My tri bike is a pain in the ass to take a part and re-assemble. Not to mention a bike case is a non significant investment (I do have a case for my road bike - but it doesn't fit the tri bike). I've since only signed up for races that are driving distance from Southern California. And I've done most of these races now, so I'm less inclined to sign up for events.

Most of my 70.3/140.6 races have turned into vacations. I only want to visit St George so many times... It was also convenient to drop your bike off (and sometimes tri gear) with TBT after the race and drag it around with you on vacation.

So yes, it's definitely hurting the registration numbers, but I really don't know by how much. I would think it's a pretty small portion of the field.

I had to laugh! Can't speak for others. But, my bike is a mess and woefully behind in maintenance. I ride, and ride. Ironically, I'm quite mechanical; rebuild car engines, repair ham radios, etc.
When I do finally get around to sprucing up the bike (like before a "big" race), I'm like, geez, I should'da done this sooner.

---

I saw this on a white board in a window box at my daughters middle school...
List of what life owes you:
1. __________
2. __________
3. __________

Having raced for 35+ years at various distances, but mostly only full Ironmans and 70.3s for the past 20 years, I think the lack of any alternatives to TBT (except, apparently, for the limited areas where ProBikeExpress has coverage), is going to have a meaningful impact on registration numbers in the U.S., and will certainly discourage travel to races that are not convenient for many of us. I used TBT for about 50 full-distance Ironmans between 2005 and 2023, mostly in the continental U.S. and Canada, but several overseas events like Kona, Nice and a few other races in Europe. I also used TBT for at least a dozen 70.3 races throughout North America and several Escape from Alcatraz races over the years. So, I had many good experiences with TBT. Now, I no longer anticipate flying to any 70.3 races, and I probably will limit my Ironman races to about one per year. I really hope that Ironman and other race organizers/directors are able to develop an alternative or partner with another provider. Like many others, I am not a "wrencher" and the substantial hassle of disassemble-fly-assemble-race-disassemble-fly-assemble is a massive disincentive for me to register, unless it's a world championship type of race. The Slowtwitch poll a couple of months ago on a similar topic was telling, in my opinion. Dan wrote about it in a subsequent article. If I recall correctly, the results were that about 20 percent of the 500 or so respondents would not race an Ironman or 70.3 without a service like TBT, and another 10 or 12 percent responded that they would at least be discouraged about registering because of the absence of such a service. I think those are significant percentages, and should be reviewed carefully by race organizers, given that the pool of athletes who engage in long-distance races like these is pretty small.

https://blog.bikeflights.com/...-shipping-service-of

Let’s see how that pans out.

---

I love rim brake bikes!

If I’m reading that right you give them you bike packed in a box and they ship it. If you have to buy a bike box, why not just take it yourself? The beauty of TriBike was its was so simple.

---

-Of course it's 'effing hard, it's IRONMAN!
Team ZOOT
ZOOT, QR, Garmin, HED Wheels, Zealios, FormSwim, Precision Hydration, Rudy Project

Bikeflights is also significanly more expensive then TBT ever was. I paid TBT ~$600 to take my bike to and from Kona from NY (they stil lhave my $ of course). To do that same trip through Bikeflights will cost ~$1,000 AND I need to have some taake apart and reassemble my bike twice.

I raced IMs all over the country; now if I ever race another one after Kona (still figuring out how I am getting my bike there) I am limited to events which I can drive to and there is only so many times I can do Lake Placid and Maryland.

So yes, the absence of TBT will and is affected IM registrations.

I’m perhaps your typical triathlete in that I don’t want to do any more mechanical work to my bike than necessary, and any work I do will be done poorly with disaster always an option. Nor do I feel like investing in a costly bike box or dealing with the stress of traveling with a bike. So I’m definitely impacted by the demise of TBT. I live in the Midwest and have a lot of driving options, but there are many races that I might have done that I will no longer consider.

This thread makes me wonder if we should start a list of bikes that are relatively manageable to take apart/put back together yourself for transporting, and bikes that are way too difficult for your average person to deal with. I've flown dozens of times with my bike, often to different countries with multiple layovers, and have had the same hard shell bike case since 2006 and it takes me maybe 15 minutes on either end to disassemble/reassemble my bike. And I don't consider myself particularly mechanically inclined. I've traveled with 4 different bikes over the years and hope that when I need another one I don't accidentally buy one that is a nightmare to deal with for travel.

Start a thread (if you haven't already).

---

Pink? Maybe. Maybe not. You decide.

Pro Bike Express

Picked up a like new 2016 Calfee with couplings on the top tube and downtube with Di2, took me about 15 mins to pack and 15 mins to put together, it fits in an included hardcase which is easily under airline size limit.

I have a 2017 Cannondale Slice, I like it because its light, comfortable and simple to work on. I will be racing again for the first time in 5 years and want nothing to do with a modern superbike with disk brakes and packing issues (i did however upgrade to a used profile aeria set up). It may not be the fastest bike out there but Im still pretty sure I will have one of the fastest bike splits on it when I race again.

Yes, that is a lemond revolution trainer in the second picture, I have 2 and they have a superior road feel to any modern trainer.