Wheel recommendations for Alpe du ses

ademort

I,m taking part in the Alpe du ses cycling event next year. Six times up Alp du`hez next year, does anyone have any wheel recommendations please. I,m currently using Mavic cosmic carbon clinchers but obviously they will be of no use in the mountains.

meanredspider

I did a The Six up the Alpe in Alpe D'HuZes this year. I did it on my Volagi which is a road disc bike and perfect for the descent even in the dry. I heard a few tyres bang during the hotter parts of the day. It was 0C at 5am and 33C early afternoon. God knows what it would be like in the wet. One key thing to be aware of is that traffic is still using the hill with the cyclists. This means you are often limited in descending - cars are much slower through the corners - so you're on the brakes more than you would be on a clear descent. Anyhow, be careful not to over-inflate the tyres.

Gear yourself down too. I ran 33 up front and 30 at the rear. Plenty of people ran triples.

There's lots of other advice I'd give too but only if you want it.

ademort

Interesting reading that traffic is still using the hill along with the cyclists. Thats why theres a spped limit on decending of 45Km/h. Thats why i don,t want to use the cosmic SLs.

meanredspider

ademort wrote:

Interesting reading that traffic is still using the hill along with the cyclists. Thats why theres a spped limit on decending of 45Km/h. Thats why i don,t want to use the cosmic SLs.

Yup - you soon learn that the speed limit isn't well enforced. But there are motorbikes escorting cars/vans/trucks up and down the hill as well as lots of other cyclists with vastly different descending abilities too. The only proper accident I heard about on the day was a lady who lost the feeling in her fingers on her first descent and wrote off some guy's carbon bike when she hit him.

robbo2011

You don't need anything special or expensive. Any alloy wheelset will do just fine.

Brailsford Bad

Round ones ought to do it.

intheknowcycling.com

Ademort - I recommend the DA C35 clinchers in this category of wheels. Steve

cougie

Dont run the tyres too high. I did and blew a tyre on a hairpin descending in heavy traffic after a stage.

Any wheels with a decent alloy braking surface would do you really.

paul2718

If I were buying wheels for this I'd be looking for a set of 'traditional' aluminium tubular rims. Light, reduced chance of disaster during descents, tolerant of braking. Not expensive. Unfashionable... So I'd be talking to Ugo or Cycleclinic, or your local wheelbuilder.

Paul

meanredspider

Yup - light is good too. You're doing 7500m of climbing at an average of 8-9% - it's a long day however good you are.

Mike Cotty

ademort wrote:

I,m taking part in the Alpe du ses cycling event next year. Six times up Alp du`hez next year, does anyone have any wheel recommendations please. I,m currently using Mavic cosmic carbon clinchers but obviously they will be of no use in the mountains.

Sounds like a great challenge! Whilst your Cosmic Carbone's will certainly be up to the job of getting you up and down the L'Alpe if you can skim some weight, maybe through a lower rim profile, this could help you accelerate back up to speed more efficiently time after time. A couple of points to consider with any change in wheel would be the stiffness, you don't want to lose efficiency through flex, and braking performance (what goes up must come down....safely). From Mavic's range the R-SYS SLR or something from their Ksyrium range may be more suitable for mountain riding but, to be honest, before you get to the point of changing your wheels I'd have a quick look at other areas that could have a significant impact on performance without the need for a significant outlay on new equipment.

Since weight is the holy grail when it comes to ascending a mountain at speed consider what you'll be carrying with you on each ascent. Do you need 2 x 500ml bottles? Ditching 1 bottle (approx 500g) won't cost you anything and may offer a bigger performance gain than equipment upgrades. Likewise with food, spares and tools - how much do you need to carry? Can you grab a drink or food on the fly etc? And can you shave any weight from your body? Often that's the biggest area where performance improvements can be made.

As a very general calculation 1kg less weight over a 30 minute climb should save approximately 1 minute. You can transpose that to be more specific to your multiple ascents of Alpe d'Huez.

Hope that helps a little. Good luck!

Mike Cotty

meanredspider

Time tends not to be an issue doing Alpe D'HuZes. Doing an HC mountain 6 times in a row is a challenge in itself. But the points you make are broadly correct. You only need one bottle - there's water up the hill if you need it (not a lot) and sponges. There isn't any food (except what a few kind folk prepare) so you tend to carry your own. It's better anyway because by the 5th and 6th climbs I really didn't feel like eating much but needed to. At this point you just need sugar (gels, jelly beans or whatever). Pacing yourself is everything. I was the last of my team to complete the first climb and the only one to do the six. Gearing down is really important. That said, I was so tired on the 6th ascent that I did the 12% sections in 2nd gear by mistake.

The bit that gets you about this event, though, is how emotionally tough it is. 5000 people many of whom have lost people to cancer and pretty much all of which have been profoundly impacted by cancer. At each hairpin there are hundreds of candles to remember people as well as signs, posters and photos. There are mothers, fathers, husbands, wives and, most heartbreaking, kids of those who died from cancer. I don't mind admitting that it caught me more than once. Like many others, I had a list of those people for whom I was doing this event written on tape on my crossbar - better than any wheels, tyres or energy gel to get you to the top.

cycleclinic

Stiff round ones are all any one needs, all wheels need to be this way.

A light set may help a little bit (not talking much though compared to the length of the climb) bit no point in saving weight if the wheel is not stiff enough to cope with the high torque they will have to "suffer". Thankfully the factory wheels from shimano, fulcrum and Campagnolo and some of the mavic range will all be up to the job. Fulcrum new range of wheels use 23mm wide rims so go for one of these if you want "factory" it will help on the decents.

However if you do save a bit on weight and stiff 1400g wheels with a wide alloy rim are very possible also fit light weight tyres (vittoria corsa's are my favourite), stans rim tape, lighter inner tubes. It can add up to quite alot overall. However don't get too carried away either it not a race.

I did a similar climb bit not 6 times in Italy and I did it on a 9 kg bike with 2 litre bottles (it was hot and I drank them quickly) and daftly tall gearing (41:27T) with some silly gradients to boot. The point is you'll get up it if you are determined enough no matter what you are riding.

Dodger747

I've done 7 days in the Alps on my carbon Reynolds clinchers. If you learn how to brake correctly, rather than dragging the brakes constantly, you'll be fine.

janesy

can you post a link to this event please.

keezx

http://www.opgevenisgeenoptie.nl/

BTW it's not Alpe du ses, but Alpe Dhuzes (six=zes in Dutch)

Last year the event came in a less beautiful daylight , because one of the organizers gave himsef a "salary" of a couple of 100000 Euro's....
As much as I like a sportive challenge on the bike, I will avoid this one.
You can do so many beautiful rides over there, why 6 times a not so beautiful climb?

ademort

Thanks to all for the replies. A lot of interesting points made.Oh by the way Keezx i know all about the organiser who paid himself a fat salary. It did not go down well with many people.

meanredspider

Keezx wrote:

As much as I like a sportive challenge on the bike, I will avoid this one.
You can do so many beautiful rides over there, why 6 times a not so beautiful climb?

Because it's a physical, mental and emotional challenge like no other that I've (yet) come across. The physical bit is obvious - 6x up a HC climb. Mental challenge because it IS the same climb. Even when you're descending you're thinking "Wow, this is a long descent - and, in a minute, I'm turning around and coming straight back up it" - not only that but the start time and the range of conditions. And, finally, the emotional part - it's ALL about cancer. Many charity rides keep the charity reasonably low key on the day - Alpe D'HuZes (AD6) it's in your face the whole time as I mentioned above. I doubt many people can claim, as they sometimes do when asked to sponsor rides like London to Edinburgh, that it's just fun. AD6 is totally draining. And yet, it is totally trivial in comparison with dealing with the disease.

Finally, before I did the event this year, I'd heard about the trouble with the guy paying himself a fat salary. The truth is, though, that for most big charities, a proportion of donations go to pay for fundraisers and administration. The only reason AD6 got in a mess with it is because they claimed that every cent went to cancer care and research. You can be sure that this year and future years it will be utterly transparent where the money has gone.

meanredspider

Dodger747 wrote:

I've done 7 days in the Alps on my carbon Reynolds clinchers. If you learn how to brake correctly, rather than dragging the brakes constantly, you'll be fine.

The problem with AD6 is that you often don't get much choice about braking. If you're following a truck that is being escorted by an "official" motorbike that you're not meant to pass (and, there's 10 or so other riders tucked up there too), you often don't have a lot of choice about how to brake. The best you can do is alternate between front and rear brakes, I guess, and do a form of cadence braking. It's very frustrating because you're both wasting time and you're not enjoying the payback of a long ascent which is the fun of a fast twisting descent. I was running discs so I was a lot less concerned but they certainly got very hot at times. Forget most of what you picture. There's 5000 people doing the event of all ages, sizes, bike types and abilities and the road is open to (escorted) traffic in both directions.

keezx

meanredspider wrote:

Keezx wrote:

As much as I like a sportive challenge on the bike, I will avoid this one.
You can do so many beautiful rides over there, why 6 times a not so beautiful climb?

Because it's a physical, mental and emotional challenge like no other that I've (yet) come across. The physical bit is obvious - 6x up a HC climb. Mental challenge because it IS the same climb. Even when you're descending you're thinking "Wow, this is a long descent - and, in a minute, I'm turning around and coming straight back up it" - not only that but the start time and the range of conditions. And, finally, the emotional part - it's ALL about cancer. Many charity rides keep the charity reasonably low key on the day - Alpe D'HuZes (AD6) it's in your face the whole time as I mentioned above. I doubt many people can claim, as they sometimes do when asked to sponsor rides like London to Edinburgh, that it's just fun. AD6 is totally draining. And yet, it is totally trivial in comparison with dealing with the disease.

Finally, before I did the event this year, I'd heard about the trouble with the guy paying himself a fat salary. The truth is, though, that for most big charities, a proportion of donations go to pay for fundraisers and administration. The only reason AD6 got in a mess with it is because they claimed that every cent went to cancer care and research. You can be sure that this year and future years it will be utterly transparent where the money has gone.

You are right about all that, but I still don't like it.
When I want to tribute to cancer examination, then I donate to one of the institutions for that.(I did actually) and spend my bike time on something more interesting.
Does not take away that I have respect for people who do the six .

meanredspider

Keezx wrote:

You are right about all that, but I still don't like it.
When I want to tribute to cancer examination, then I donate to one of the institutions for that.(I did actually) and spend my bike time on something more interesting.

And that's fine too. I do it because I have a lot to give back to cancer care so if I can encourage people to donate then that feels like I am. I also want to see cancer research improve because I won't get back the friends I have lost. And part of it is to prove to myself again that I can do some really tough things. We are all different and I don't expect anybody else has to do any of these things - it's all very personal.

Mike Cotty

meanredspider wrote:

The bit that gets you about this event, though, is how emotionally tough it is. 5000 people many of whom have lost people to cancer and pretty much all of which have been profoundly impacted by cancer. At each hairpin there are hundreds of candles to remember people as well as signs, posters and photos. There are mothers, fathers, husbands, wives and, most heartbreaking, kids of those who died from cancer. I don't mind admitting that it caught me more than once. Like many others, I had a list of those people for whom I was doing this event written on tape on my crossbar - better than any wheels, tyres or energy gel to get you to the top.

Peace and best wishes.

Mike