It seems like this should just be a small department inside Ironman. It is a core conceirge type service to their biz. If they can control that stream of entries, they control the overall user experience.
I have always packed my bike and take it with me on a flight in a soft shell case (making rental car stuff easier). A few times airlines lose my bike but it eventually catches up. I try to minimize connections and also make sure connections are long “enough” but that does not always work. Overall, my track record has been good. But with some of the new TT bikes, travel with bike is a hassle. Which is why I ride a 2013 model Cervelo P3…I am so slow on the run, that this is not changing my race outcome having a slower bike.
But I think this can be an Ironman division so they control the service, get the full revenue, take the full responsiblity and get the upside on more registrations.
My suspicion, with approximately zero insight to the matter, is that bike transport will wind up falling under the “Nirvana Experiences” add on.
Still getting an awful lot of sold out race press releases – if it’s impacting registration I think it might be the 2025 cycle (or for certain races with a higher percentage of long-distance travel for attendance).
My suspicion, with approximately zero insight to the matter, is that bike transport will wind up falling under the “Nirvana Experiences” add on
So, nirvanaeurope.com? They will be handling lodging for Team USA at world champs after Townsville (so, Zofingen and Malaga…errrr…Torremolinos). They are also organizing to provide trip insurance and add-on health insurance to cover incidents associated with the ‘extreme sport’ of multisport racing. I have no personal experience with Nirvana (yet), but they talk a good game and I do appreciate their effective responses to questions. I think that bike transport - potentially including on-site build and repack - are within the capabilities they could develop.
Nirvana is also servicing a couple of US events (Omaha, Atlantic City), so we might get some broader feedback on their performance here. They are talking, for example, about having rental bikes for Omaha.
That’s interesting. I was looking at Bike Flights, and don’t know enough about it, but it appears to still require a good amount of disassembly to ship.
Maybe it’s changed since the last time I used it, but when I did it was nothing more than a broker for discounted FedEx rates.
When I was new to tri (and cycling), TBT was a great option to remove the stress of traveling to a race. The marginal cost was pretty low, given where airline bike fees were at the time.
Fast forward 10 years, airline fees are way down, and bike bags/boxes are so well designed they largely eliminate the reassembly hassle. I have an Evoc Road Bike Bag Pro, have used it for three tri bikes, and never had to remove the cockpit or RD across probably 20 times using it.
For anyone on the fence about racing without the benefit of TBT, get a better bike case. You’ll be fine.
My tri bike is a pain in the ass to take a part and re-assemble. Not to mention a bike case is a non significant investment (I do have a case for my road bike - but it doesn’t fit the tri bike). I’ve since only signed up for races that are driving distance from Southern California. And I’ve done most of these races now, so I’m less inclined to sign up for events.
Most of my 70.3/140.6 races have turned into vacations. I only want to visit St George so many times… It was also convenient to drop your bike off (and sometimes tri gear) with TBT after the race and drag it around with you on vacation.
So yes, it’s definitely hurting the registration numbers, but I really don’t know by how much. I would think it’s a pretty small portion of the field.
Concierge bike transportation was always very expensive…
It’s demise is likely to affect most dramatically:
The One and done racers, and others who rarely race. They can afford, a one-off gouging.
Very high earners with loose wallets
The technically very inept.
Me:
I really like racing…
I spend too much time training to be super well-off.
I thus have to battle against my technical ineptitude.
(Such is life).
Even then the # of bikes that go from tribike transport to the mechanics station is pretty high. Triathletes are pretty bad at maintaining their bikes. I used to know a few mechanics and they said it wasn’t uncommon for each of them to work on 100+ race bikes in the days before an IM.
In the past I’ve saved multiple people’s race by being able to replace a chain, tighten valve stems, change flats (how do people not know this at least), tighten headsets or stems.
I had to laugh! Can’t speak for others. But, my bike is a mess and woefully behind in maintenance. I ride, and ride. Ironically, I’m quite mechanical; rebuild car engines, repair ham radios, etc.
When I do finally get around to sprucing up the bike (like before a “big” race), I’m like, geez, I should’da done this sooner.
Having raced for 35+ years at various distances, but mostly only full Ironmans and 70.3s for the past 20 years, I think the lack of any alternatives to TBT (except, apparently, for the limited areas where ProBikeExpress has coverage), is going to have a meaningful impact on registration numbers in the U.S., and will certainly discourage travel to races that are not convenient for many of us. I used TBT for about 50 full-distance Ironmans between 2005 and 2023, mostly in the continental U.S. and Canada, but several overseas events like Kona, Nice and a few other races in Europe. I also used TBT for at least a dozen 70.3 races throughout North America and several Escape from Alcatraz races over the years. So, I had many good experiences with TBT. Now, I no longer anticipate flying to any 70.3 races, and I probably will limit my Ironman races to about one per year. I really hope that Ironman and other race organizers/directors are able to develop an alternative or partner with another provider. Like many others, I am not a “wrencher” and the substantial hassle of disassemble-fly-assemble-race-disassemble-fly-assemble is a massive disincentive for me to register, unless it’s a world championship type of race. The Slowtwitch poll a couple of months ago on a similar topic was telling, in my opinion. Dan wrote about it in a subsequent article. If I recall correctly, the results were that about 20 percent of the 500 or so respondents would not race an Ironman or 70.3 without a service like TBT, and another 10 or 12 percent responded that they would at least be discouraged about registering because of the absence of such a service. I think those are significant percentages, and should be reviewed carefully by race organizers, given that the pool of athletes who engage in long-distance races like these is pretty small.
If I’m reading that right you give them you bike packed in a box and they ship it. If you have to buy a bike box, why not just take it yourself? The beauty of TriBike was its was so simple.
Bikeflights is also significanly more expensive then TBT ever was. I paid TBT ~$600 to take my bike to and from Kona from NY (they stil lhave my $ of course). To do that same trip through Bikeflights will cost ~$1,000 AND I need to have some taake apart and reassemble my bike twice.
I raced IMs all over the country; now if I ever race another one after Kona (still figuring out how I am getting my bike there) I am limited to events which I can drive to and there is only so many times I can do Lake Placid and Maryland.
So yes, the absence of TBT will and is affected IM registrations.
I’m perhaps your typical triathlete in that I don’t want to do any more mechanical work to my bike than necessary, and any work I do will be done poorly with disaster always an option. Nor do I feel like investing in a costly bike box or dealing with the stress of traveling with a bike. So I’m definitely impacted by the demise of TBT. I live in the Midwest and have a lot of driving options, but there are many races that I might have done that I will no longer consider.
This thread makes me wonder if we should start a list of bikes that are relatively manageable to take apart/put back together yourself for transporting, and bikes that are way too difficult for your average person to deal with. I’ve flown dozens of times with my bike, often to different countries with multiple layovers, and have had the same hard shell bike case since 2006 and it takes me maybe 15 minutes on either end to disassemble/reassemble my bike. And I don’t consider myself particularly mechanically inclined. I’ve traveled with 4 different bikes over the years and hope that when I need another one I don’t accidentally buy one that is a nightmare to deal with for travel.
This thread makes me wonder if we should start a list of bikes that are relatively manageable to take apart/put back together yourself for transporting, and bikes that are way too difficult for your average person to deal with. I’ve flown dozens of times with my bike, often to different countries with multiple layovers, and have had the same hard shell bike case since 2006 and it takes me maybe 15 minutes on either end to disassemble/reassemble my bike. And I don’t consider myself particularly mechanically inclined. I’ve traveled with 4 different bikes over the years and hope that when I need another one I don’t accidentally buy one that is a nightmare to deal with for travel.
Picked up a like new 2016 Calfee with couplings on the top tube and downtube with Di2, took me about 15 mins to pack and 15 mins to put together, it fits in an included hardcase which is easily under airline size limit.
I have a 2017 Cannondale Slice, I like it because its light, comfortable and simple to work on. I will be racing again for the first time in 5 years and want nothing to do with a modern superbike with disk brakes and packing issues (i did however upgrade to a used profile aeria set up). It may not be the fastest bike out there but Im still pretty sure I will have one of the fastest bike splits on it when I race again.
Yes, that is a lemond revolution trainer in the second picture, I have 2 and they have a superior road feel to any modern trainer.
Pro Bike Express looks interesting.
Wonder if they will do IM Florida and if so … when will registration open?
How does it work?
Like- where do you drop your bike with them.
This looks very interesting- I’ll dig into it.
Anyone had success?
I race a P5 and with SRAM wireless blips, I can take the bike apart and reassemble in about 15 minutes into a Premier bike case. I did customize the case for disc wheels though.
I think the piece that is missing is bike manufacturers making custom cases for their bikes. If you are going to design a tri bike you should have a case for it as tri bikes need to travel to races. Can you imagine if there were foam cutouts for the parts you remove and a bike designed to be in the case?
It would for me. Doing IM Cozumel was much harder and scarier than CdA and Arizona where I used TBT. I drove to Placid and Florida, which is obviously the ideal scenario.
I have no personal experience with Nirvana (yet), but they talk a good game and I do appreciate their effective responses to questions. I think that bike transport - potentially including on-site build and repack - are within the capabilities they could develop.
