I know my EU company’s product liability and corporate insurance is literally 1/10 of what is in the USA. But I also know when I tried to use it, just was just as much a pain to get any value out of it. But as t least you pay less for the same useless service.
I would assume IM or the race director is doing this out of good will with the help of a bike sponsor.
My thought is the EU is much less likely to allow draconian contracts where you sign away all your rights just to register for the race.
There’s also all the components as well to think about - I have receipts for a good chunk of the components: Frame here, PM there, wheels there.
But if I were to buy it all now it would be 1.5x what I paid for it back then. For me it’s easy since a speed concept still exists, and you can replace it with a similarly tiered new one.
But if your bike model doesn’t exist anymore?
If you have 2000 high end bikes in a city centre, even with hired security, there’s no way that you don’t have insurance for this exact scenario.
This happened at a local race a few years back (not overnight, just between races), and the basic answer was ‘sorry, not much we can do for you’ - the next year they put in industry standard bike checkout processes.
Self insurance is a thing. Especially for large multinational corporations. Maybe they do have a provider, but I’d be surprised.
The premiums for providing a bike theft policy at 300 events around the world is likely much less than paying out a handful of bikes a year.
Having worked, volunteered at IM transitions, (and been a RD at non IM events) whilst there is a big effort to make transition secure, it’s also not possible. As pointed out you have 1,000+ bikes at x $5000 averege of 'goods )(so $5m USD+ very conservative low side) in the open air, located in a place that has to be easy to get in and out of, everyone wants to be able to stand beside and support/see their supporters. Needs to be built very quickly (road/venue closures/hire-keep costs manageable). So then you get security and lighting, but again, practicality is that you can’t have a complete ring of security guards. It’s a big area.
I have seen rules about not locking, but equally I’ve previously used zip ties to achieve the same without breaking the rules in case the RD foes need to move bikes a rack. Equally when working in in T1 I always make sure I have wire cutters for the inevitable athlete that comes out the water and finds they have forgotten to cut the zip tie…Yes, pretty much every race.
Honestly, overnight is the least worrying time. The number of athletes that come into transition (ok, less so at IM branded events) 'with their partners and get very aggressive to the volunteers if you try to enforce a sterile competitor only zone is way higher than you’d expect. I’m no criminal mastermind, but the rarity that someone comes to the RD at the end of the race and says their bike is gone from transition after the race surpises me. Overnight, meh - much higher risk opportunity for me.
I was at Victoria 70.3 in 2024 and I was waiting for a friend before leaving transition after the race.
I made the joke with the security guard standing there that it was kinda funny because “who would/could steal a bike”
He said they had already had 2 attempts that day. Either people switch a sticker and try to take someone’s entire bag stuffed with random stuff from other people’s bikes
Or he said in another case, they look for “cheap” bikes that come in that seem out of place. Apparently people register for the race with a cheap bike and fake id. Then find some random nice bike they can switch the sticker on.
I don’t know if that was true or not, but I was kind of shocked.
He looked at me and said “trust me, you’re not all good people”
I guess it depends on the specific race. If it’s run by the IM mothership, self insurance is fine and a few missing bikes every now and again is just the cost of doing business.
But a local RD running a licenced operation? 6 missing bikes at $15k each isn’t a risk you’d want to take.
In Cairns back in the late 80’s early 90"s there was a ring or bike thieves who would target triathletes homes aftet races.
All the results would be on a big white board or.printed out so everyone could grab a copy. The thieves would check the numbers on the bike they wanted or on the particular athletes body and then get the name of the athlete from the results. They would then get the Cairns phone book and look up the names of the athlete and get the address.
Most of the top guys would go home,change and then meet up at a pub for the “Sunday Session” with mates from the race. They would go home to find their bikes gone.
UNTIL!
One week they made the mistske of targeting a cop and one very angry ex-army guy.They were tracked down and dealt with very very seriously. No bikes went missing again.
I miss old school.justice.
Of course I’m careful with my expensive TT bike, but I’ve never been over-anxious.
Stolen mountain bikes, E-Bikes and racing bikes can be sold easily, but whats the customer group for used TT bikes from a dodgy source?
So I was a bit surprised of the message. Turns out I was to naive.
A friend of mine found his power pedals stolen at IM Frankfurt the morning of the tracer and couldn’t race. He received zero compensation from IM. This despite many complaints including social media.
I guess this could be linked to the why are races so expensive thread…
Not that it prevented me from racing but I’ve had my Oakleys stolen twice, one taken from the T2 bag and the other hidden between the shoes with gels on top under the bike.
Nothing but a “we’ll contact you if somebody finds them”. I had pictures of both but of course I could also be lying
Still don’t understand why there are no cameras for security purposes
What events were these? IM events? And where if you don’t mind me asking. That totally sucks.
I’m doing my last IM branded race in Marbella this Nov. At least it’s a women’s race for me. Thinking men steal more than women. But I did have a nice Prana hat stolen in a locker room at the National Training Center in Florida back in 2016. I was so bummed. I’m usually very careful and don’t leave stuff behind. Just a hat but I liked that hat. I hope the girl who stole it has a miserable future. I hate people who steal stuff.
I once had a car stolen while I was at work. When I came out to get in my car and it was an empty space, I was shocked, confused, etc.
With the stress of mentally preparing for a race prior to arrival, checking all your equipment prior to heading down to T1, getting everything set up just right - verifying you didn’t forget anything AND then showing up after a 3am alarm or some other earlier-than-normal time, I am already jittery and anxious.
I can only imagine the shock and confusion when these athletes arrived at their assigned spot only to find their bike is gone.
Even if IM had provided a perfectly fitted, $15k bike to replace my very old P2C with a new top-of-the-line Garmin/Wahoo/Whatever computer, getting my mind back to race-focused thinking would be difficult for me. “What happened to my bike?” “Why wasn’t security there?” “Do I have to find another bike when I’m done?” “Is IM going to help me replace my bike?” etc.
I’m just an MOP guy, but the swim is my best discipline. I enjoy the feel of gliding through the water and thinking about my stroke. But I assure you, my swim would not have been enjoyable that morning if it had been me (and I’m normally a super laidback kind of guy).
I’m glad IM is taken care of them in a number of ways, including the free entry for a 2026 race. That would, personally, really help me not stressed over a “wasted race”.
I once walked out of the office. Walked up to my car, opened the door, sat inside, and looked at a pile of paper plates in the passenger seat. “I don’t have a bunch of junk in my car, where did that come from?” I thought. Then I realized my car was two cars over, the exact same color and model as this one and I sat down in someone elses car!
I guess there’s about a 1/1000 chance if it’s an older model car (it was) that the same key would work. Would have been pretty funny if they kept their passenger seat clean, and I never noticed and just got in and drove away. So maybe someone was equally confused with your car when they pulled into their drive way and thought, “oh crap…” hah 
Same happened to me in the '70s. VW Bug… Lot’s of them in Germany in the '70s and apparently keys worked on many.
Another reason against spending 3+ years’ worth of race entries on a bike. Bikes are what limit participation in the sport and make it seem elitist, at least for the under-35s.
100%…and not just in Triathlon.
I am currently on a charity awareness ride around Oz and part if what I am doing is also showing people that you do not “need” to spend thousands of dollars on a bike,bikepacking gear and camping equipment to go out and see the world…and at the end of the 20,000k Ill be using that bike to do an Ironman.
Fun fact…The bike cost exactly the same as my Garmin 1030.