Lead official for USAT told us @ USAT National champs they will be banned in 2024. - kyle

So I heard some of the women in pro cycling may be using padded bras.

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What a political shit show it will (particularly in the US) if

a) men start wearing padded bras
b) USAT tries to prevent either men or women from wearing padded bras

Sounds like an episode for Ero facts or fiction

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Thanks Kyle! Keep up the great work, show is terrific.

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

I wonder what the logic would be. Maybe they consider it a fairing?

As discussed on the pod it would be way smarter to say anything on your chest needs to be providing fuel/water otherwise it is just a fairing.

the ideal way to write this rule is all athletes must run in whatever gear they use on the bike except helmet/shoes. That would naturally discourage them from from stuffing as they will have to run with the water bottle/camel back

That’s some good outside the box thinking.

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The curious task of economics is to demonstrate to men how little they really know about what they imagine they can design.

So the rule would also say you also can't throw things away at aid stations?

To the grumpy old men complaining about kids these days and their chest fairings, I actually think the hydration bladder down the front is a great solution.

Keeps body cool if I start it frozen in a hot day. Gives me the ability to provide my own nutrition in the entire course without slowing down others at aid stations or using resources/trash.

Can safely and frequently drink without removing hands from bars.

Remind me again why the fuddy daddies think it needs to be banned?

I don't really care if it makes me faster even, it's VERY convenient to use.

It's also crazy to tell me that bento box that just fell off my bike (has happened) can't be stuffed down my shirt and instead I have to try to one hand hold and bike with it instead.

How does someone refill the bladders on the bike? Are you suggesting someone can do a LC event on 1 "hydration bladder" down your shirt and that safely suffice from a hydration/nutrition standpoint?

I wouldn't think you could safely ride with a bladder system stuffed down your kit to suffice for most people's hydration needs for an LC event.

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Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

What about people who change their entire kit in T2 from cycling to running?

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

You can't unless you come to a complete stop and pull it out at an aid station. But the size of bladder most people are using carries 70oz of fluid, that's the equivalent of 2.5 bottles. So it doesn't preclude having some additional bottles on the frame but it delays when you may need to use an aid station. And when it's empty, you can blow into the bite valve and keep it inflated.

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

1.5L for 70.3 and 3L for full.

I have a bottle between the bars as well.

Drinking out of that bladder is way safer and easier and less obtrusive than getting up and one handing it and putting it back in and reduces the support needed on course.

Last 2 races I did I took nothing.

3L. of water is almost 7 pounds of weight. I would just wonder how that's handled with bike handling and again on re-filling. I wouldn't think you could refill an camelbak bladder type of system, so you'd still have to likely do an frame bottle or BTA setup.

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Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

But almost everything on a bike is a faring at this point. Extensions that cover the whole width. Derailuer covers. Valve covers. The crazy front end hydration systems.

Triathlon was great when it was the wild Wild West. Now it’s becoming the UCI

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http://www.TriScottsdale.org

I'd say it would be better if it was like the UCI. At least the rules would be clear and how much money you can spend on aero testing would be less of a factor.

In triathlon, some of the rules seem to be greatly different from the application. "Fairings are prohibited" by IM rules. Yet of course triathlon bikes are full of fairings. It's just that the interpretation is very wide and the application of this is very lax.

Well, put another way, 3L is the equivalent of 3.5 regular water bottles. If you saw a bike in transition for a full IM and it had two bottles behind the seat and one on the down tube would you have thoughts about the weight? Because it's the same.

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

I have some sympathy for this view, however I really don't think people sticking a $10 bottle down their suit is an appropriate target for the rulemakers. It's not expensive or inaccessible (far from it), and it has a genuine purpose other than aerodynamics (hydration and cooling). I could be swayed to support a limitation on volume or a requirement that they not be empty at the start of the bike.

I would much prefer they ban the ridiculous $2000+ custom shaped aerobar extensions than this. I mean, Ditlev's is basically a fuselage! Simply stating that extensions need to be round in shape for at least 3/4 of their length and no greater than X diameter would probably do the trick.

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B. Sport Coaching and Exercise Science
Triathlon Australia Performance (Level 2) Coach

I wouldn't think it's the same because it's 1 location of mass weight vs what happens now with the weight distributed throught the bike (BTA, downtube, or BTS).

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Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

Doesn't feel different habdling at all. The only issue is running with the bike out of t1, you need to support your bladder/belly to keep the bladder from sliding all the way down to your crotch. Cycling you don't notice it much and feels much better than when I had two bottles on the back (and easier to mount/dismount for me).

Ganna's "UCI Approved" One Hour Record bike was about $70K - and Undo Cycling Innovation are the one's who went after Obree's homemade bike using the "Tuck" and "Superman" positions.

I'd use a bladder with a lanyard around the top. Loop it around your neck and hang it in front. An empty bladder on the run may be annoying but won't appreciably slow you down. At least not as much as it will speed you up on the bike.

You have a point and I agree with you.
We can discuss how the rules should be written as much as we want but the reality is that it's truly only the application of the rule that counts in this case. They probably already have grounds to ban everything they want with the fairings prohibited rule.

Part of the annoyance is that triathlon organisations are very slow at clarifying whether something is allowed or not. The written rules hardly provide any guidance.

First, they need to decide if/what they want to prohibit.

The UCI go after innovations like Obree's because the big bike companies are not going to make any money from them, and therefore lobby for these things to be banned. Can't have people making their own kit for greatly reduced costs when they are trying to convince you that a £10000+ bike is what you really need

lol

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Tech writer/support on this here site. FIST school instructor and certified bike fitter. Formerly at Diamondback Bikes, LeMond Fitness, FSA, TiCycles, etc.
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