I think it's less the ultrarunning scene than the obstacle-course type races which are increasingly winning over the hearts and minds of the millenials and other future up n coming athletes. It's a lot cooler and easier to say you crawled under a million watts of electricity and get the quick n easy chest thump than it is to bust your tail for years just to come in the top 20% of a triathlon without a podium award.
Like it or not as well, triathlon televises poorly compared to the popular sports. Ask any nonathlete if they would rather watch people getting creamed by obstacles, shocked by electricity, and muddified in big mud pits, versus watching a pro triathlete run and bike at a steady race-winning pace, and it's no contest.
And don't even get me started about the bike costs. I know I know, you can almost ride ANYTHING on the bike course - mtn bike, banana seat cruisers, virtually anything goes at small local events. But here's the hard, cold reality of the result of the superbike arms race from my middling AG perspective: At the last two LOCAL Oly races I did, in M40-50, literally every single bike was a hot TT bike or race-adapted aero road bike. There were literally NO entry-level bikes, and at least a third of the bikes were wireless Di2 or other shifting. We're talking $3k minimum at those 2 races for a bike - my Cervelo P2c 2008 (which is in great shape) was easily the oldest, cheapest bike in the entire group. Yes, I looked!
Now imagine if you're a curious M40-50 who's thinking about dabbling triathlon, so you go to this local 'small' race, and see the MOPers weaponized with $3-10k bikes. Yikes! Even I would likely think "ok, this is WAY too hardcore for me, ever - those bikes are nuts!" and not even try out triathlon, even if could potentially be good at it. So, yes, I think the increasing arms race costs of bikes def has a negative effect on the sport.
I recall when a Cervelo P2 at $2k used to be considered an uberbike, and that's not even a decade ago, and that price point alone was nearly enough to get me permanently turned off to triathlon (I did it anyway because I was hobbled by a stress fracture, lucky me.) Now a $2k bike is considered barely entry-level - no way inflation is accounting for this new standard.
Like it or not as well, triathlon televises poorly compared to the popular sports. Ask any nonathlete if they would rather watch people getting creamed by obstacles, shocked by electricity, and muddified in big mud pits, versus watching a pro triathlete run and bike at a steady race-winning pace, and it's no contest.
And don't even get me started about the bike costs. I know I know, you can almost ride ANYTHING on the bike course - mtn bike, banana seat cruisers, virtually anything goes at small local events. But here's the hard, cold reality of the result of the superbike arms race from my middling AG perspective: At the last two LOCAL Oly races I did, in M40-50, literally every single bike was a hot TT bike or race-adapted aero road bike. There were literally NO entry-level bikes, and at least a third of the bikes were wireless Di2 or other shifting. We're talking $3k minimum at those 2 races for a bike - my Cervelo P2c 2008 (which is in great shape) was easily the oldest, cheapest bike in the entire group. Yes, I looked!
Now imagine if you're a curious M40-50 who's thinking about dabbling triathlon, so you go to this local 'small' race, and see the MOPers weaponized with $3-10k bikes. Yikes! Even I would likely think "ok, this is WAY too hardcore for me, ever - those bikes are nuts!" and not even try out triathlon, even if could potentially be good at it. So, yes, I think the increasing arms race costs of bikes def has a negative effect on the sport.
I recall when a Cervelo P2 at $2k used to be considered an uberbike, and that's not even a decade ago, and that price point alone was nearly enough to get me permanently turned off to triathlon (I did it anyway because I was hobbled by a stress fracture, lucky me.) Now a $2k bike is considered barely entry-level - no way inflation is accounting for this new standard.