Ok, I’ve now seen this twice with two different publications this year and would like to hear the story…another quote “and was named by Inside Triathlon as one of the ten most influential people in United States triathlon”. Pretty freaking awesome and I clearly don’t enough about Dan. Please tell.
Where I just saw it: http://espn.go.com/sports/endurance/story/_/id/9354959/endurance-sports-thirty-triathlon-moments-mattered
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You know what? We need an interview of Slowman on what led to the inventions of the tri wetsuit and the tri bike. I’ve had some personal conversations on this topic, because he did not wait around for research papers to be published to tinker around and try to push the envelope and try to do something different. There is a Nissan commercial out right now about how people used to do the high jump before Dick Fosbury. We have the same deal inside triathlon. He changed the way we do the sport. He’s probably not going to come to this thread and give us all the detail anyway, so we’re going to have to draw the story out of him.
I do remember getting my first set of Scott DH aerobars in 1987 and thinking, “OK, they got the front end like a downhill skier” but my back end does not even come close to resembling the downhill skier tuck. If only I could ride a bike in the same “proper” tuck position. Slowman decided to take it reality and rather than play around with the front end of the bike, he built a bike that would allow us to stay in the downhill skier tuck position while riding a bike, versus trying to get into a skier tuck position on a conventional road bike.
I do want to know about the blow by blow on the first tri wetsuit. My first wetsuit was a surfer wetsuit with zipper in the front that would inflate to Michelin man size instantly if you tried swim in it.
Dev
Quiz…where did the name Quintanna Roo come from?
Extra points if you can tell where the name “Cannondale” came from.
I would love to read an answer to this question. Ian Emberson’s wife once showed me a new wet suit. I would love to hear the story behind it. I was once a young impressionable kid who thought these people and the others like them were the coolest people ever. It would be fun to hear the stories of our sport from first hand sources.
I hate to burst your bubble but actually triathlon might be better off if the “triathlon wetsuit” had never been “invented”, since then tri-people would only wear a wetsuit only for warmth rather as a swim aid. I used to have a surfing wetsuit that fit properly and kept me warm but it had absolutely no flotation aid; once everyone started wearing the “tri wetsuits”, I had to buy a QR to keep up. I actually still race in the same QR wetsuit I bought back in 1988:)
But - you did not mention the Chupacabra…mean little beast…Dan however (as the legend goes) took out the beat in short notice. Eating it to survive in the cell waiting on his release…and all the while digesting the evidence of the beast that could have made him millions with the discovery.
Quiz…where did the name Quintanna Roo come from?
Extra points if you can tell where the name “Cannondale” came from.
I’ve heard several excuses of where Dan came up with the name, from Dan HIMSELF.
The one I like best was that he (in the story) took over a small manufacturing business called “Quintana Roofing” but part of the sign had fallen off. He just took the name to save money making a new sign. 
I had the great pleasure of getting a bike (cheap too I might add thanks to his involvment in a previous life on rec.sport.triathlon), and the even greater pleasure of dropping by the factory in San Marcos, back in 1996. He was an incredibly generous host, sending me on my way with tons of free QR gear, and even fed my kids (apple pie since it was thanksgiving) I still have a QR (being restored as a museum bike) my QR hats, QR sox, drink bottles, and even my QR wetsuit, (that’s been handed down to my daughter since it shrunk over the years.
Dan has done more for triathlon than anyone other than Julie Moss (and even that is debatable)
Thanks Dan for all you have done for us. None of us would be here, swimming in wetsuits or riding tri bikes, or so many other things (including wasting valuable work time on ST) without you. Thanks a million!!!
I hear he’s a real sweetheart.
(Sorry, couldn’t resist. And in fact he was extremely nice when I met him.)
I hear he’s a real sweetheart.
(Sorry, couldn’t resist. And in fact he was extremely nice when I met him.)
Who the hell is Dan Empfield :0)-
Not sure, but I think he either invented or tried to squash PowerCranks
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I think he is the guy who lives in a secluded compound and has a reality TV show that hunts bigfoot in the hills of California.
Hell, I just want to know how Dan pronounces the name of the company he founded.
I hate to burst your bubble but actually triathlon might be better off if the “triathlon wetsuit” had never been “invented”, since then tri-people would only wear a wetsuit only for warmth rather as a swim aid. I used to have a surfing wetsuit that fit properly and kept me warm but it had absolutely no flotation aid; once everyone started wearing the “tri wetsuits”, I had to buy a QR to keep up. I actually still race in the same QR wetsuit I bought back in 1988:)
Eric, Iyour bubble is sounding a bit elitest. Plenty of people swim fast with or without wetsuit. The guys who swim fast without wetsuit are the same guys who swim fast with. Take any masters swim group and the same pecking order from swim practice shows up in the swim split in a triathlon. Andy Potts leads either way.
I’m not sure where you live, but where I live, triathlons other than pool versions would not even exists for more than 2 weeks per year without Dan’s invention and even if it does allow 5x the people to participate who otherwise would not, this is actually a good thing for the sport. So I would ask you to step outside your view and just accept it for being a a massive enabler for the growth of the sport.
You may want it to be the same size as 1988, but that train left the station a long time ago, so no point being one of those old guys proclaiming how everything was perfect “back in the day”. Across industries, all the old guys claim how good things were “back in the day” when the reality is, that almost everything has gotten better. I’ve been racing since 1985, and the sport is way better today. No point being stuck in the past. Move on to the present and work with what we have.
Quiz…where did the name Quintanna Roo come from?
Extra points if you can tell where the name “Cannondale” came from.
We did this a few years back on this forum and it became one of the funniest thread on this board.
I’m not sure where you live, but where I live, triathlons other than pool versions would not even exists for more than 2 weeks per year without Dan’s invention and even if it does allow 5x the people to participate who otherwise would not, this is actually a good thing for the sport.
Dev,
You aren’t doing anything here to dispel the notion that all Canadians live in Igloos and ride dog sleds to work.
I hate to burst your bubble but actually triathlon might be better off if the “triathlon wetsuit” had never been “invented”, since then tri-people would only wear a wetsuit only for warmth rather as a swim aid. I used to have a surfing wetsuit that fit properly and kept me warm but it had absolutely no flotation aid; once everyone started wearing the “tri wetsuits”, I had to buy a QR to keep up. I actually still race in the same QR wetsuit I bought back in 1988:)
Eric, Iyour bubble is sounding a bit elitest. Plenty of people swim fast with or without wetsuit. The guys who swim fast without wetsuit are the same guys who swim fast with. Take any masters swim group and the same pecking order from swim practice shows up in the swim split in a triathlon. Andy Potts leads either way.
I’m not sure where you live, but where I live, triathlons other than pool versions would not even exists for more than 2 weeks per year without Dan’s invention and even if it does allow 5x the people to participate who otherwise would not, this is actually a good thing for the sport. So I would ask you to step outside your view and just accept it for being a a massive enabler for the growth of the sport.
You may want it to be the same size as 1988, but that train left the station a long time ago, so no point being one of those old guys proclaiming how everything was perfect “back in the day”. Across industries, all the old guys claim how good things were “back in the day” when the reality is, that almost everything has gotten better. I’ve been racing since 1985, and the sport is way better today. No point being stuck in the past. Move on to the present and work with what we have.
You could copy+paste this as a response to about 30% of the threads.
When will Dan invent something else? Triathlon world needs some innovation
When will Dan invent something else? Triathlon world needs some innovation
Well there is always a place called ST…