I was wondering about the fastest bike times over the years at the Ironman, and what bike/bike setups were ridden and by who to obtain these times. I guess I’m trying to work out if it really makes a huge difference to have a super aero bike or not, given the impact of the winds, both head and side. I guess it would also be handy to know the relationship between bike time, bike type and set up, and resulting marathon time off the bike. Anyone with any info or thoughts??
Further to this, I’m now asking if you had free choice of gear and bike for Hawaii, what would you ride and why? Try not to answer with the reason that it looks the best and costs the most, but if it’s free… I’m trying to do some seriouse research here
Everything you need to know about times. To get the actual bikes you’ll have to do a bit more digging, but most top triathletes have their own website with photos of them on their bikes.
Thanks for that link, but I was trying to find out times/bikes over the history of the ironman, not just last year. And from that try to work out the best bike for Hawaii and it’s conditions based more on anecdotal evidence than what science and wind tunnle testing would tell us.
Get a copy of the book that came out for the 25th anniversary. It has the times for the pros and AG’ers.
The fastest time is Helriegel in 1996 with Zack second in 1993. Get this - the third fastest time was John Howard in 1980 on his steel 10 sp road bike. Sure he drafted behind a van, but consider his equipment.
Since 2000 the times have actually been quite slow, none of them are in the top ten despite all the supposed aero improvements.
My thoughts exactly! Is it because of the huge amount of variables in hawaii, such as the terrain, wind, and sheer distance, that a truely awesome aero bike just doesn’t have the advantages at that speed.? Someone mentioned Zack in 93. He rode a trusty QR superform (I think). Maybe it just wasn’t blown around as much as other bikes so a more consistent effort could be maintained, and therefore less energy consumption… Also, I think Van Learde (sorry… spelling) in '96 rode a fairly standard tubed colnago. Anything else anybody??
I have to add my 2 cents. The fastest times in Hawaii were on 650 wheels. Do I think they are faster? Not necessarily - there is no evidence to support it. But I do think that it makes one question why people ride the wave to 700’s. However, I can’t complain because I always seem to be at the back of the wave picking up all the great gear for cheap prices that is no longer the trend.
The fast times were on 650 wheels since they were the “in” thing in the 90s. Zack still rides a 650 wheeled softride as far as I know and Hellreigel did his super fast times on his Centurian. I’m still on 650s since I bought a 650 wheeled bike in 1995 and don’t want to buy new race wheels and a bike together. I am 6ft tall and ride a 56cm frame and it works fine for me. Seems to me that Hellreigal was riding pretty steep angles on that bike too. I may have to dig through my collection of old tri-mags to find some pictures.
what bike/bikes do you ride? i like 650s particularly on hilly rides as i seem to climb better on them. but i’m shopping for new bikes, and lbs guys are telling me that the cutoff for 650s is on shorter people (like 52cm or less) (oops - the bike, not the people…i’m not sure what a 52cm person rides) - anyway…i used to ride a 650 softride and dug it. i’m only 5’7" - seems either 700 or 650 would work pretty well at that height. thoughts?
I ride a 650c, I’m 5’9, and ride a litespeed Saber… it’s great. I used to ride a QR Tequilo from the late 90’s, olso a great ride, but not quite as forgiving. I’d say stick with the 650’s, particularly at 5’7. It would be a lot easier to get a good aero fit on a 650c bike. And from the original discussion, It doesn’t really matter about the aeroness of the frame, but the aero position you can attain. The cut off size for 650c certainly isn’t a 52. Mine is a 53 in litespeed and a 55 in QR, c-t, and you can buy larger sizes in 650c no problems.
For weight and comfort and longevity, go a litespeed saber or tachyon from any year. If you can get hold of an older QR kilo, tequilo, kilo PR, or even redstone from the late 90’s made out of 7005 easton at a great preice, get it. Light as and stiff as. QR have also come out with some good titanium frames as well with the same geometery. Remember that comfort is more a product of correct fit and biomechanics than it is frame materials, and at your height, a 650c bike would give you a better fit.
I have to pass this one back to the forum because there are people far more qualified than me to answer this. I am looking at it purely subjectively. I like the look and the fit feels fine for me too at 6ft height.
I did this a few years ago. I got slowman’s data on what race number rode what brand, then cross-referenced that with the bike and run times for each race number to see which brand had the fastest bike split and which had the fastest run off the bike. Of course this was all an exercise in futility as there are too many false correlations, but it was fun to do. But I did it for all the participants, if you just check the fastest splits you’re just getting a list of which companies sponsor the most athletes.
Gerard, thats a tad boring. I was hoping that there may be a bit more to it than that. I guess there is some truth to it though. I would still like to know what bike and set up a contender for the title would choose if they had their choice, and why. So, I may post a new question and see what people think.
I think if you took a look at the front of the pack you will see what people want to ride. In triathlon most sponsors are individual so unlike bike racing where the average racer doesn’t have any input on what he rides, in tri most pros have some choice in what they ride. Plus take a look at any pro with a start number less then 20 at your next race. Chances are they paid pro-deal for their bike, or approached that sponsor directly to get their deal.
When Tim choose the ride the road bike this year in Hawaii he didn’t do it because Trek wanted him to - he did it b/c he thought it would be a faster bike on the Kona course.
Where it’s common to hear some cyclists complain about what bikes they ride, it’s pretty uncommon for pro-triathletes to ride something they don’t want to or that they don’t feel if effective.
Steve Larsen a couple years back.
Lotus Frame.
Reynolds Aero Pro fork.
Vision Aerobars.
Spinergy Rev-x wheels.
Best bike split by 12 minutes.
It earned him rookie of the year.
