Preach on! Sitting around the coffee shop at IMUSA this year watching everyone out on the road we look like the biggest group of f-ing dorks. We just look plain stupid.
For some reason cycling teams rolling by in all the same kit just looks cool. We look like idiots.
I won’t speak to the helmet trend as a whole but I agree that cover photo just looks wrong.
As far as the rising popularity of the sport I have one word - TURNOVER.
Not sure that the aero helmet can be blamed for that picture. Hard to believe that was the best one they could find. I am always amazed at how bad the cover photography for Trathlete is also.
Preach on! Sitting around the coffee shop at IMUSA this year watching everyone out on the road we look like the biggest group of f-ing dorks. We just look plain stupid.
For some reason cycling teams rolling by in all the same kit just looks cool. We look like idiots.
That is funny! My wife thinks they look like Aliens and every time one went by she would utter the UFO hum
Is a regular helmet with packing-tape over the vents any less dorky?
I was told by my wife that in no uncertain terms that if I bought one of those ‘goofy’ helmets that she would not claim to know me!!! Regular bike helmets are bad enough on the ‘dorky’ factor. I’m not an elite and really just a regular mid to front pack Age Grouper so I doubt that an aero helmet would help me much. But, my ‘wants’ for triathlon include everything but an aero helmet! I’m not sure how you can have an effective aero helmet and have it look ‘cool’. If anyone ever can achieve that they’ll make money!!!
Preach on! Sitting around the coffee shop at IMUSA this year watching everyone out on the road we look like the biggest group of f-ing dorks. We just look plain stupid.
For some reason cycling teams rolling by in all the same kit just looks cool. We look like idiots.
Ya think? I laugh at the group of cyclists who wear matching outfits on the trail where I ride & run on weekends. There are quite a few words that come to mind when I see them, but I assure you that ‘cool’ isn’t one of them.
A group or a team? I don’t to each their own but when I saw the Discovery team riding in Austin I thought it was cool. Now when I saw the big belly boys with MS150 jersey’s on I was right there with you.
The laws of aerodynamics are not subject to fashion trends.
What is fashionable is very maleable. This looks rediculous now, but at a certain time, it was the king of cool:
Those may well have been the king of cool at some point (and they are making their way back if you can believe it) but at no point did those ever NOT look ridiculous. I see girls at the university I work at sporting those things occasionally, and they think they are cool. Well, they might be the cool thing right now, but they’ll never stop looking ridiculous.
A classic rant for sure! Hilarious. I wouldn’t be caught dead in an aero helmet at this stage of my tri career, but don’t hold it against those who are at the pointy end of thier AG’s. I did all I could to not laugh outloud as I passed those in full kits, aero helmets, disc wheels etc… on my 1987 Raleigh last year.
The helmets are pretty dorky looking for sure, but it actually doesn’t concern me nearly as much as the oncoming compression sock trend. That has me VERY concerned!
“…thus it is in the ebay pile of the closet.”
Make sure you post it on the ST classifieds first. Oh, and what model and size is it?
OKay how about going back in time over the years(I’ve been doing tris since 86…
you will find every year or decade has it’s so called dork factor some which now are the norm…
When aero bars came out in the 80’s( I had a cheap pair of clip ons in 88 then bought the scott dh bar.
Then we were told you need a mountain bike stem to mount that bar on to get the best position…
Then one piece race suits once were dorky but desoto and others are common place…
Heart rate monitor straps without a shirt…
HEll back in the day racers wore speedo’s the whole race and even in a duathlon where there was no swim.
Look back at some of the helmets they used to wear and different color bike shorts.
Then all the trick bikes that came out…biopace chain rings tri-spoke wheels, aqua sphere goggles…
How about wetsuits and now the new speed suits…
how about all those hydration items… Rear bottle holders used to be dorky… And for sure the airstream type water on the handle bars really looked dory splashing sticky fluids all over your bike… OH don’t forget the bento box…
Then there was (can’t remember what it was called I had one) that ballon like thing mounted under your seat with a tube running up to the front you filled it up with water and it expanded so you could get up to 64 ounces of fluid… and the latest version
the big plastic aero looking tub looks like a urinal especially with lime gatorade in it mounted behind the back seat…
Thats what triathlon is all about being dorky…if you want to look cool then find another sport.
Thats what triathlon is about new technology not this every one is the same and picky rules some sports have…
Aero helmets just the next innovation…yea might be dorky(guess wearing it in training for sure) I have the lg rocket which isn’t as extreme and I wear it in the rain or when it’s cold because it’s warmer… I’m waiting for a full face shield for the winter might have to make one myself.
ya want to know whats real dorky is we go out and spend $6000 for a bike these days $2000 for wheels.
$500 to enter one race… Personally I think spending $120 on a pair of oakleys is dorky…I use aos safety glasses $9.00 from lowes.
I guess you can included the gps mounted on our arms as dorky as well but it does server a useful purpose.
So who’s to say that in a few years if your not wearing an aero helmet you will get laughed at.
Yeah, but here’s the thing – my roadie helmet (a Giro Monza) sticks up into the breeze even when I’m riding my road bike! I think the helmet makers are designing the helmets with the heads in the wrong position (as if one were sitting straight up). It wasn’t until I saw a picture from a race that I realized just how bad it was…
I mean, really… The Syton Open does much better.
Why don’t you try more manly sports like Football where they wear tights and touch eachothers buuts? Or maybe baseball where the fat dudes wear skinn clothes to proudly show off their beer guts? Just and idea…
We look like idiots.
The ultimate was at IMWisco two years ago when it was cold, wet, windy and raining. Many finished the bike wearing garbage bags, and many more finished the run wearing garbage bags! It was funny standing at the photo table watching people pick up their race pics - every second person seemed to be coming across the line wearing a green garbage bag!!! It astonished me with all this great foul weather technical apparel and clothing that is out there that many either did not own any of that gear or neglected to bring it to Madison.
You’re already wearing man bras and lycra shorts and you have shaved legs and somehow you think a bulbous, pointy helmet threw you over the threshold of dorkiness? Sheesh.
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I see what you mean with that tail sticking up in the rear, must have cost you some big time. The Rudy Syton is a nice helmet.
Someone PLEASE post the cover photo!
Here you go. I have to admit, I’ve been on the verge of buying an aero helmet for months, but this photo made me think twice.
Is that a woman or a sweet looking male? Hmm
Oh my… Reminds me of that “hairmet” that was on Scrubs…