Quick update on the state of the cycling industry and availability of bikes and components. Short story: it’s ugly and getting worse. The disruptions to supply chains and manufacturing have been massive and continue to ripple like waves through the industry. Factories in Asia continue to be shut down at random times indefinitely. Shipping (on […]
The fast year is ALWAYS the year you don’t go. It sure seems that way, right? Well this year the data is indisputable. 2018 is by far the fastest year for the Kona Ironman World Championships in the last 11, and maybe the fastest ever. I haven’t heard how many age-group records fell, but obviously […]
One thing you notice in Kona is that some companies go out of their way to support their customers. Lately the bigger names in the bike world are notable by their absence, Cervelo being the exception. Several smaller brands also work hard to make sure their customers are taken care of led by Ventum. Ceepo […]
Do I recommend starting an ironman build 7 weeks before a race? My plan was ironman Germany later in the summer but due to circumstances too boring to detail, I jumped on the opportunity to race Texas, giving me, you guessed it, 7 weeks to build and taper. Two goals: race exactly fast enough to […]
I have been spending some time analyzing Kona bike split data for the last 8 years. Coincidentally, this is when Lisbeth started racing Kona consistently (she also did it in 1996 pre-kids). I wanted to see what years were “tough” years, and how Lis has fared versus the fastest women bikers, fastest overall finishers, and […]
This is the first in a series of posts looking at some interesting features of the pros’ bikes at the Kona 2015 Ironman World Championships. I hope to point out some stuff you might not notice otherwise. Most shots are from bike check-in with some from the expo. The first two specimens just happen to belong to the […]
Let’s face it; we are getting to the point where the likes of Cervelo, Specialized, Trek and others are going to be hard-pressed to ring any more aero gains out of a “traditional” double-diamond frame shape. The top aero bikes are converging on each other’s designs, and aero differences are becoming negligible while many of the […]
We have been running electronic shifting (Shimano Di2) on our personal tri bikes since it was first introduced. Most of our training buddies have picked it up along the way as well, and we have built many bikes for clients with Di2. Each one of them says they will never go back to mechanical shifting. With […]
Preface: This was not the ideal year for a northerner to choose Ironman Texas as a Kona qualifier. A voluntary hiatus from the big dance last year after winning #4 in 2013 meant a qualifier was needed if Lisbeth was to return to the lava, and qualifying earlier in the season is always better – right? Unless […]
I finally made it around to doing an analysis video on the pro women. In this video we compare and contrast the aero positions of Michelle Vesterby, Liz Blatchford, Jodie Swallow, Amanda Stevens, Caroline Steffen, Amy Marsh, Rachel Joyce and Mary Beth Ellis. Here we talk about the meaning of an “aggressive” aero position, and […]
