Gael force, which bike?? which clothes??

jollylee

I folks,

There seems to be a lot of debate about what bike to use for Gael force west. I watched some videos of the competition and there's a big mix of terrain going on!

Anyone here do it last year? I don't see the point of buying a cyclecross just for one event so MTB or road bike? Opinions?

Joe

spurscormac

If I do it this year, having never done it before, it will be mountain bike, with slick tyres, and maybe even tri bars to get low for the road section.

Having said that - I've only got a mountain bike, so my options are somewhat limited :pac:

baza1976

MTB..... you'll only be cycling for 1hr ... 1hr .5 max.. no need to wasting money for 1 event..

blorg

There have been a number of posts regarding Gael Force in the cycling forum (do a search.)

Consensus was road bike if you want to be competitive as it is mostly road and the off-road sections are short. Maybe put 700x25c tyres on. You can actually cycle a road bike on the likes of fireroad BTW, it is certainly not optimal but you can do it. I believe all the top placed competitors were on road bikes.

If you are doing it to take part, whatever you have will of course be fine.

utkik

Hi everyone,

obviously clothing needed for the race is completely weather dependant!
I'm thinking compression layers that will be added/removed for the cycling/running etc. and raingear if necessary.

But my big question is about shorts - because I'll be on the bike for an hour or whatever, I'm wondering what you'd recommend shortswise - regular shorts with compression ones underneath, or would just cycling shorts do the job incl the run?
Any advice appreciated - I can see small irritants becoming a very big deal by the end of the day!

Enduro

The best thing to do is find out for yourself what best suits you. Start doing some runs in your cycling shorts, and doing some cycles in your running shorts. Everyone is different. Only you can find out your optimal arrangement. I could tell you what I do, but that won't help!

Enduro

Blorg has it spot on there.... a road bike appears to be optimal. Mountain bike will definitely get you around comfortably, but not quite as quickly, given the nature of the race. You're likely to be cycling for more than an hour. There are two cycling sections.

MrCreosote

I've been looking at this too. Seems the consensus is road bike. And to work on puncture repair times ! 40k cycle- the 10 mins to fix a puncture on a road bike would be made up on the ride vs a mountain bike.

Not so sure about footwear though- clipless pedals and carry runners, or fit some cages on platform pedals?

Enduro

And to work on puncture repair times !

Indeed!! Better again to work on not getting them in the first place.

Not so sure about footwear though- clipless pedals and carry runners, or fit some cages on platform pedals?

Both good options. IMHO the jury is out on that one. Its definitly quicker cycling with clipless, but transitions are definitely faster without shoe swapping (obviously). A third option, depending on how fast you intend to run, is a pair of runnable-ish SPD shoes, like something from the shimano MT range.

djpm

Runnable SPD shoes won't work very well, either use runners and toe clips or separate cycling shoes. Changing shoes doesn't take that long.
Road bike is better, I've done it on MTB once, road bike twice. Cross country part is mostly gravel track, there is a rough rocky section - you can push or carry the bike, I'd say the worst part is less than 100m.

djpm

Unless Enduro wore runnable SPD's last year, in which case they work quite well!

Enduro

Changing shoes doesn't take that long.

That depends entirely on your definition of "not that long"

Unless Enduro wore runnable SPD's last year, in which case they work quite well!

I considered it, but didn't, since I was going to do running sections at a fast speed. As I said above, it does depend entirely on the speed you're going to be doing the running sections at. I have used them in other adventure races. Indeed the last adventure race I did two weeks ago (The Avon-Ri race) was done without any shoe change after the intitial kayak section as I wore shimano MT70s the whole way (which included two orienteering sections and a hill-running section)

MotteDai

Myself and a friend did the cycle, the reek, and the cross country lane part the other night. Obviously we walked u the reek and cycled the road using road bikes, but we found we could cycle most of the cross country part. It was dry so could be different if conditions were wet, we had to walk with bike on last 250m of the xcountry as it was a steep downhill. All in all tough but managable.. I was quite happy with using a road bike..

clopd

Enduro - your a great man / women for giving feedback on Gael Force - as I've being reading a number of threads - so thanks!

- I am using a road bike - with cleets - when I leave the bike in transition the night before is it covered - as I was going to leave my shoes attached to the pedals.

- Also does the transition area lend itself to running in socks and jumping on my bike much the same as a tri transition.

clopd

I am going to use Tri Shorts - they are very similar to cycling shorts but have much less padding on the ass, which doesn't cause you any annoyance when you run.

Don't worry there is enough padding for 40km that you won't feel sore.

You'll get very used to them during training.

richiemack

Ive been thinking about this alot, Im going to wear my tri suit, and leave cycling shoes clipped onto pedals that way at most you'll only have to carry your runners on the bike. Which leaves another question. Seeing as the reek is a bit steep and rocky in parts would you be better off in hill running shoes, or standard runners. Grip would be far superior in hill running shoes if it's wet

Enduro

clopd wrote: »

Enduro - your a great man / women for giving feedback on Gael Force - as I've being reading a number of threads - so thanks!

- I am using a road bike - with cleets - when I leave the bike in transition the night before is it covered - as I was going to leave my shoes attached to the pedals.

- Also does the transition area lend itself to running in socks and jumping on my bike much the same as a tri transition.

Man... definitely a man!

Last year the transition area was an uncovered tarmac tennis court. There'll be about 3 times as many bikes this year though, so they may use somewhere different. There wouldn't have been a problem running in socks there last year.

Enduro

richiemack wrote: »

Ive been thinking about this alot, Im going to wear my tri suit, and leave cycling shoes clipped onto pedals that way at most you'll only have to carry your runners on the bike. Which leaves another question. Seeing as the reek is a bit steep and rocky in parts would you be better off in hill running shoes, or standard runners. Grip would be far superior in hill running shoes if it's wet

Hill running shoes will be better on CP than standard runners. Its a combination of bog, rock, and scree.... pure hill running territory.

yop

Enduro wrote: »

Man... definitely a man!

Last year the transition area was an uncovered tarmac tennis court. There'll be about 3 times as many bikes this year though, so they may use somewhere different. There wouldn't have been a problem running in socks there last year.

Pure blonde question, but I presume there will be a number on your bike when you leave it out there or do we need to mark it ourselves?

Did you leave your bike out on the Friday night?

richiemack

Gaelforce is on August 22nd right? Why did I think it was on September 22nd? good job I noticed that

Enduro

yop wrote: »

Pure blonde question, but I presume there will be a number on your bike when you leave it out there or do we need to mark it ourselves?

Did you leave your bike out on the Friday night?

If I recall correctly, you get given a number for your bike and you put it on yourself. Yup, bike needs to be put into the transition area on Friday. Do it as early as you can manage so you can get back to westport in good time and have a reasonable night's sleep.

yop

Cheers, what time of the morning did u start GF when you did it?

Enduro

yop wrote: »

Cheers, what time of the morning did u start GF when you did it?

Very bloody early :eek: It was still dark when we were getting on the bus, if I recall correctly. Remember, you'll be up and about for several hours before you begin the race.

Keedowah

Did anyone leave any liquids on their bike last year? I was thinking of loading mine up with a sport drink - but am afraid that they could be nicked! Should I just carry them with me from the start?

Enduro

Keedowah wrote: »

Did anyone leave any liquids on their bike last year? I was thinking of loading mine up with a sport drink - but am afraid that they could be nicked!

They won't be nicked. I did exactly that.

earsandasmile

Hi all,

I am taking part in GF this year and I am looking for advice on what type and size backpack/ hydration pack to use?

I know that the weather on the day will dictate the amount of kit that I will need to bring but is there anything else that I need to consider?

Thanks

yop

earsandasmile wrote: »

Hi all,

I am taking part in GF this year and I am looking for advice on what type and size backpack/ hydration pack to use?

I know that the weather on the day will dictate the amount of kit that I will need to bring but is there anything else that I need to consider?

Thanks

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