The local tri's (sprint and Oly) around here are $35-45 while the running races are $15-30. Is 15-20 bucks really going to break someone? If so they shouldn't be training for tris but training for a new career.

As far as equiptment you can get a decent bike used on e-bay for $500 and a wetsuit for $100 both of which will last for years with proper care. Pedals, shoes, helmet...etc can be had on the cheap from Performance/Nashbar...etc. This sport doesn't have to be expensive.

I think triathlons are very heavily favored to the older/more wealthy person because of cost. I can only afford to do about 1/3 of the triathlons I would like in a year simply because I am a student and races around here average about $50-$60 for a basic olympic race. This may not be much to a older, more established individual with a career, but to me that's grocery money for a week. There is a very distinct reason the average age of an ironman competitor is around 37.

I don't know... I think it certainly has that potential, but it's really up to the participant. I did my first two seasons on a borrowed bike, with a clearance helmet and tennis shoes and a regular swimsuit. The only thing I bought was a sleeveless wetsuit (on sale). Switching to a more expensive tri bike didn't make me faster. Switching to clipless pedals and a cooler helmet and aerobars didn't make me faster. I spent more money, but that didn't cause improvement. I finally started going faster when I got a coach... and it's not expensive coaching. In fact it's my lowest tri expense. It is nice to have all that stuff, and we tend to get in this "upgraded things" lust cycle... but it's possible to participate and love the sport without spending the cash. Of course we look cooler with the expensive helmet and nice bike (particularly after training makes us go faster...) Most of my favorite races are still the small "hometown" races, and they're all under $40 entry fee.

Bottom line - you want to spend the cash? There's lots of fun stuff to buy...but it's a "want" not a "need" ... even in this stuff laden sport of ours.

Then again... if you're not doing it for the pure love of participating in this sport, but you have your eye on a podium spot, the stuff sure can help... particularly nice wheels. ;-)

I have to agree. There's way more races I wish I could do, but just don't have the money for. I make a decent salary but, after race fees, traveling, flat tires, etc. it adds up to a ridiculous amount. Hell, I can't even do an IMNA event this year because they sold out so fast. And that's a race I'd even pay the $450 for! (even if it means I can only do one IM a year)

It makes it tough to really train when you can only afford three races a year and don't have that race goal.

BTW (to the other poster), I think its great that you found some sprints that cost twenty bucks a race, but wherever they are, they aren't in my backyard. There's a huge difference in the longer races and costs associated with them though. For those of us looking for long course events, the costs are a major deterrent.

Did you even read the first post? It seems to me he was talking about "playing fees" and not the cost of the clubs.

I raced without a wetsuit and on a bike older than me until it fell apart! And as far as pedals go- they make a huge difference in your stroke and ability to ride more efficiently. Or has your coach not taught you that?

Nobody is complaining about what they spend on gear- that's up to the individual- but race fees and subsequent costs are at issue. Nevermind that you have to plan two years ahead of time so that the year before the race, you can cough up the dough in the few hours that slots are available.

If you are racing short "hometown" courses, then you obviously don't have this problem.

Tri is not in the sense that golf or tennis is country club, but it can be expensive if you want it to be. You can still play golf or tennis cheaply if you want. Same applies to tri.

Tri is very affordable for most people if wise about your equipment choices. Buy used on ebay, CH Aero covers for a disc, used front aero wheel, etc. I absolutely guarantee that you could set yourself up on a bike for under $1000. that would be 98% as fast as the latest and greatest $$$$ bike if you do your research. In my first two years of tri I rode a 15 yr old 12 sp that was upgraded considerably for about an extra $300.

It's entry fees and travel/accomodation that can hurt, especially if you five star it instead of camping. Local sprints, Olys, in Ontario are very cheap. We're even getting a IM distance race in Ottawa next year for $300. CDN which is about $240. US

What really pissed me off was a young student I met who really wanted to do a tri. Some snooty trigeeks told him that if he didn't have a $3000 bike to forget it since he couldn't be competitive. Fortunately we told him different and now he's enjoying the local sprint tris which he can afford on his student budget.

I think that the high fees can be a blessing and curse. I uaully focus on 2-3 races per year. It cuts down on expenses and...

BENEFIT - I work my tail of for that one race. It is the only thing on my mind for months. I prepare and taper perfectly. I do so much better than when I used to do a ton of races all summer long. Back then if I wasn't feeling well I almost mentally gave up and determined to make my move in "the next race" If this race is on a few races each year I have to go all out no matter what.

DRAWBACK - When you gear up for one big race and then have that flat or get sick the day before, you are simply out of luck.

I say focus on one, or two...maybe three. Keep it cheap and spend the rest of your time racing your buddies on the weekend.

Sure, it's not a sport for those with no disposable income, but it's certainly much less than other much more popular past-times.

Golf is far more popular and much more expensive, as you pointed out. What about bass fishing? My working-middle class blue collar father is a hardcore bass fsiherman with an expensive boat and Ford PU to tow it. When he fishes, he spends more on gas to tow the boat to the lake than I spend on an average entry fee.

See a lot of people on Harleys? you could buy a trio of Walsers for what a fatboy costs, and that's w/o leather!

So, yeah tri is not for those living hand to mouth, and pay check to pay check. fact of life. People in such a position are more worried about paying the electric bill than they are upgrading to the fastest aero bar.

But, for most of us who are comfortably middle class and above, tri is an affordable indulgence.My club dues are $20/year, and that includes all the 'free' training races I care to attend.

All things considered, I think tri is a bargain. I rode today, followed immediately by a run ... total out of pocket expense: $0.

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*****
"In case of flood climb to safety"

$50-60 dollars a week for groceries...

when I was in college, half that covered groceries ... but of course beer wasnt included in that amount!

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*****
"In case of flood climb to safety"

where tri really hurts is with a family. it costs 12 bucks for my 13 y/o girl to race the state championship cyclocross race last weekend. there is not usually any sort of break for tri for younger racers. do a little 45 dollar sprint/oly with the family and it is 180 dollars.

we can go to a roadrace or mtn bike race and all four of us race for less than the cost of two, in tri - sometimes less than the cost of one (!). multiply that over say 4, 5, 6 races in summer. at these races it is very very common to see familys enjoying the sport as family participants. you cannot say that for tri - i dunno about "country club", maybe more like " double income no kids " club, or " leave the kids at home" club, or possibly " the kid races but mom and dad watch". something.

kids should race for 12 bucks - not the kiddie race, for real. why don't tri's do this, i wonder?

Triathlon is starting to remind me of downhill skiing. High cost of entry for equipemnt and other fees. High cost of travelling too/from events. Takes up a significant amount of time. Yet, in a certain niche, the sport is thriving - same as downhill skiing. Strange!

I am always amazed when I go to Whistler or some other big ski resort at the costs, the line-ups, the hassles, the time taken to get that downhill thrill.

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

I would never pay $1000 in country club dues (in reality probably 5x as much), but when I look at what I spent to race this year, it is well over $500 in entry fees and I didn't even do an IM, or one of the $200 HIM.

I personally do not see why more folks do not do "solo" races on their own. I can't see paying money for an Oly race, when you could easily find a place to do it on your own (I did ... twice this summer). And sprints ... I really don't see how folks would pay $50 to do a "brick workout" (that's how I see it). Heck, just grab a couple of bottles and/or a camelbak, and hit the street.

It makes me wonder who we are missing from the sport due to lack of funds.

Where would baseball be without Latin America or Mexico or low-income kids? Where would basketball be? (still shooting "set shots") How popular would soccer be without including its lower income members? (Isn't this the worldwide appeal to soccer?)

I can't really comment as to "why" the sport costs so much, only that by doing so, it drastically decreases the diversity of its membership. Look at what happened to the performance standards in other sports once "everyone" got involved. It speaks for itself.

As I said in another post, right now the demand is so much greater than the supply ... that the supply determines the price.

I keep hearing tri's being compared to everything from country clubs, to fishing, to golf, etc. Compare the cost of triathlon to the cost of a men's softball league, volleyball league, basketball league, bowling, etc. THIS IS NOT ABOUT THE COST OF EQUIPMENT (That is by choice). Fishing costs what? $10 for a license you can use all year.

It's almost hilarious that we pay $300-$500 bucks for the "privilage" of putting ourselves through hell for 8-17 hours. I can hear someone that never heard of triathlon saying, "You mean people pay money to do that?"

As I mentioned before, I'll do more solo races. I'm not winning any prize money anyway. I just wanna see improvement and have fun doing it, and see if I can hit the distances ... and in how little time.

My race fund (except for the UltraMax race) got absorbed into the "Extend your privacy fence to encompass all 3/4 acre" fund. 2 kids, 3 dogs. An outside playing family. 'Nuff said.

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-- Every morning brings opportunity;
Each evening offers judgement. --

To answer the original question: Yes I am limited by race fees for tris. Still wanting to do an IM distance I was pretty put off by IMFL closing in like 3 hours. I'd have to make a payment plan for something like that. Still I am put further off by attitudes like slick's. There exists a good bit of snobbery in this sport. You don't find it at the smaller races but you sure do in the bigger ones. Go ahead, dog pile on me.

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Craig

Still I am put further off by attitudes like slick's.

For a positive outlook on triahtlon, keep these two things in mind:

[1] that view is one in the vast minority. If you need to spend more time at sites/boards that are more positive ... do so.

[2] They'll never say anything to you while you're standing right there. It's really not worth being concerned about. There are many more positive, quality people in this sport than there seems to be. The A'holes get all the attention ... they're the ones making the stink (pun intended).

Seriously, if the attitude bothers you, there are other sites with quality info without the crap. Personally, I'd just let it slide off ... like water of a duck's back.

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-- Every morning brings opportunity;
Each evening offers judgement. --

If you look at the whole world of sport there is a strong correlation between world wide popularity and the simplicity of the sport. Soccer is the classic and best example. It is the most popolar sport in the whole world and perhaps the most competitive. Why - It's very basic. I have seen kids in the poorest countries in the world where I have traveled enthusiastically playing soccer using a "ball" made of twine and rags.

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

As I have suggested before, I think they ought to have an 'Old School' division of folks who race without all the expensive gear. No wetsuit, no fancy tri bike, no aero-junk. It won't affect the cost of doing the race, but would give folks without the money for gear an opportunity to compete with other like-minded, cheap, or financially challenged, folks.

The sad truth is that USAT hypes the wealthy, professional nature of the participants, and as long as we keep buying $475 wetsuits and $4,000 bikes, then selling out $400 races in < 24 hours and booking 5 nights at $300 hotels, no one in this sport has any motivation to offer inexpensive options.

The bright side of things is that, optimistically, a fit young guy or gal on mediocre equipment will still spank most of us on any given day, which will, hopefully, draw attention to them, get them race entries, and perhaps sponsorship/gear as well. Anyone who can't probably isn't going to be winning races any time regardless of gear.

Maybe I'm being a bit myopic, but I can't help but think that anyone with the funding to swim, cycle, and run is probably not starving to begin with.

I've rambled a bit. Sorry 'bout that.

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Thanks Triplethreat, It is nice to hear your comments. My best friends & I got into tri for the fun of it. Still one of the funnest "races" I have ever been in was a mere 5 mi cycling time trial we had amongst ourselves and had it filmed by our own version of Phil Legget. That film is gold. So I'll try not to let the "stink" get to me

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Craig

Yes, I did read the first post, there's no need to be so confrontational. The post just got me thinking, so I probably rambled a bit. Sure, my coach has taught me a lot and I've improved a lot, but just switching the pedals doesn't automatically make you go faster - you need the training, the proper form, you need to learn the correct pedal stroke and all that. But this is all just as off topic as I'm sure parts of my response were.

The thing is, (and this is on topic), triathlon, as all things in life, are what we make of them. Even with the race fees... we don't HAVE to race IMNA races and pay the exorbitant fees - there are smaller (not necessarily shorter, but smaller) races available, it's just harder to find them. I agree that it's getting more and more expensive, and some races are getting disgustingly high. No argument there. But you don't need to sign up a year in advance for the non IMNA races, or plan two years ahead of time. Now if a person wants to do a certain race, and maybe they like the prestige that race carries with it... well that's their choice. But it's not necessary at any distance. It is what we each make it.

I am sure that it has been brought up before but we have to admit that our sport is predominatly a suburban white guy sport. While it is not by design, the net effect is that two of the three sports involved (cycling and swimming) pre-determine that a relatively affluent segment of the population will be able to participate. Unfortunately the continued escalation of race fees will ensure the continuation of this trend.

Running races are far more diverse as the skill required to run is based more on pure athletic ability.

Swimming on the other hand is a techinical sport that is usually learned from a young age. The cost of lessons, coaching fees, meets, etc makes it a sport that remains associated with the country club community.

If anyone can figure out a way to make the races more diverse please post your ideas.

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Jim

Well, this is the dirty little truth about the sport - the cost barriers are high. No you don't have to go nuts on the equipment, but even the bare-bones basics are going to set you back enough to make it a barrier to certain socio-economic groups( read: lower income).

That's why sports such as running and soccer are much more diverse( and competitive, I should note) - the cost barriers to get in are minimal. as an aside, It's interesting to note that the most competitive sports world-wide, are the sports with the lowest cost and the least amount of equipment required.

I don't have any good ideas how to make it more diverse. It's a challenging and complex issue.

I will note and was encouraged to see two black women taking part at IMFL - I feel uncomfortable even mentioning this, but it's not something you see everyday in triathlon.

Fleck

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

Sprints and Oly's around here are $60-$120.

>>I will note and was encouraged to see two black women taking part at IMFL - I feel uncomfortable even mentioning this, but it's not something you see everyday in triathlon. <<

Perhaps not in many places, but the triathlon community in the immediate Bay Area is quite varied--race, sex, sexual orientation. Income, probably not as much, but even that range is pretty broad. Can't speak for the great NorCal area.

clm

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clm
Nashville, TN
https://twitter.com/ironclm | http://ironclm.typepad.com

The 'country club' aspect also takes effect in terms of getting access to pools for training, and safe roads to ride on. If you're not safely middle class and in the first world, you probably don't have access to either of those.

I do limit my racing because of entry fees. Started racing on a $50 Schwinn - equipment is a minor cost. I've never done a triathlon that cost less than $45, most are around $60. But let's face it, the racing is just an excuse to train.. and vice versa, come to think of it.

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"It is a good feeling for old men who have begun to fear failure, any sort of failure, to set a schedule for exercise and stick to it. If an aging man can run a distance of three miles, for instance, he knows that whatever his other failures may be, he is not completely wasted away." Romain Gary, SI interview

"Just kind of curious, anyone out there actually seriously budget limited just for race fees?"
- - Hell yeah! I have to choose my races carefully, because I can't afford to sign up for an IM a year in advance and then hope my Achilles holds up and all my training goes well enough...

"Anyone with a family to support and an average middle class job thinking of giving up tris, just to run or something because of race costs."
- - Give up? Never.

"Maybe this is just like anything else. There are public golf courses for the less affluent..."
- - Yep, sprint races for $35-50, and the occasional Oly. I can do a dozen races for under $1000.

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