Since I got an aero-framed tri bike and deep dish front/disc rear, having faster times than others isn’t as satisfying as it used to be. I am more aero on the bike than most of my competitors in local races, and a small part of me feels like I’m cheating. I also think that aero gear helps to make sure this sport is a rich (wo)man’s sport. Does anybody else wish races only allowed round-tubed traditional bikes with box rims so that the faster engine always won, no matter the budget?
Do aero toys cheapen the sport?
No, they make it more expensive 
As I ride a road bike without and “aero advantage,” I’ll ask this: How much time did you lose by going aero?
I honestly have no idea. I race sprints and oly’s. I’d say a couple minutes in a sprint, which is often the difference between being on the overall podium and 15th. maybe 3-5 minutes in an oly? Again, having aero toys or not can mean the difference by 15 places or more.
My bike is made from Round tubing and I got ripped on ST when I showed it with my zipp wheels.
Dave
Will you have to buy new tyres when the dimples wear off?
Yep.
Dave
A few of my friends and I are planning to enter a sprint race going “old-school”. For me, no wetsuit, a circa 1980’s Nishiki steel frame, and Converse all-star type running shoes.
We are all MOP. It’s just a bit of a push back against the usual $5000 in tri-gear we see during races.
For an old lady without race wheels it just makes it all the more satisfying to beat young guys with pointy helmets and $5,000 set ups…so don’t stop on my account 
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Better order them now, then. You wouldn’t want a delay in shipping to ruin your race.
So true!! Thanks for the reminder.
Dave
Five non-tri but athletic friends (self-styled as “The Couchies”) have challenged five of us that have recently finished HIMs (or, in one case, a marathon) (“The Halflings”) to a sprint race in October (Tri Andy’s Tri–300M, 10mile bike, 3 mile run). We Halflings are struggling over whether to ride tri bikes, 404s etc., as it may give the Couchies a built-in excuse. We may very well all end up on road bikes. I feel your pain. SH
Does anybody else wish races only allowed round-tubed traditional bikes with box rims so that the faster engine always won, no matter the budget?
Yup. Ban everything (fancy wheels, aero bars, fancy frames). Make the frame out of whatever you want, but tubes must be round, as god intended. (guess what, the same guys / gals would still be winning).
I also think that aero gear helps to make sure this sport is a rich (wo)man’s sport.
**
Clearly, it IS a rich man’s sport. My last race was $200. Unless you live within reasonable driving distance of many good races then you have to pay a lot of gas and overnight stay fees. Aero equipment is not the curprit.
I’ll be willing to bet I could put together a very competitive bike and include the cost of a set of race wheels and do it for less than $700. Minus the race wheels and it would be $500. It would be an old bike, likely and I would be running 650c, but it can be done because I have already done it once. Good fortune and prosperity have brought me a better fitting, better handling bike and more expensive race wheels, but my current $3,000 bike is perhaps marginally faster than my first eBay tri bike.
When I was racing that first bike and coveting my competitors aero frames and carbon wheels I remember thinking, “If I had their stuff I would beat them.” Not so. Now I work much, much harder and I do beat them. I don’t feel bad passing someone with my Zipp disc because I know I work harder than they do and changing out my rear wheel would only mean I pass them some tens of a mph slower. Wheels don’t pass people on their own.
Train hard and enjoy your toys.
Chad
See tag line below…
How can I hate technological advancement?
Personally, I love the stuff, because it can do a couple of things:
- take the equipment portion out of my racing analysis. If I suck, which I typically do, it is because I have no talent and minimal desire
- it allows me to actually post better bike and/or run splits compared to my friends who typically hammer me into the ground on rides and/or runs.
- it does provide intellectual reassurance that I am smarter than my friends that have more physical talent (see #2 above)
Although I haven’t done an IM in 6 years, that is also the reason I prefer longer distance racing. It somewhat reduces the physical component of racing. Plenty of fast people who just can’t figure out their equipment, nutrition, pacing, etc. Advantage to those who DO figure things out…
Bring on the toys. Well, first bring on the people who need to use engineering analysis software to build their toys first…THEN bring on the toys!
Going aero is expensive. We all have bought in to it on one level or another by either purchasing a disc wheel, streamlined frame, or a slick swimsuit. what it comes down to is how competitive you really are. Are you only competing against yourself, trying to beat your best. Or are you more interested in who is above and below your name on the results pages. Take it from me, I don’t have a lot of extra cash sitting around, I can’t go out and buy a disc wheel, set of zipps, or An aero frame. For me these things don’t cheapen the sport, they bring out the best thing about the sport, dedication. If this sport didn’t mean much to me then i wouldn’t have saved 6 months for my frame, I would of paid off my car instead. I wouldn’t have bought a tri suit, I would of swam in my board shorts. I love triathlon, and the spirit that goes along with it. I dont think aero cheapens this sport, I think for most of us it enriches us.
If you want to ride round tubes and box rims start training for the hour record.
Aero wheels and a decent frame are well within most peoples budgets if it truly means something to them(maybe $1000 if you’re wise)($2200 if you insist on using a LBS). I’d say more people than not are racing on some sort of advantageous equipment(either frame, wheels or both) and so don’t feel bad about your free speed.
If you’re looking to make a career move, I’m sure you’d do quite well at the UCI.
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You’re kidding, right? Under your analysis limits should be placed on training (time and intensity) too? How about married, single and number of children divisions?
And don’t try golf, the technology that helps an average golfer would really piss you off.