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Cycling/Triathlon Products & Services that Don't Exist and Need to Exist
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Dan started a thread recently on the best stuff from 2017, and I think there was a lot of good stuff. In no particular order, I have been impressed by the following: TriRig Omni and especially the new TriRig inline extension mount for the Alpha X; Cervelo P5-X; Profile Design Aeria Ultimate; 51 Speed Shop front end; Culprit flat kit; Garmin Vector 3s, Zwift (not new, but expanding so quickly it's basically a whole new service); Shimano's new slate 80xx, 91xx, and XT Di2; 3T Strada; and 3T 9-32T cassette. Also impressive is CeramicSpeed's new stuff and their lab and new found marketing substance, even as I would never pay the freight.

Premier Bike deserves a special mention because they delivered the most unique, best-executed debut bike and case and build/fulfillment customer experience, and they are making the chains and pulleys now and undermining CeramicSpeed. Strava took a big step with algorithmic presentation and non-activity communication, and the service continues it's rise as possibly the most important social force in these sports. I think Strava wins service of the year honors, Premier Bike wins the small company / start-up product(s) of the year, and 3T wins product of the year for an established firm.

But I am still mystified at what doesn't exist and/or what continues to be totally awful as I observe systemic declines in the sport. Why aren't the incumbent firms innovating faster and better? Why is this space so ripe for disruption but not really being disrupted? Is the decline in participation partially the result of the industry's failure to disrupt itself?

My thoughts:

Service-Only LBS: Is there a bigger problem for cycling and triathlon than the demise of the local bike shop? Think of this like a medical office or other staid commercial space where you go and bring your bike for mechanical services and maybe services like fits as well as installation of products sold directly to the consumer online. This place would stock BBs and other small parts necessary for common mechanical work, but they would not charge me outrageous amounts to offset the cost of the bricks. The guys working at some of these places are often jerks and I would be too if I made $11 per hour for work that should command twice that, at least, but I can't be paid that because of the retail overhead. The cycle is ugly.

Mobile LBS: This is supplementary. One of the mechanics from the Services LBS comes to your house to help fit you or simply wrench on your bike while a qualified person fits you remotely (we'll get to this). Why aren't $12 per hour mechanics who have a following of loyal clients at their LBS branching off and doing something like this? They aren't thinking or don't know how to market themselves and their services or aren't backed by the manufacturers and product companies who should be their ally.

Group/Community Rides IRL: You can find all these people to ride with virtually, but you increasingly cannot find anyone or a group to ride with on a nice day. There has to be a strategy for us to facilitate group rides in real life, because these shared experiences are what bring new people into the sport and help them get over their fears and eventually walk the marathon at an IRONMAN.

Bike shops today are failing to sustain the community and social aspects of the sport that are its foundation. Digital communities are emerging like this one, but not all of them spread offline. When is the last time you rode with someone you met on Zwift? Someone could and should step in. Strava may be best suited to facilitate local and hyper-local interaction, because their platform is how I have found almost everyone I ride with, outside of slowtwitch, but they are a very focused and conservative company that is content to grow the customer base patiently and keep the product itself simple and effective. As a social institution and agent for community, Strava may be the most valuable service we have. Private messaging on Strava would go a long way, and maybe that's part of the freemium model. Making 'events' for individuals rather than their poorly executed challenges and groups, or for riders in a specific location to get out there together. So basically Zwift, but with real life rides? Meet ups, but like, we can actually meet up. It's nice out.

Peloton Competitor: Local shops and performance cycling studios are all but dead, but Peloton is crushing it, and it irks me because it is such a lame and embarrassing product and because that customer is someone who could and would be better served by a different product and maybe by a more serious performance application. That person may be more enriched by actual cycling, both indoors and outdoors.

There's a better product. The product is something like a combination of the Wahoo Kickr with an LCD display/computing system that is svelte and beautiful and adjustable and can run all the apps, including Zwift / TrainerRoad and even provide entertainment from Netflix / Sling TV, and instead of being locked into the hardware indoors, it ships with an entry level bicycle that can be removed from the system and ridden outside on a nice day. This kind of product could be offered for $2,000 and the system wouldn't see rapid obsolescence as technology advances. And it would help this sport. We laughed at the SpeedX Unicorn, but these guys have the right idea because that bike is like a combination of Peleton for normals but with competitive / performance cycling product elements.

Products like this offer a platform to introduce the cycling and fitness experience to others who through this product come to be more serious about it and maybe even to love this sport that is dying partly because it doesn't have an acquisition strategy (or a retention strategy for the athletes WTC IRONMAN chews up and spits out penniless and soul broken, but that's another thread).

Virtual Fit: Fits are important for performance and comfort, and they are a critical part of the bike purchase experience, but there are few spaces I can think of where the incompetence is so prevalent. Let's fix that. What's going on that I can't pay Luscan or Steinmetz or someone like that to analyze and respond to videos of me riding on the trainer on a new bike (i.e. for consulting as I dial in a fit)? Why is there no transactional services marketplace for bike fitting? Bill me like a lawyer at 0.3 increments. Bill me by the video. Bill me somehow but don't make me go to Manhattan or Atlanta or Denver to find competence. I am not a fitter, but I am better than most, and I have been helping a few people remotely and entirely remotely. The model works, and I don't see why it isn't the future model and a better model for an objective that is fundamentally iterative and episodic. All those fit systems and lasers are tools, sure, bu in general the people who peddle them are also tools. Very few of us need that nonsense.

This is a real business opportunity if a fitrepreneur can not only sell himself but take a cut from the sales of others by introducing a commercial platform for those sales. Bonus points if he can figure out how to also sell bikes and set them up. These ideas aren't mutually exclusive.

SRAM Products: There has rarely been a more attractive business opportunity for SRAM than proprietary 1x, but they continue to not deliver anything for the road 18 months after eulogizing the front derailleur offroad. Once again, the opportunity to lock up a SRAM hub standard (the XDR driver) presents itself and yet they don't even seem to be working on road 1x. We got a rear derailleur for eTap that is non clutch and works up to 36 teeth. 1x and disc braking are the biggest product changes that this space has seen in years, and SRAM could corner the market with aggressive introduction and deployment of a few cassettes and a 12 speed road groupset for the road. Wake up SRAM!

3T gets all this. SuperDave makes the point that your bike hasn't really improved since 2010. You got one extra cog since the original Di2, but what else has changed? Sadly 3T isn't a cold forging company like Shimano -- they are a carbon fiber component company -- so they are having trouble making the 1x component, the 9T or 10T cassette, I suspect, that functions (i.e. shifts) as it ought to, which is to say, like a SRAM or Shimano cassette but with the right cogs. And 3T can't make a groupset so their hands are tied beyond giving us a cassette and a few great and innovative bicycles.

Zipp: Same company. But really, these guys are giving us outlandishly priced whale wheels. All I want is a very wide (22-23mm ID), very light, fast, tubeless ready 404 with disc braking. Actually, I want any company to give me that in a 50mm to 60mm depth. Zipp spent so much time with marine life that the 303 tubeless disc that came out was uncharacteristically bad -- heavy, and with unimpressive spec. But the 454 858 things, come on. We don't want more expensive wheels! We want better wheels at the same price. We want wheels that stop the bike in rain. The price cannot go higher and probably needs to go much lower. Soon, the China contingent will get to market. In mountain biking, I only buy wheels now from a firm called Nextie, because they rock and are $250 per rim and the braking is just as good as name brand wheels because that happens at the rotor now and not the rim. This will surely happen for me on the road, and I'll never buy from Zipp or Enve again when the Chinese firms catch up. But Zipp is going in the opposite direction. Dumb.

Shimano: It's tough to pick on these guys, because nearly everything they make is great. But same complaint as SRAM --why aren't they releasing a hub body driver for 9T or 10T and giving us amazing options for 1x on the road. This is a cold forging company but sadly they can't give me a group that would materially improve my road riding experience. SRAM ate Shimano offroad through strategic (or so it seemed) promulgation of the XD Driver and requisite cassette, which provided for a 10T and vastly increased range, so why didn't Shimano learn from this? Synchro Shift made sense off road, right? Right? Wrong. That was dead on arrival. Synchro Shift is seeing a bit more adoption on the road but only because we don't have cassettes for 1x. This is all so circular.

TriRig/Premier Bike/Culprit: The small guys are the light in the product space, but there are problems. We need a company in our space that thinks like Culprit -- the flat kit and stem ideation is great, even as it probably will never get to market; that designs and deliver aesthetically like TriRig; and executes/manufacturers like Premier Bike. This company needs to emerge because these three companies have fatal flaws. Culprit doesn't know how to get products funded and marketed and sold directly to consumers; TriRig has lapses and failures in execution via questionable manufacturing; and Premier Bike doesn't care how offensively ugly the color schemes and logos are. TriRig especially is innovating very fast and probably too fast, because quality design means little when the execution could cost you a collarbone. Premier Bike and TriRig would be the perfect match for a joint venture, but that will never happen.

Others: I have other small ideas. CeeGees needs competition. X-Lab needs competition. Dash especially needs competition and mass market adoption -- they make these saddles and they are great, but they are also crazy expensive and I have to buy it to try it (and risk having to interact with Weston). How insane is that? Send me the saddle and charge me for it, but refund my money when I hate it. This is how everything works now, but somehow component companies in our space get away without offering demo or trial periods for products that are totally personal and experiential. Let me return the saddle I don't like and then sell me on an alternative. Pay my return shipping. Basic stuff.

Anyways, these are all opportunities both to make money and to grow the sport. I hope that individuals and companies accelerate disruption in all of these spaces -- services and products for cycling and multisport -- and in a way that might slow or reverse the inexorable slide in multi-sport and performance cycling participation. While my money is on Dan Kennison/Premier Bike, 3T, 51 Speedshop, and a few others in the services realm, I don't know that it's enough to offset the cratering. The sport is dying because nobody or few are developing and selling products that would help attract new people, who may ultimately sustain it and grow it, like a WahooX Unicorn, and because nobody or few are developing services to foster the real-life community experience that will be lost if and when shops fold, like a Strava or a Zwift for real life riding and interaction.

I'm off to ride. Happy New Year.
Last edited by: kileyay: Dec 31, 17 12:15
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Re: Cycling/Triathlon Products & Services that Don't Exist and Need to Exist [kileyay] [ In reply to ]
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Get back to small races. I search out the races that are local fundraisers and make a point to do them. There are a couple within an hour of the twin cities that are a 1/4 of the price and go to good causes but turnout is low. Triathlon is hard to put on. We need to be willing to get outside of Metro areas to go to races. These small races are what get a lot of people into the sport and have that friendly feel too them.

I think the Triple T theme needs to be expanded (especially in the North during the summer.

Overall I think there are not enough races in the middle of summer when people take time off with their kids.

Product wise I am on board with the LBS not being able to compete with online.
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Re: Cycling/Triathlon Products & Services that Don't Exist and Need to Exist [kileyay] [ In reply to ]
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What about a crowd-sourced mobile bike maintenance concept like Uber or Lyft? It seems like everyone dreams for a maintenance-only or mobile bike repair shop, but the economics seem daunting. It only needs an app...
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Re: Cycling/Triathlon Products & Services that Don't Exist and Need to Exist [kileyay] [ In reply to ]
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Good list of suggestions. I'll comment on a couple.

Local Bike Shops could decide if they want to be primarily be retailers (Performance Bike) or service shops.

I get the best service at the small LBS. It's unfortunate that they (have to?) stock inventory at full price. As a buyer, I just can't see paying them double the price I could get it for. Happily though I will take them my bike for any service as they are convenient and I want them in business. If they could reduce inventory and expand/focus on service they would be farther ahead. Also could they make their wholesale suppliers price match so they can offer it too?

Again, expand service at the LBS. I have seen people leave with their bikes because they weren't willing to leave it with the LBS or Performance Bike for a few days or a week. People really aren't ready to schedule a bike repair like they would a car repair. People would also be willing to wait for same day service from a LBS like they would a broken down car.

Peloton slays me. The power of advertising. Especially during the TdeF. As you mentioned there are better options that were never marketed like Peloton. Marketing - Like your children will stay in bed in the morning until you get your workout done They will then come down the stairs smiling. Then your family will have a breakfast before your husband gets on the Peloton for his workout.

In other words, it's not necessarily a new product that is needed. It might just be how to better position existing services/products.

Indoor Triathlete - I thought I was right, until I realized I was wrong.
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Re: Cycling/Triathlon Products & Services that Don't Exist and Need to Exist [kileyay] [ In reply to ]
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My LBS has green test saddles of all sorts of makes/models. I ended up with my JOFF this way. Tried many that just didn't work. But you'd think a LBS with this sort of program could have a test model provided by Dash, as a way of the shop providing access to more sales & variety. The shop & Dash wins through a sale & the owner is stoked to find something that the others may not offer in comfort. If the shop didn't want to stock a lot then possibly an overnight or 2-day delivery window could be agreed upon (I don't own a shop so not sure what shop owners think about this).

On the Cee Gee front--love them! First thing I did when I got my Brezza II Limited was order a pair of Cee Gees & get rid of the thin ones provided. Hard to improve on something so awesome.

Kiley, you would know this more than I wilth your testing of equipment but...another to add to the list...TILTING ARMRESTS. An accessory company like Cee Gee that transforms all makes/models with the option of an up/down tilt and if possible, inward/outward swing and up-down adjustment. Cee Gee pretty much makes a pad for everything, I'd like to see an armrest or riser replacement company.
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Re: Cycling/Triathlon Products & Services that Don't Exist and Need to Exist [kileyay] [ In reply to ]
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We're lucky enough to have 2 options for mobile bike service local to me - Velofix, and Mobivelo. Fantasic, I use them all the time. They come to my office or home, work on the bike, and bingo... done. No taking trips into town to drop off, wait a week or something stupid like that, then another trip to pick up (meanwhile being without my bike). Plus, you can hang out and watch them if you have time... it's a fantastic way to learn some things about wrenching your bike.
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Re: Cycling/Triathlon Products & Services that Don't Exist and Need to Exist [kileyay] [ In reply to ]
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Some good points. I agree completely with your zipp comment. I cannot understand why people are buying these wheels when there are so many other options with great prices. My first thought is Flo. Great prices, and great customer service. Why wouldn't you buy these wheels? I do wish the track would stay black, or that they would just make them silver to begin with.
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Re: Cycling/Triathlon Products & Services that Don't Exist and Need to Exist [kileyay] [ In reply to ]
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kileyay wrote:
Strava took a big step with algorithmic presentation and non-activity communication, and the service continues it's rise as possibly the most important social force in these sports.

I know I'm turning into an old fuddy-duddy (at the ripe old age of 32), but why are Strava Athlete Posts interesting? Those and the algorithmic feed came about from a desire to raise platform engagement -- specifically, kudos and comments. Literally: their publicly stated motivation was that depending on when you posted a ride, you might miss something they call the "kudos window" during which... well, people are going to see your activity and give it kudos.

Sure, there's something like a dozen activities uploaded every second, so people are clearly engaging in some sense ... but not always with the mobile apps or the website. I think they lost interest in people reviewing activities and their training (probably because there's a plethora of competing tools), even though time-wise that could (but probably wasn't) maximizing time-on-site, and switched to counting kudos and comments as the only success metrics. But what does that actually get them? What do they really want out of this service besides a premium subscription fee with languishing premium features? Their user-facing product, outside the feed change, feels like it has barely changed from the fundamentals of activities, analysis, kudos, and comments.

kileyay wrote:
Mobile LBS: This is supplementary. One of the mechanics from the Services LBS comes to your house to help fit you or simply wrench on your bike while a qualified person fits you remotely (we'll get to this). Why aren't $12 per hour mechanics who have a following of loyal clients at their LBS branching off and doing something like this? They aren't thinking or don't know how to market themselves and their services or aren't backed by the manufacturers and product companies who should be their ally.

I remember a long, meandering thread on this forum featuring input from a property manager who said these things run afoul of zoning laws if they show up at commercially-zoned property.

While we're riding the ridiculous reasons train: In the city, everyone's least favorite thing is yet another delivery-like vehicle double-parking or "stealing" parking spaces. Maybe if you've got your own driveway this becomes more acceptable. Your neighbors usually only barely tolerate contractors showing up to work on your house. Growth of this sort of service turns every residential area into a place of business and it's magnified in dense areas. I don't think we should be encouraging the growth of "we'll come to you" sort of businesses -- not that I think a mobile bike repair shop is noisy and intrusive.

kileyay wrote:
Bike shops today are failing to sustain the community and social aspects of the sport that are its foundation. Digital communities are emerging like this one, but not all of them spread offline. When is the last time you rode with someone you met on Zwift? Someone could and should step in. Strava may be best suited to facilitate local and hyper-local interaction, because their platform is how I have found almost everyone I ride with, outside of slowtwitch, but they are a very focused and conservative company that is content to grow the customer base patiently and keep the product itself simple and effective. As a social institution and agent for community, Strava may be the most valuable service we have. Private messaging on Strava would go a long way, and maybe that's part of the freemium model. Making 'events' for individuals rather than their poorly executed challenges and groups, or for riders in a specific location to get out there together. So basically Zwift, but with real life rides? Meet ups, but like, we can actually meet up. It's nice out.

Ok, let's get back to Strava posts for a second. It seems like this is the natural way to broadcast to your buddies that you want to go for a ride, but it's algorithmic (side note: I don't really like this word as an explanation, because "sort by time" is also an algorithm), which means depending on how much your buddies are actually your buddies, they may not even see it ... and the only thing that bumps it up is engagement with the post (kudos/commenting). You could be shouting into the ether until one of your more popular friends makes the ride call. But, then again, it's always been like that.

You bring up the club event feature. The bad thing about this is that Strava kind of hides it off in the black morass of notifications (or riders have to go directly to the club page), and there's no reminder of upcoming events anywhere on the dashboard. I've mostly seen clubs just using club posts if they're approved for the feature, or ... Instagram?!

I guess there's no real substitute for just mass texting people.

kileyay wrote:
Peloton Competitor: Local shops and performance cycling studios are all but dead, but Peloton is crushing it, and it irks me because it is such a lame and embarrassing product and because that customer is someone who could and would be better served by a different product and maybe by a more serious performance application. That person may be more enriched by actual cycling, both indoors and outdoors.

There's a better product. The product is something like a combination of the Wahoo Kickr with an LCD display/computing system that is svelte and beautiful and adjustable and can run all the apps, including Zwift / TrainerRoad and even provide entertainment from Netflix / Sling TV, and instead of being locked into the hardware indoors, it ships with an entry level bicycle that can be removed from the system and ridden outside on a nice day. This kind of product could be offered for $2,000 and the system wouldn't see rapid obsolescence as technology advances. And it would help this sport. We laughed at the SpeedX Unicorn, but these guys have the right idea because that bike is like a combination of Peleton for normals but with competitive / performance cycling product elements.

Peloton sells to an audience that does not want to ride outdoors, wants the group fitness experience, and, weirdly, does not care about bikes but is happy to ride one indoors for fitness. The bike is all-inclusive and is always ready to go, so to speak. While it's enormously heavy at 135 pounds, it doesn't take up much room, and just requires WiFi, a subscription to their service, and shoes with Delta cleats. Peloton is competing with Flywheel and similar studios and not roadies and triathletes. SoulCyclers will still go to SoulCycle because it's branded as an entirely different experience. Most of my spin-class-going friends do not ever ride outdoors on a real bicycle, and most do not own one.

I wonder how they built the Peloton application. I believe their real "innovation" here is the content. I would consider exploring whether there is an audience for BYOB for power users, rather than attempting to build a competing platform that sells people a real bike. Would that get rid of some of the lame-ness of Peloton?

kileyay wrote:
Zipp

Isn't Zipp riding the "made in America" wave (some older hubs excepted) pretty hard -- like unusually so, because even the carbon rim fabrication is in in Indiana? Who else is and is also undercutting them for cost?
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Re: Cycling/Triathlon Products & Services that Don't Exist and Need to Exist [kileyay] [ In reply to ]
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The crucial product: a well marketed short-medium distance triathlon, priced at less than $100 and sold by a company with the ambition to increase participation in a region.

Every other innovation *does not matter* in a shrinking triathlon market. Unless they're Specialized, they're at risk of falling over. Or falling out of market segments - why do you think that Spez has not released a new tri bike despite a half-decade old product and owning the largest bike-specific tunnel in the world?

'It never gets easier, you just get crazier.'
Last edited by: georged: Dec 31, 17 23:41
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Re: Cycling/Triathlon Products & Services that Don't Exist and Need to Exist [kileyay] [ In reply to ]
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Swim run that is individual not team event. Maybe it already exists.

They constantly try to escape from the darkness outside and within
Dreaming of systems so perfect that no one will need to be good T.S. Eliot

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Re: Cycling/Triathlon Products & Services that Don't Exist and Need to Exist [Rocky M] [ In reply to ]
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Rocky M wrote:
I'd like to see an armrest or riser replacement company.

This seems like a great idea until you test a tilting bracket on a basebar that wasn't designed for one and the basebar cracks. It's a risky proposition for an aftermarket company.

Bike brands need to understand bike fit better.
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Re: Cycling/Triathlon Products & Services that Don't Exist and Need to Exist [kileyay] [ In reply to ]
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In no particular order

Shimano are really letting consumers/the wider industry down by not having size scaled products (levers, cranks). When even the Chairwoman of Giant (who started Liv), the second largest company in the bike industry, can't persuade them to make shorter reach lever bodies it shows that they are happy to keep mucking around with making larger rear cogs and occasionally adding one.

Virtual fit - I've done this for people all over the world, when asked. Todd at ttbikefit built his business on it. It's a good way of helping someone who lacks access to good fit services. However, it's not my preferred option because it takes longer than an in-person fit (rider takes video, I analyse, give feedback, they make changes, video ad infinitum) and I don't get all the data that I would from using my analysis tools. Whatever Findinfreestyle is going to say in his articles about not needing 3D notwithstanding - there is info that simply can't be acquired by eye/laser/rider feedback and I don't like to charge full whack for a reduced service (but need to because of the time factor). Good fits are iterative, which can be an advantage of the 1 video per week approach, but often it means it takes weeks to determine something that would take 3mins in person.

Wheels - road disc may spell the death of a lot of aftermarket wheel brands. Bike brands can buy those same open mould rims provided by Nextie, so I expect that in a few years most midrange carbon disc bikes will have a 35mm carbon rim that is housebranded and has all sorts of acronyms stickered over it. And few people will bother changing. Plus it's not clear where road tyres are going to settle width wise. All in all - not surprising that wheel brands aren't leaping in to make a plethora of new disc specific options.

I agree that the bike fit part of the industry needs a shake up, though not as much as the general structure of retail. The low pay for mechanics is not something I'm familiar with as a good mechanic here is well recompensed.
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Re: Cycling/Triathlon Products & Services that Don't Exist and Need to Exist [georged] [ In reply to ]
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georged wrote:
The crucial product: a well marketed short-medium distance triathlon, priced at less than $100 and sold by a company with the ambition to increase participation in a region.

Every other innovation *does not matter* in a shrinking triathlon market. Unless they're Specialized, they're at risk of falling over. Or falling out of market segments - why do you think that Spez has not released a new tri bike despite a half-decade old product and owning the largest bike-specific tunnel in the world?

Hear you and I'm still concerned. We have two competing Tri-directors in the Atlanta area that put on sprints and Olympics at the price point you mention. Afraid to say it, it seems like participation is going down. Priced fairly. Close. Well run as they have been doing it for years.

People aren't feeling it like they used too. There doesn't seem to be widespread newbie excitement at this time. Older and experienced triathletes are also getting to be "been there, done that" with the shorter distances.

The desire for health and fitness is as great as ever. Many people are trying to figure that piece out, more so than race a triathlon.

Indoor Triathlete - I thought I was right, until I realized I was wrong.
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Re: Cycling/Triathlon Products & Services that Don't Exist and Need to Exist [kileyay] [ In reply to ]
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Thought of something else that might be good for the sport but it's blasphemous.

While the swim is daunting, the next most daunting part of the sport is the TRI-BIKE.

Many newbies and some deciding to continue may find the idea of the expense, garage space and training time on a tri-bike too much. We tell them just to start on a road bike. Yet, we and they know that the top competitors in their AG have tri-bikes. This could be another barrier to entry or continuing with the sport.

Wouldn't it be shocking to go a sprint/Oly where all the bikes HAD to be road bikes. Yes, there is a wide range of road bikes; yet visually people seem to be all about the same aero and doing the same sport.

Tri-bikes could still live well in the half and full IM space. But to delineate races for road bikes and races for tri-bikes might be a change up that helps newbies while creating some new buzz for experienced triathletes to manage to two bikes.

PS

Product/service: I've just been told that the only difference between 175 to 165s crank is where they drill the hole to create that length. What a wasted opportunity to drop some weight! We need a service that will take off that excess crank above the hole. Or, a company that will manufacture custom cranks. Cranks could be like pedals / saddles given enough time and money.

Indoor Triathlete - I thought I was right, until I realized I was wrong.
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Re: Cycling/Triathlon Products & Services that Don't Exist and Need to Exist [len] [ In reply to ]
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len wrote:
Swim run that is individual not team event. Maybe it already exists.

I wonder if the reason that is not offered is because a RD could not safely monitor swimmers spread way out over the course, in other words the paired system is only for safety.
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Re: Cycling/Triathlon Products & Services that Don't Exist and Need to Exist [kileyay] [ In reply to ]
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coming off surgery, these recovery aids are very high on my mind:

Alter-G type assisted weight-bearing treadmills as standard equipment at gyms

a transformers-style brace that would offer full support immediately after surgery, stepping down in stages to enforce ROM, good patterning and strengthening as the structures heal

a non-spill cup holder for crutches
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Re: Cycling/Triathlon Products & Services that Don't Exist and Need to Exist [IT] [ In reply to ]
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IT wrote:

PS

Product/service: I've just been told that the only difference between 175 to 165s crank is where they drill the hole to create that length. What a wasted opportunity to drop some weight! We need a service that will take off that excess crank above the hole. Or, a company that will manufacture custom cranks. Cranks could be like pedals / saddles given enough time and money.


http://www.bikesmithdesign.com/Short_Cranks/
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Re: Cycling/Triathlon Products & Services that Don't Exist and Need to Exist [endosch2] [ In reply to ]
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endosch2 wrote:
len wrote:
Swim run that is individual not team event. Maybe it already exists.


I wonder if the reason that is not offered is because a RD could not safely monitor swimmers spread way out over the course, in other words the paired system is only for safety.

I figured that too but SOS (yeah yeah, there is one bike portion but it's mostly swim-run) is individual and achieves that, I assume with enough course support (and being lake based, perhaps?)

808 > NYC > PDX > YVR
2024 Races: Taupo
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Re: Cycling/Triathlon Products & Services that Don't Exist and Need to Exist [kileyay] [ In reply to ]
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I'd like:

Easier way to find good cycling routes in other areas/countries.

I've used Ride with GPS, Map My Ride, suggested Strava routes. Ride with GPS probably has worked best. But often these routes don't work out as expected. I've found myself on dirt paths, one way streets, roads with crazy traffic, etc.

What I'd like is a better way to filter and find "good" routes (without spending hours and hours). Maybe something like a set of "curated" routes ... or routes where others have verified ... or something. (i'd pay to be able to have a good, verified route)
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Re: Cycling/Triathlon Products & Services that Don't Exist and Need to Exist [kileyay] [ In reply to ]
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All I want is a cda number on my garmin,looks like I may be getting what I want,whether it will be of any use is another matter!
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Re: Cycling/Triathlon Products & Services that Don't Exist and Need to Exist [kileyay] [ In reply to ]
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I'd like:

A power meter that:

- lasts more than 2 years (or that has a much longer warranty!)
- allows me to use Speedplay pedals (or really any pedal system of choice)
- works whether using race wheels or training wheels
- user changeable battery (or battery that lasts a long, long time)
- is "reasonably" priced (relative, of course ... I'd put it at $1k or less)

Quarq fits many of those, except for #1.
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Re: Cycling/Triathlon Products & Services that Don't Exist and Need to Exist [kileyay] [ In reply to ]
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I don't understand why anyone likes the non-activity content in Strava, to me it just gets in the way of what I want to see as they try to be like FB and increase their valuation by serving yuppies. Regarding the XDR driver for SRAM, I think when you get below 11, you start to lose efficiency. I have a SRAM 1x set up on my bike, but 11 is fine as the fastest cog. You can always go bigger on the front chainring and you pay less of an aero penalty doing that than you do an efficiency penalty going to 10 or 9 teeth cogs in the bag.

As for what services don't exist? Some of these I think are coming but:
1. aerodynamic measurement on bikes (it is coming I think)
2. tubeless tires that don't pop off road bikes at high psi
3. bike shoes that electronically close up on your feet (kind of like the Back to the Future shoes) so you don't have to reach down at the beginning of the bike to do it and you can adjust tighteness during your ride.
4. something that measures electrolytes and salt in your body that can be connected to your Garmin, my scale at home measures bmi electrically, so maybe this is possible
5. laws that allow video evidence of people breaking the law to be used to arrest/ticket people when there is no accident. This evidence is used during accidents, but not when there are not accidents. I want drivers who target cyclists arrested. I have plenty of video of them doing it, but unless they hit me, there is nothing I can do with it.

2018 Races: IM Santa Rosa, Vineman Monte Rio, Lake Tahoe 70.3
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Re: Cycling/Triathlon Products & Services that Don't Exist and Need to Exist [IT] [ In reply to ]
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IT wrote:
Product/service: I've just been told that the only difference between 175 to 165s crank is where they drill the hole to create that length. What a wasted opportunity to drop some weight! We need a service that will take off that excess crank above the hole. Or, a company that will manufacture custom cranks. Cranks could be like pedals / saddles given enough time and money.

This is only on lower end cranks. Hollow forged and carbon cranks are generally different lengths. Even then, you're only saving a few grams. And as I mentioned before, if you're counting grams you wouldn't be riding Gossamers...

"I'm thinking of a number between 1 and 10, and I don't know why!"
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Re: Cycling/Triathlon Products & Services that Don't Exist and Need to Exist [BrianB] [ In reply to ]
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Power2Max fits all those except for the rechargeable battery, but the batteries last quite a bit.

@floathammerholdon | @partners_in_tri
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Re: Cycling/Triathlon Products & Services that Don't Exist and Need to Exist [adambeston] [ In reply to ]
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adambeston wrote:
Get back to small races. I search out the races that are local fundraisers and make a point to do them. There are a couple within an hour of the twin cities that are a 1/4 of the price and go to good causes but turnout is low. Triathlon is hard to put on. We need to be willing to get outside of Metro areas to go to races. These small races are what get a lot of people into the sport and have that friendly feel too them.

I think the Triple T theme needs to be expanded (especially in the North during the summer.

Overall I think there are not enough races in the middle of summer when people take time off with their kids.

Product wise I am on board with the LBS not being able to compete with online.

So what are your best 'good cause' triathlons that could use some increased participation? I'll add them to my list.
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