a lot of time on the run and perhaps 20-25mins on the swim. As you rightly point out, if the wind blows the other way, all times go out the window (it did change direction at about 13:00-13:30 though, then it got tough..so if it blows that way the whole day, we're going to battle..) I'd say the 20 minute rule definitely applies from year 20. I can see that to take 20 mins off whatever time I get in 2012 is going to be one heck of a challenge. At this point, I'm still dreaming :-) Will re-asses after Challenge CT and after 70.3 in Jan. Going to go for somewhere between 5h and 5h20 for 70.3.. going to be tricky.

Nice! I'm right where you are :-) Did my first attempt as a "feeler" race, came in 12h30. A bit slower than expected but the run (an dby run I mean walk) was tough.. I'm aiming for -> Swim time:1:05 (was 1h25 in 2011) Bike time:5:15 (was 6h10 in 2011) Run time:3:30 (was 4h40 in 2011) T(ea) Time: +/- 8-10min combined Running 3h30 off the bike is going to be tough. I'm also a 1h30 21k'er. I'm doing 1-2 solid brick runs every single week, I reckon that's going to help a LOT. I'll re-adapt my training after Challenge Cape Town.. not chasing a time in CT, more of a "fun" race. IMSA 2012 will be a sprint :-) Before even thinking about IMSA 2012, there is 70.3 2012 - maybe a separate thread is required? I'm going to try crack 5h for that monster.. no small feat!

A few points that work for me: 1. Cramping - USN Cramp Stop. I don't cramp when I take it. Quackery or not, if I forget it on a long run/cycle I cramp. Simple as that. 2. Lactic acid - best bet is to continually take in carbs according to the 60-90g/hour principle and if you can, about 1 tbsp L-Glutamine powder per 90min or so. Not so easy to take it with though, but if you're worried, it will help. Don't test this in the race. Never ever. Train it like everything else. 3. Nutrition - Gels. Powerbar mainly - since we need to train those for IMSA :-) So I'm well used to them by now. I'm thinking 1 per hour. I'm going to do my running nutrition like IMSA. I've heard they are handing out GU at Challenge CT, slightly concerning! At C2C they *should* have Potatoes. That said, I'm also a huge believer in 32GI (esp the neutral flavour, I put it in my plain water bottles). 4. Avoid coke, bananas and mixtures of these. Neither of these mix well with gels or anti-cramp stuff. Personal opinion/advice. Use it or don't. On the other hand, I try take in as much powerade/energade as I physically can. I hope they have those nice freezing cold naartjie energade sachets like they had at 2Oceans.. won't that be nice!

I'n in the same boat and tend to agree! Also going to just about walk the City2City (even though I normally run at around 4:20/km). This Sunday will be the last fast run for a while. I enjoy the racing and can't just train and train and train. What's the point of training for months and doing 1 race? That's why people quit after 1 Ironman, it's a huge let down when it's over so quickly! My list of upcoming races is as long as my arm! And I love it! C2C, Energade Tris, Joburg/Suncity Tri, Challenge CT, 94.7 .. all in a matter of a 2-3 months :-) Crazy? Hell yes! I WISH I could train during the day, stupid work commitments. I just wanna mow down those cyclists training at 2pm (I mean that in the nicest possible way). Keep it up Garfield2010, CCT is going to kick our asses.

http://www.francosport.co.za/?page_id=3&event_id=78 23 October 2011