i’m finding them interesting. cervelo is the 1-in-3 choice for next tri bike purchased, that doesn’t surprise me. but T1 is equally as popular among wetsuits. that does surprise me. and 4 of 5 will choose 77 degree to 81 degree. whether or not they understand or actually ride that way, that’s still interesting, something is making people choose that option (personally, i think the simplest explanation is to accept at face value that people know what an angle they want to ride and why, instead of thinking up reasons why they are answering untruthfully or inaccurately). i think i know how cerveloguy and gregx are going to answer, i’m interested to see how others see this.
i don’t think these surveys are representative of the market as it is today. but are these polls kind of like the kona survey, in that they may be harbingers, or leading indicators? are slowtwitch readers at the pointy end of the market or just a singular cult of folks that have a common and arcane set of interests?
how far can you leverage the results, and when you get 800, or 2000, people answering in a specific way? what can you take away from it if you’re a manufacturer wondering what to build, or a retailer wondering what to order for the upcoming season?
We’re not necessarily at the pointy end in speed as there’s a wide variety here (with plenty of very fast people included) but I think when you start thinking about your equipment, position etc you tend to end up here as there aren’t too many (any) other options online. So you may be surveying a population that at least thinks about what it should be using (and then buys what looks nicest anyway)
4 of 5 Slowtwitchers. I don’t know if these results are inidicative of what you might find among Triathletes in general. You would probably find entirely different results for the Wetsuit survey if you presented it to Triathlete Magazine readers. I suspect more would choose Zoot or Orca.
Furthermore, many triathletes can be told that a triathlon bike is what it is because there are bullhorns and aerobars on it. In other words if we presented them with a Cervelo Soloist (road set-up) with a set of Zipp Vuka bars installed they would look at the bike with its aero tubes and aerobars and deem it a proper triathlon bicycle. They don’t understand seat angle.
Woow, I hope you are not fishing for compliments with that rhetorical question
This is a forum that claims a certain “expert” stance among all triathlon forums, with a host who has a well defined opinion how things ought to be. What do you expect from the followers?
Seriously though:
I think if you just go down to the coast to one of the major thoroughfares in SoCal (PCH) on any given weekend and look at how Tri-bikes are actually ridden, you will find that a significant fraction of riders do not take advantage of the geometry of their tri-bikes (by spending a significant fraction of time with hands on the base-bars).
Riding around them, one can literally see that a large fraction of them are neither comfortable/adapted to actually take advantage of the benefits the steep seat angle of their bikes does offer to them. Most of it is certainly due to the lack of adaptation (use), which doesn’t negate the discrepancy between what people buy and how they actually use it (for most of the time).
I think a lot of the decision to have a “Tri-bike” (at least in SoCal) is related to the marketing hype and luster surrounding “Triathlon”.
After all, everybody wants to have both, a Hummer and a Porsche in his driveway, right?
Of all my triathlon friends, I’m the only one on Slowtwitch and seem far more interested in the technology, toys, and various pieces of equipment out there. I don’t think the results from ST polls would be representative of the triathlon market as a whole, but wouldn’t be surprised if the people on ST (including myself) are more likely to be representative of the bigger $ spenders in the tri market.
i think i know how cerveloguy and gregx are going to answer,
the only way i will answer is to nearly always engage my brain, and that usually means process, think, and, yes, even question.
i believe the evolution of human understanding is not based on blind acceptance, but on asking a thousand questions, including: ‘what if?’
because if i think, and question, and discuss, and analyze an idea of merit (and riding steep is one), that is the greatest compliment i can pay to that idea.
Slowman,
I haven’t tried to vote 2x. Are the votes unique or can you ‘pad’ your selection? That can always skew results. Apologies if this was answered in a ‘sticky’ topic.
Slowtwitchers forgive me for the labels.
How to interpret the results. I don’t think that slowtwitch readers and posters are necessarily at the pointy end of the speed spectrum. I think that slowtwitch readers are at the pointy end of the “tri-bike geek” section (Label #1), as evidenced by the heated debates over which aero wheel is better or helmet or bike. I also think that slowtwitch readers are at the pointy end of the “cult following” (Label #2) segement of triathlon…Zipp, Cervelo, DeSoto T1, etc. I don’t even know if these are the leading indicators. Definitely slowtwitch readers at the pointy end of the “steeper and lower are better” camp of riders (Label #3), but that can also be a result of Label #1. A lot of this comes from the articles that you publish for the front page, etc. and the contribution and “indirect marketing” of people like Gerard and Josh and Emilio. Maybe other manufacturers could take a little bit more from these three, but then we might be innundated with chest-thumping and my product is better than yours.
The leading indicators would be better found by going to any number of local triathlons to find out what’s on the bike racks or by surveying local training groups and tri-clubs. Kona and Slowtwitch may be where you find out what ‘bike-geeks’ want, but that in not necessarily what the ‘Jane or Joe Triathlete’ may want. Here in Austin, it is anyone’s guess. But, Felt and Cervelo are two of the top bikes on racks…mostly because that is what the two tri-shops sell a lot of. Wetsuits it’s hard to say. There are a lot of Blue 70, some Xterra with more to show up next year, and a lot of others. Clothing I would say that Zoot is one of the top brands, but DSS is probably a close second on tri shorts. Wheels are Zipp, but Blackwell has a following that is growing.
Bike fit and seat angle are more interesting. It’s accepted that the fast end of the field rides steep…see the Kona Results. But, at the MOP to BOP end of the field I think that the trend is less steep and even less steep, respectively. Unless athletes are well read on tri-topics or self-described ‘bike-geeks’, it seems to me that a more road-bike position that is a little more convenient for every day riding is the norm.
