Capitalism is a bitch. More more more$

Plenty of suckers to sell bling too. Anyone can look the look. Buy a new $20k setup and be the enve in your small pond.

Have our bikes weighed before the race, open entering transition. Have the weight of our bike, in minutes, subtracted from our race time.

Ok, that was a light hearted joke. But when triathlon was big in our area in the beginning, transition was full of 40 pound Schwinns, etc, and they still looked like the fancy bikes the rich kids had.

We are also not going to grow the sport, when entry fees double and triple etc the local half and full marathons, that is the biggest gateway drug to triathlon. I can race an entire local running season, for the cost of one Ironman. And what the hell? I gotta join an insurance org to race? The running folks laugh at stuff like that.

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Athlinks / Strava

Running is in decline too.

Agreed. Very tough to grow triathlon, when the feeder sports are declining as well.

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Athlinks / Strava

All fair points. But can our triathlon media do more like articles on

1. My first day of open water swimming what should I expect

2. What is the longest run I need to do in my life to finish a sprint tri. If I can jog 4-5 laps around a track can I finish a sprint tri

3. Can I do a triathlon with my hybrid commuter bike or a mountain bike ?

4. Do I need to buy a wetsuit to do a triathlon or can I just get by doing all sports in regular shorts ?

5. Will me $20 Walmart helmet work? I see all these $400 helmets online ?

6. Do I need special running shoes or are my cross fit gym shoes OK?

7. Can I just pin my race number to a T-shirt. Or do I cut the elastic off some old underwear pin number on that and step into that after the swim

8. Do they stop the time in transition or do they time me changing? Should I practice changing ? How do I remember where my bike is in 200 bikes?

9. How do I stop my goggles from fogging up?

10. Why does no one have hair on their bodies ? Are they aliens or does your hair fall off after swimming in open water sludge?

Ok maybe I am being a bit extreme but where are the first timer guides to build thru the winter to their first race in the spring ?

Glad to help with some of this when I am retired, but the people working in the media today could balance off some of the pointy end topics with more entry level topics too. Entry level grows the sport, pointy end stuff inspires

You're not getting Enve on a $20k bike. Reynolds maybe. But it's more like £25-30k with Enve wheels and front end
🤪

Right when I was getting into this sport, Canyon was doing a lot of paid media in Men's Health and GQ and pushing their low end models and the myth that because they cut out the LBS from the chain they were cheaper. I think the model and this was like 2016 when I still had GQ, they said the Ultimate CF SL in the reviews was 1400. When I went to go to the website and check it out, it was 1800. (Current price is 2400). They now have a cheaper road bike in the endurance 6 at 1500. Which is great of course. I had looked at a Canyon in 2017 for my first tri bike, don't remember what the CF (oh and I also hate their nomenclature) was and it was still over 3k.

My first tri-bike was a Trinity Advanced, list price was 1800. Now the list price for the same exact bike is 2600. Nothing has changed about that bike. It's a rim brake bike with no extra add-ons. Now, the higher end you go with the Trinity, the more you get. Especially if a woman, the Liv Avow packages are pretty amazing.

But yeah, the magazines do us no favors by only reviewing the ferrari of the line and not the Chevrolet Sparq of the line. Perhaps Slowtwitch should lead the way and only review entry level bikes?

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Washed up footy player turned Triathlete.

The high end reviews are fine, But I see an opening for slowtwitch to have a beginner's oriented series...gear, training, prep, planning, how to etc etc.

The top of the pyramid will die without the pyramid building locally. We may be missing a bunch of Chrissie Wellingtons or Lucy Charleses who just want to do something for fitness!!!

Is ST easy to find for a “beginner”. I don’t know exactly how I found it in sept of 08. I had been doing tri for 6 months before I found it. I guess search engines are much easier these days but Ive never thought ST was “beginner friendly”, in the forum or the articles. I think back then “beginner triathlete” forum was around (I have no clue if said website is even around haven’t visited it for probably 10+ years).

ST has its place in the sport no doubt. I thought it’s more “boys club” type of vibe/feeling much more than “welcoming”.

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

I think the media consumed has changed…the GCNs,GMBNs,GTNs do a great job answering exactly those hypotheticals you pose AND show all the sexy stuff in 4K quality.

Personally I'd expect a specialised magazine to be aimed at the more serious people rather than a gateway for beginners.

As said above there is plenty of online media with more beginner friendly triathlon content. However, even there idea of "budget" bikes/tech can be on the high side.

Triathlon is a crazy expensive sport. The problem is that expensive gear does work, so anyone that can't afford it is putting themselves at a disadvantage. I don't see how you can fix that now.

Cost and time are certainly big barriers for entry. Also I think there are now many other attractive non-tri alternatives for many people. For example, those that want a crazy physical challenge can do ultras and long distance bikepacking races. A few of my friends are doing a couple of weeks cycle touring through Europe rather than any races.

Also, while I wouldn't consider them the same as a true big race feel, zwift and park runs mean people can "race" multiple times a week. I'm sure for some that's enough competition without the additional costs and travel.

The very early Taren videos (prior to him selling out and becoming a shill) did a decent job of answering some of these beginner question and made it easy to start. Unfortunately he got lost and no one took up that place.

GCN does a great job...That Triathlon Life's podcast is solid too for making it seem obtainable, but the idea of showing up and using what you have is rarely championed. We have a great bit insanely expensive sport. I am in a high income bracket and I find it nuts...I can't imagine someone that makes 45k a year being able to pull it off outside of local racing. Travel, hotels and entry fees alone cost me almost 3500 for IM Maryland, worth every penny but a super selfish 3500 3 night stay lol.

Thanks for posting this, Cyclists & triathletes are generally tone deaf and ignorant when it comes to cost as they can afford it. They don't think about accessibility, sustainability and longevity.

Triathlon is in decline, cycling as a sport is filled with 20 K plus bikes almost as a standard on our club nights. No one seems to care our average age is 35 plus. We have a small number of 20's mainly those who hung about and are having a go at being pro.

Our juniors, maybe 5 to ten at best, these are all funded by their rich dads who vicariously pushed their kids into the sport. When they are 15 to 20 their dads are putting them on S-works level bikes.

Newbies don't persist in that elitist environment, then add culture, in tri and bike, that is exclusive rather than inclusive. All this in the face of a WC where the kids hero, Messi won a World Cup. My kids and everyone elses is running around in a football top, $70 kicking a PSG or WC ball, $60.

Cheapest Canyon road bike 3300 Aud
At least polygon have bikes under 3000.

Triathlon adds in the arms race of aero wheels, bikes, wet suits, carbon run shoes. That's before you consider that in USA, Aus, Uk most peopel come to multisport after having played a real sport, football, basketball etc.

We should be revieiwng Polygon and other manufacturers who make affordable stuff which increases accessibility and sustainability of the sport. We should review the exotics like most car mags did, once a year as a fascinating look at what rich people buy.

This sounds like Isabel King!

“I never fit in in the tri world, it was so mid-life crisis, so ‘aero is everything'”

SO mid-life crisis lmao

https://www.velonews.com/...nbound-gravel-glory/

I don't disagree in general, but when it came time to review an "entry level bike", and that was before supplements, magic brain illuminators and everything, he did exactly what Triathlon Magazine Canada did now - voted with his sponsorship contract.

The "entry level" bike "reviewed" by Taren was a $3500 Ventum, and he didn't even mention the possibility that this was nothing like an entry level price.

I do also agree that GTN are amazing at those beginner videos. Sometimes when I stumble upon one, I catch myself questioning how they oversimplify things and make sweeping generalizations. But that's exactly what beginners need in order to be drawn to the sport.

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"FTP is a bit 2015, don't you think?" - Gustav Iden

About 5/6 years ago I said I thought Triathlon was going to become a sport for the rich/privileged and wasn’t going to attract the next generation of new comers. I got shot out of the water BIG TIME.

AUS Tri have lost 11% of their membership in the past 12 months and 50% over the last 5 years. GB Tri no longer declares their membership numbers so I would imagine a similar pattern. A lot of races that were sold out as soon as entries opened now have places available up to deadline.

The sport is in decline at all levels. Some tri mags have an article once a year on entry level equipment or have a focus on new members in the off season but generally 99% is aimed at the high end. It goes beyond the magazines.

How many times have group rides done their best to drop the newbie to put him in his place? As long as that mentality exists the sport will continue to decline.

Is N America that expensive? Or are you picking luxurious options (e.g. top end hotel, business flights etc.)

For comparison I'm based in UK and doing a week cycle holiday in Southern Spain next month:
Flights - $240 (including bike carriage)
Hotel - $300 (basic, but includes things like small pool, WiFi, breakfast buffet etc.)
Granted I have add lunch and dinners onto that, but even so a week holiday is definitely under $1000, perhaps even similar to just IM Maryland entrance fee.

My brother just booked a ski holiday. $1200 for a week trip in a catered chalet including flights, transfers, lift pass, and ski rental.

A package trip (flights, transfers, nice all inclusive hotel) for a week in Lanzarote can easily be picked up for $850 per person. (Would have to add bike carriage or rental on top).

So the idea that a 3 day trip could be $3000+ is pretty mind boggling to me.

Flights for my wife and I, refundable main cabin (450 cdn each) 900 cdn total

The host hotel in Maryland, 325 usd/night(400 cdn per night) 1200 cdn total

Car rental 250 usd for 3 nights (300 cdn)

Registration was 700 usd (950 cdn)

Gets me to 3500 cdn rather easy. The only "splurge" was the host hotel, most rentals in Maryland were insanely expensive and this being my first IM, I wanted to be sure I knew the logistics were ok.

I am Canadian so I pay a premium due to a weak dollar.

.
There isn't any reason that I would pay $325USD per night for a hotel room at a race anywhere in the world.

So this imo is the issue. In 1 sentence you go from describing local races to IM cost issues. Guess what? If you come into the sport and decide after 2 events to do an IM that’s a YOU problem, if you catch the IM bug after finishing your 1st race that’s on YOU. There is nothing wrong with sticking to local races. But it always seems like the conversation goes from local starts to IM events quickly. But whose fault is that?

Because I’m willing to bet that although many local races are drying up, the answer doesn’t have to be to go from the least expensive race to the most expensive race like that. Go race local races and add in some big boy events. I’m guessing lots of places have that ability we just a lot of times choose not to do it that way. Since the IM is going to cost $4k we’ll skip everything else.

But general the person’s ego/desire/pressure gets them to IM type of events as fast as they can. And sometimes that’s a you problem. Sometimes that decision is what makes it expensive when it doesn’t have to be that way. So as much as we want to blame the sport or IM, let’s also put some blame on personal responsibility as well.

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

Right on the money.

I’ve gone from local, to IM, back to local. As with many others, my first full was IM-branded, as my ego wanted to hear the magic words as I crossed the finish line. But now I simply won’t pay their entry fee when I can race the same distance for a third of the cost by choosing a local event instead.

Because it was my mindset, I understand others’ egos making them pick branded fulls, but I’ll never really understand it at 70.3 unless you’re looking for Worlds qualification. Most in my club self-support on the bike, so all they’re really getting from their £350(+) is closed roads. Stay local, support smaller races, make the sport cheaper for yourself.

I wasn't complaining, I was staying the obvious. I can afford it, I was simply pointing out that that the media focus is on IM.

And for the record I raced local for 13 years before doing IM when my kids were old enough to not miss me when I was training, and I had the financial freedom do it. This year I did Chattanooga 70.3, IM Maryland, 2 local gravel races, a local sprint and the Detroit marathon. I would not advocate anyone doing IM after 1-2 years in the sport, anymore than I recommend someone goes to full marathon before they break 30 minutes in a 5 km.

The focus on long distance and IM in most forums, magazines, websites vs the focus on a patient path to IM contributes to the IM craze and overall view of unaffordability of triathlon.

Right but it’s still on you as an individual to make personal decisions. So if you choose to buy an entry level bike for $3k vs going the used market, I can’t really understand why you’re then complaining about the costs?

IM does a hell of a good job for the most part. But you are certainly going to pay for that. The local race “experience” sucks for many many races other than an opportunity to just race/finish an event. So we as a sport no longer wants to simply test ourselves. That’s essentially the problem, we want the bling, we want the pomp and circumstance and that basically can only be afforded w IM events when 3k pay for it. Notice what events have the best chance for closed roads? It’s IM events and even then many races are open roads.

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