Oh not the bike shoes. I’m not pfaffing with that. I meant the elastic laces.
I’ve used elastic laces for 30 years; really, once you’ve ‘dialled in’ a pair, you can do away with the lace locks and just rely on the elastic (knotted); especially with stretchy uppers.
Do you have 4%?
Really don’t need them with those.
I wouldn’t wear Alphas at 113. You need your ankles 
Next% will need tying. Unless you get some of the Xenex.
Next 2’s i have. They were fine last year.
If it had rained, i’d have been tempted to wear something else though.
I wonder what time you lose on that course with the off road sections, compared to a fully tarmac flat course.
Depends on how dry the surface is. But little advantage to be gained with magic shoes. You just want something that will cushion/support you on the tracks. There are some pesky tree roots to avoid at times too.
There’s more tarmac than you think though on the 3 loops, and they’re great on that. I also find them to be kinder on the legs, even if you’re not getting the ‘free speed’.
Maybe it’s because i run off road a lot, but i thought the lake sections were absolutely fine. The worst bits for me were the little patches of soggy, not mowed bery well grass. That’s where my speed sapped away. The hard packed tracks you can clip along.
It’s the people that slow you down the most!
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Dunno?
Have you even ever done a half with fully flat tarmac surfaces?
Beaver (Belvoir) I ran a 1:24, but that has a little hill, plus some grass and it’s only 20km, so 4:13/km
The now defunct Bala Middle was entirely tarmac and pretty flat at 20km, apart from an eff off hill at 9.5km, up to the turn and back, my best run there was also 1:24, so again, 4:13/km
Vitruvian was out and back on a reservoir track and about 21km, managed a couple of 1:29s there, so 4:17/km
At Cotswolds, I slipped exiting T2 and limped the first km, as my hip really hurt from landing my heft onto it
I ran a 1:28 there, at 4:17/km
So…it’s probably worth ~1.5%
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Nope.
I’ve only ever done Cots twice - 2015 & 2021.
The big London Oly twice - 2010 & 2011.
IM Wales - 2013
A couple of local sprints in Dawlish, some crappy one up in Somerset and one in West Wales.
That’s the extent of my tri career
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Don’t get me started; I’ve done this event 7 times, plus 2x Oly races at lake 32 
There’s about 2.8km of tarmac per lap = 8.4km out of 21.1km 
That’s what I mean, it’s over 1/3 of the race.
That’s interesting. I tried them without laces last year and it was only the heel slip that was a problem. How are you tying them so that you can both hold the heel in and get them on easy?
No, I have laces in them.
They are just double knotted, like in the photo.
My heel just stays in them, they feel super stable.
They go on super easy - there’s nothing special to it at all.
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Just you
(sorry, couldn’t resist)
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@leahnp - have you used the Xtenex laces in the Next%?
Just the upper on the Next% looks like it’d crush up fairly easily and be a nightmare to get on…
I have xentex laces in the next, N%2, Alphas and the ASICS shoes with no problems. Once you have the tension set for each eyelet then it is easy to take on/off without adjustment. I just pinch the tongue and ram the foot in.
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And they lay nice and flat and don’t press into your (read: my!) precious feet?
Tops of my feet are soft as mush.
Bottoms are like rocks!
Nope, takes a bit to get it right but then they are 100% rapido
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