devashish_paul wrote:
LifeTri wrote:
I see what you are saying. I do think the major advantage is height, not weight. Also, BMI is a major factor. If anyone wants to plug those in, feel free. Hansen - 6'1 170lbs
Talansky - 5'9 139lbs
Wurf - 6'0 157lbs
Lange - 5'10 139lbs
O'donnell - 5'11 165lbs
Frodeno - 6'4 165lbs
Kienle - 5'11 161lbs
The only sub 140 lbs people who have done well in Kona are Lange and Welch who sat in on the bike and ran fast. Bustos too, but bike speeds in the day of Welch and Bustos were not like today (in general). It is pretty well proven from the data over 40 years that you can't bike moderately fast in Kona and run fast at sub 140 lbs. All the top guys are in the the 160's (as you have shown).
Here is the problem. Two wheels moving at an average of 42 kph use up the exact same energy (well, almost just rolling resistance may be slightly different) going from Kailua Pier to Hawi and back. Take two athletes one 62 kilos and one 72 kilos both riding at 4W per kilo. The light one has only 250W to put to the road. The heavier one has 290W to put to the road. But both use the same fixed watts to move their wheels. The rest (body and frame are proportional), but the wheel tax is fixed.
On the run the fixed tax of the wheels is removed, but let's say you gave both Frodo and Lange a fixed 10 kilio backpack tax on the run, the my money would be 1000% on Frodo since the 10 kilo backpack is a smaller percentage of his body weight.
Now in theory the lighter guys have the advantage on the run after T2, but this only works if he has energy to give and did not empty it on the bike (like Talansky has largely done biking too hard). So Lange does awesome when he rides in a pack to T2. When he has to ride solo in non Kona Ironmans and push the wind, he's largely been a non factor. The physics of the solo ride works against him.
Its why I don't think Richie Porte would beat Cam Wurf in an Ironman, but I am certain Richie would beat Cam up to half IM distance.
It is also why the lightest weight ITU guys never do well in IM. Its largely just the math.
PS. Doing kona as an age grouper at 5'6" and sub 140 lbs, riding out on the QueenK there is almost no one my size out there other than top age group women. All the top age group men in Kona largely fall into the same body dimensions as top pros. That's just self selection in our sport.
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Macca covered it all for his personal performance in the "Great Weight Debate" in 2013..
https://www.triathlete.com/...hlete-weight-debate/
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Last edited by:
ThailandUltras: Oct 22, 20 20:13