Mike won't run except when chased, I'm challenged to my limit by the dozen or so steps in a cross race, and neither of us floats. So we've asked Laurier Balthazard, an accomplished triathlete and product manager at Louis Garneau to explore how Rail 52s get along with the world of triathlon. Here is his first report as he prepares for the upcoming IM Whistler in British Columbia.
I got them last week on Thursday. I mounted them with Vittoria Pro Slick 25s. The shape of the wheels with the tires is just massive and looks really fast. However, it took a bit of doing to fit on my tri bike. I have a Garneau Gennix T1, and the rear brake clearly was not designed to receive such a large setup. I worked with our prod managers and we had to change the rear calipers to fit the wheels. The front brake was all right, although opened so wide that the pads were hard to align. We see this issue on this bike with other wide-rimmed wheels too, like the Zipp Firecrests, so I guess this is a potential issue with frames designed before the wide rim trend.
First real ride I made with the wheels was last Saturday, right after I had my fit made by a Retul specialist (who also happens to be our marketing director). The bike looks amazing with the wheels. So on Saturday, I went for a 190 km tempo ride in the northern townships of Montreal. First impression on the wheels is that they handle much easier than the older versions C50s I am used to. The handling compares to the newer version of C50 11speed that pro athletes love so much.
The Rail 52s are also really stiff thanks to the number of spokes on them. People I’ve ridden with find the wheels really nice looking, but many note the fact that they have a lot of spokes. Once at speed they seem to hold the speed very easily, but they seem to be a bit harder to bring up to speeds of over 40 kmh. On a rolling terrain they go very well as they carry speed very well, but as mentioned it’s really in the handling, crosswinds etc that they seem to be better than what I am used to.
Matched with 25 tires, they are extremely comfortable and aero is optimized, 2 key elements for a guy like me preparing for IM. Braking took a bit to wear in with brand new pads, but now it’s all right.
I’ve done all the lunch rides so far with my tri bike as I am only riding this bike 2 weeks before the race. On Tuesday, I beat the lunchtime Strava alone - yeah, the one that we established using a 3-guy leadout train the week before....
Yesterday I went on a 4hour ride with my coach from team Garneau Merrel and 2 boys from the Garneau-Quebecor road team. It was planned to be a tempo ride to get good feelings before the race, but it turned into a ridiculous measuring contest. It was a really hilly ride, and two of the other guys had road bikes... But the bike and wheels was really stiff and aero so I was giving the guys a pretty hard time. I am really happy about the setup. The more I ride this wheel and tire combo, the more confident I am for Whistler.
I really look forward to riding the wheels on my road bike when I come back from Whistler. I am leaving Wednesday, the race is on Sunday the 27th.