Link added & spelling corrected

Thanks for taking the pics Nick. High quality which makes it fun and easy to see all the different gear the pros use. Quite a few Giro Empires

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Matt

Great photos!

Is this an optical illusion, or does Lionel have some huge tires on his bike? Also, anyone know the model?

Gp4000s probably 25mm

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2019 T-Rex Tri Series

Beach Cruiser tires, no wonder he couldn't quite close the gap to the main train.

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"They're made of latex, not nitroglycerin"

I thought the same thing. Best Bike Split said he rode similar wattage to last year but he rode 3 mins slower this year compared to everyone else riding much much faster. Maybe it is an illusion but it could be camel pack 2.0 and he raced tires that didn't have enough clearance for that frame.

Tires Grand Prix 4000 II 23mm...

All details about is bike setup can be found here : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qf9UCWL31sU

They look a lot bigger than that. He used 23mm GPTTs last year. These do appear to have the GP4k tread. Maybe 28mm? A relatively slow tire in Crr and too fat to be aero.

And in the who-has-their-back-arched-like-a-cat category, the winner is... Carrie Lester.

Man that looks like it would ache.

What’s wrong with Rudy Project helmets? Don’t they dominate the helmet count at Kona?

Looks like Hed Jet Blacks, not Stingers, and so some of that may be the black, textured aluminum brake track.

They are very slow helmets

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Make Inside Out Sports your next online tri shop! http://www.insideoutsports.com/

Have you wondered why?

"What’s wrong with Rudy Project helmets? Don’t they dominate the helmet count at Kona? "

Relative to other available helmets, Rudy's "aero" looks are deceiving. They almost always test well behind other helmets like the Giro Aerohead, LG P09, etc. I am only reporting second-hand from people I know who do significant wind tunnel testing for riders, but I've not seen any instances where the Rudy came out ahead.

I like Rudy. But I like aerodynamics more.

I always figured the people racing at Kona had half an idea what they were doing?

I just googled and couldn’t find anything-do you have any links to tests?

There is a lot of stuff posted on here about how slow Rudy Project helmets are. You need to search through the forums.

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Make Inside Out Sports your next online tri shop! http://www.insideoutsports.com/

You are correct! Sure look fat though.

Or because Rudy give them away for free to increase their results in the Kona count?

Isn't that their design philosophy thought? I listened to a podcast from the lead engineer a couple of years ago where he clearly stated that they don't design the fastest helmet intentionally. Given that the fastest helmet is dependent on the rider's position and body shape, you can only know which is the fastest helmet by going to the wind tunnel. Instead, they try to create a helmet that's fast on everyone which means that it will generally be the second or third fastest helmet out there.

Fify.

I'm also curious about this

Don't HED jets make the tyres sit bigger than what they are? I got HED jets with conti attack and force combo and the tyres look wider than what they say they are.

While clever, it doesn't really refute their design philosophy, nor does it make it wrong/bad.

Wasn't really being clever... Just more accurate. No one (here on ST, anyway) claims the Rudy is fast. But, it may not be the slowest. The usual recommendation for a helmet (if you can't test) from those who know is a Giro A2 or AH. Never a Rudy.

Wrong/bad philosophy comes down to sales/profit for a profit based company. Maybe they make more money being mediocre? no clue.