Ironman Leeds (UK) Hilly Bike Setup

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So, with a little bit of luck, this weekend I’m set to take on Im My UK. The bike course is 112 miles and has 8 and a half thousand feet of climbing. And this is what I’m riding. In this video, I’m going to talk you through the changes I’ve made to my triathlon bike to hopefully get me around that course as fast and as comfy as possible. So, the bike is my Canyon Speed Max CF. This is the entry level in the Canyon range. I know time trial bikes and triathon bikes are really expensive, but this is the the lowest point you can get into in the market in Canyon’s range. It’s been resprayed in a lovely blue color. I actually bought this frame as a crash damage frame on Facebook Marketplace. So, the bike’s seen some stuff already and it’s going to see plenty more. It’s a size large. I’ve had a bike fit on it, so it’s ready to go in that aspect. But, let’s have a look at the components. The biggest challenge on this course that I and many others will face is cycling up the hills. And for that reason, I’m 98 kilos. I’m not particularly a climber. However, that’s not going to stop me getting round. I do just need to put on sensible gearing. Now, on these bike legs, you’re thinking about getting around the bike. Yes. but you’re also trying to protect your legs for the marathon run you’ve got to do afterwards. So that’s what I’ve got in mind here. It’s a two by chain set. So it’s 12speed 2 by Shramm AXS Rival. The crank set is a 4633 which is like cyclcos gearing really. Then I’ve got a 1036 rear cassette that basically gives me a massive range for one but also that lowest gear that 336 smaller than a 1:1 ratio that is enough to get me up the steepest of climbs. And I think I will give myself a pat on the back for that gearing choice there. It might not look the coolest in transition, but that doesn’t matter once you’re out on the course. Drivetrain optimizationwise, firstly, I’ve made sure to get shifters both on the base bar and the extensions, so I can change gear regardless what position I’m in. And also, I work with NRG chains, and I have one of their wax chains. It isn’t dirty. It is just black and blue. It’s a YBN chain. They’re slightly faster than the Shramm flat top chains, and of course, it’s fully immersive wax. So, we know that’s going to save me some power in that drivetrain efficiency as well as not getting mucky out on course and you know becoming slower because of that. I’ve also got some of the ceramic bearing jockey wheels. Again, just another little marginal gain. Like every little helps and I might as well. Whilst I’m on the shifters, I’ve actually tweaked my base bar tape. I’ve double wrapped this tape and made a little ridge halfway down. I found that this is a bit long reachwise for me when I’m climbing on the base bar. So, I’ve got a little ridge halfway down so I can climb a little bit further back and when I’m descending I can be a little bit further forward and have access to the brakes. tested this and it rides pretty well. The course is quite bumpy in places, so I did want some padding on that base bar when I’m riding it. And thinking along the same lines, I’ve put on my watch shop dualsided armrests. Whether these are performance gain or not, I don’t know, but they definitely hold me in position a lot better when you’re in position and going over some rough surfaces. It just reduces the risk of me like my elbow slipping off and I really like the feel of them. Braking, I’ve just made sure that the disc and pads are relatively new. I’ve got a 160 rotor on the front and a 140 on the rear. If I was starting again, I’d probably put a 160 on the rear, but I find hydraulic discs just that good that that’s not really a problem anyway. And I guess I’m saving a handful of grams on the rear rotor for what it’s worth. Wheels and tires are the Veta Lysio Ultras. I do work with Veta on this channel. They’re 60 mil deep. They’re 24 mil internal, 30 mil external. I’ve paired those with the Continental GP 5000 S’s in a 30 mil. Again, because the surface is mixed, I didn’t want to go to the TTS and I did want a slightly wider tire. They don’t make the TTS in wider than 28. These actually measure 32 and the clearance is quite tight at the rear. This frame is only rated to 30 mil. So on these wide wheels, the tires do blow out a bit more. I’m really happy with the setup. I’m happy that I’ve got the widest tires that I could fit on and I really like how Continental Roll. I’ve tested out some other tires in the past and just not really got on with them as well. So I’m crossing everything that uh the puncture gods are looking down upon me on the day. I’ve set them up tubeless with plenty of sealant. And I think I put 70 mil of sealant in, which is a lot, but again, if I do puncture, I want there to be enough in there that it can seal and fail to seal a few times. The wheel set themselves are only just over 1,300 g, so I know that I’m not taking on any weight penalties with those. You’ll also notice the disc at the rear is a disc cover. It’s from Easy Gains. These are so much cheaper than a solid disc wheel, and you basically get all of the gains, obviously, without the cost. That is the tagline, but it is real. On such a hilly course, you might be forgiven for thinking, is it worth the weight penalty? It absolutely is. I just trusting the wind tunnel test results. You put the numbers in various online calculators and they all tell you that a disc wheel is still faster. Plus, who doesn’t love that wamp wamp wamp as you’re climbing? Now, really important over a ride of this length is nutrition and hydration. So, classic triathl bolted everywhere. So, I’m going to start from the front. I’ve got a bottle in between the arms that works really well for me. I don’t really lose it because it’s between my arms most of the time. It has got a little bit of like a retaining clip thing in front of it. And I find this this works really well. I’ve not had a bottle drop out of there. I can also see how much is left in that bottle and I can drink it. You know, it’s reminding me in front of me to drink. Got the Canyon frame bottle as well. That’s about 650 mil. I can’t refill that on route without stopping. So, that’ll be a case of I’ll just fill that up and once it’s gone, it’s gone and I’ll put it back on. I do think having that bottle on there does make this bike a bit more aerodynamic. From what we’ve seen from various bits of testing, filling in this space is good. So, if it’s going to make me a bit faster, then fine. And then behind the saddle, this is temporary, I guess. Bit of a rudimentary aluminium mount. I am waiting on an easy gains hydro gains I think they’ve called it. Essentially Clint’s done some testing, found a setup that works really well speedwise and gives me the option to have two bottles if I want. So I’ve got this on for the time being for a bit of a test ride, but I’m hoping to get it on for the weekend. Food storage wise and I’m going for pretty much a 100% gel approach for this race. I can only actually fit three gels in this top tube box, which isn’t amazing, but it’s better than nothing. So I am going to do the classic triathlete move and tape two gels to my extensions. My arm sits above that little bit there. So maybe filling in that space is a little bit more arrow. Either way, I’m putting two gels on the front so that I can get to them easily and not have to stuff so many in my pockets. Technology-wise, I’ve got two different mounting options for my Garmin. One on top of the bottle and one at the end of the extensions. I’ve gone for the one on the end of ext the extensions. Although it’s a hilly course, I’ll still be spending a fair bit of time in the extension. So, it makes sense to have that visible there so I can see the route and see my numbers and so on. I have tested it back here and it’s just a bit too much in my face and I can’t see it when I’m down there. So, I know that when I’m sat up, I still be able to see that there. And I’ve gone for the Garmin Edge 1040. It’s what I use all the time. I have previously used like a Wahoo Bolt, like a smaller computer just sat in the middle, but I think for this length of event, being able to see more data and have a bigger map is a big advantage. And then power-wise, these are new. I’ve got the Favo Aba Pro RS’s, the Shimano cleat fitment. I’ve used the old Favo pedals for years, really liked them. Recently, used the Garmin pedals through training. And I was actually going to use the Garmin pedals on this bike, but I wanted to change the bearings and the pedal bodies because I’d used them a couple of years and they’re getting quite worn and quite sloppy. I can’t get hold of a right pedal body for Garmin. I’ve rang Garmin, rang several retailers, can’t get them anywhere. So, I was in between a rock and a hard place. Ended up buying a set of these. The Garmin pedal bodies aren’t cheap either. I would have been £250 into replacing those. So, these are £650, which is a lot of money. But to me, in my mind, the true cost is only £400 because I’ve been buying pedal bodies anyway, I guess. But how I’ve justified that myself, I don’t know. But I know that those pedals are new, I’m not going to be like, you know, slopping in and out of them in my cleats. The weight of this bike, I never really pay too much attention to it, but on such a hilly course, I guess it does matter. So, without the spares in the spares box, without the bottles on and the gels on, it’s 9.8 8 kilos, which is nearly a kilo lighter than my Elves tri bike, which I guess is, you know, same wheel set on and same disc wheel and so on. Do you mind pigeons? I don’t think that’s bad for a triathon bike in a size large, fully fitted up, ready to go. Go on. To finish first, first you’ve got to finish. I’ve got plenty of spares on board. Let’s have a look at what I’ve got in there. Go on. Go on. So, this tool storage is aftermarket, but Canyon do put the print file up on the website, so I just got it printed by a kind follower. Thank you very much. And here’s everything I’m carrying in my tool storage. So, two CO2s and a valve, which I’ve used plenty of times, so I know that that works. A tubeless plug device, which has four plugs in it. So, it has a small one, a big one, a mediumsiz one on the other end, and another small one. If I go through four plugs, I’ve got bigger problems than plugging tubeless tires. So, I know that’s going to be hopefully enough. And you know what? If somebody else has a problem, I know that I could give them a plug and still be okay myself. head with that and a bit niche, but some nail scissors. I would normally use like a little razor blade or something, but in the heat at the moment, I don’t really trust myself. If I put the tubeless plug in, there’s a worm sticking out. It’s not a problem off-road, plenty of clearance and so on. But onroad, if that’s bashing my frame all the time, it might eventually wear through some paint or just be annoying or push the plug out. Just trim it down with a set of nail scissors. These weigh hardly anything. They’re quite small to fit in the box. If anyone wants a little manicure on the way around, let me know. Disc wheel valve adapter. Because I’ve got the rear disc wheel cover on, they can’t quite get the CO2 in the same angle. So, this helps. a 12speed quick link just wrapped in a bit of a bit of electrical tape. I have used one of these in a race before and it’s enabled me to finish the race. So, I always car always carry one of these. Sometimes quick links just fail. That chain is brand new so I’m sure it’ll be fine. Touchboard, but you never know. And then a multi-tool, which is one again that I use all the time with a chain link breaker on it as well. So, I’ve got everything that I need for that bike on this multi-tool. And then a little bit of comfort. So, what annoys me on a time travel bike is if I’ve got spares in that box and it rattles all the time, it’s going to be doing my head in. So, at the bottom of the box, I put this. This is a little sandwich bag with some baby wipes in. If I’ve had to stop and have a mechanical, it’s a bad time. I want to get going as quickly as possible, but I also want to be able to just wipe my hands and just be a bit more like, okay, I’m ready to go again now. Not be annoyed if I’ve got oil all over my hands or something. And then at the top, a couple of squares of kitchen roll. I guess the same sort of thing, but more than anything, it just fills that space up. So, and I’ve tested this. When I go over bumps, the things in the box aren’t jiggling and I’m not getting that rattling all the time. I need to be able to hear if there’s a rattle cuz I know it’s coming from somewhere else on the bike and I might need looking at rather than just rattling from my spares box. I know there’s no inner tube in there. I can’t fit one in in honesty and it is a pain to remove tubeless valves. I just guess that if I can’t fix a puncture with four tubeless plugs, then I’m on for a bad day anyway. So, that in a nutshell is my race bike. Have a good racer for racing and I’ll see you out