As a professional I am constantly thinking “what equipment do I need to get that extra edge”. I got an email via my website with someone asking what she REALLY needed as a 1st year triathlete. I decided to compile a list of what I think would be necessary.
Swim
Sleeveless wetsuit- depending where you live…if you live in someplace like Florida and will only do local events, then wetsuit not needed.
Goggles
Cap
Pull Buoy
Kickboard
Body Glide- to put on neck with the wetsuit
Bike
Road bike- doesn’t have to be carbon fiber…my first bike was an 8 speed Jamis Ventura Sport aluminium
Pump
Flat kit- spare tube, CO2 cartridge, tire levers
Allen Wrench
Clip in pedals
Cycling shoes (road or tri)
Helmet (road helmet FINE!)
Water bottle cages (2) (don’t need carbon fiber…can upgrade 2nd year)
Jersey
Shorts (Bib shorts so comfy)
Glasses
Chamois Cream (I love Endurance Shield)
A loyal bike shop
Run
Garmin Forerunner 10 (Only $99 and does everything you need)
Shoes (trainers can be racing flats as well)
Race belt
Body Glide
**Champagne for post race obviously
Need to experiment with some type of nutrition…important to train with the same stuff you race with. I played around with Hammer, Power Bar, Gu and First Endurance and I have had the most success with First Endurance.
For me, less important:
Most pools around here seem to have kickboards and pull buoys. I’ve never considered purchasing them. I have a fuel belt type thing but only use it a few times per year. That being said, I live in Michigan and only race up to Olympics. I can route most of my long runs by drinking fountains.
More important:
Getting the Garmin was huge for me. Learning/ owning basic bike stuff was also important.
goggles
something you can swim/ bike/ run in (I did a few seasons of sprints in jammers)
road bike with toe clips
helmet
shoes
I have some experience with that one… over on the east coast for a sailing event and found out there was a local sprint one morning before racing…
One borrowed hybrid complete with blue Ikea helmet later and I show up at the start line with my jammers, goggles, and running shoes. The best part was that the event had an “elite” wave, I got some funny looks from the race organizer when I showed up to morning of registration with that setup and asked to be placed in the elite wave with a qualification of sub 2:10 Olympic…Transition mat was my race t-shirt… You can have one heck of a T2 time when riding in your racing flats! Definitely a fun switch up from the fully kitted out carbon tt bike…
I think you could pare down that list some for the first year.
Swim: No pull buoy or kickboard. Every pool I’ve ever swum in has those. I would also add PAM - spraying it on the legs/arms makes it come off much faster.
**Bike: **Swap allen wrench for multitool - won’t do everything great, but will get you started.
Run: Elastic laces are probably one of the cheapest time savers out there.
Patience.I treated my workouts like I needed to be ready by tomorrow.
A basic bike fit. I had all sorts of issues with the bike…lost feeling in my hands, trochanter bursitis, knee pain to name a few
Garmin Forerunner - swap this overly fancy doohickey for a simple $3 convenience store watch, if anything at all. I raced two years before I even got a watch, and I’ve forgotten it a couple of times (man, I sound like Grandpa… “when I was a young triathlete, the swim was uphill both ways, and they would throw grenades at us in the transition area…”).
Cycling shoes - my first four triathlons (oh god, here comes Grandpappy Transition again…) were all on a mountain bike with platform pedals. It actually made my T2 a little faster, as I just wore my running shoes on the bike. The idea of clipping in and out was just an extra degree of complexity for somebody who was nervous about just executing three forms of movement in a day.
They could also rent a wetsuit, potentially. I say this for a couple of reasons - a) they will get an opportunity to try out different models and see what they like, and b) depending on their background and reason for getting into triathlon, their body might change a lot over the first couple of years.
Of course, there is one thing that has to be added to the list (and I’m really amazed we made it this far without it being mentioned already):
off topic and i cant PM you but i noticed davis wheelworks in your sig. Davis local? bought my two bikes from their and would be tempted to travel back up north when I need/want a new bike
There’s a thread (I think its called “favorite cheap equipment”) that can cut down some of the costs of the things on your list. IMO its one of the best threads on the forum.
For the swim: something to swim in, maybe goggles if you need them.
For the bike: a bike, a helmet, a patch kit, tube, and a pump.
For the run: shoes.
For everything: stopwatch function, preferably with laps.
I’m actually over-complicating this myself, but I advocate not needing to rely on other cyclists for puncture fixes.
Anything not on this list is ultimately an extraneous comfort/performance item, and therefore not necessary to do the triathlon.
It’s an expensive sport. Coming from a running background, I was shocked by how much I had to pay for “the essentials” in triathlon. Even the small local sprint costs more than a lot of marathons that I run. Shit adds up.
For the swim: something to swim in, maybe goggles if you need them.
For the bike: a bike, a helmet, a patch kit, tube, and a pump.
For the run: shoes.
For everything: stopwatch function, preferably with laps.
I’m actually over-complicating this myself, but I advocate not needing to rely on other cyclists for puncture fixes.
This. Plus sun glasses to keep the bugs out of your eyes on the bike.
Anything not on this list is ultimately an extraneous comfort/performance item, and therefore not necessary to do the triathlon.
It’s an expensive sport. Coming from a running background, I was shocked by how much I had to pay for “the essentials” in triathlon. Even the small local sprint costs more than a lot of marathons that I run. Shit adds up.
+1
Triathlon sucks you and your money in. This is a little bit of a loaded question depending on how serious and how much money this individual can throw into it. If they want to be cheap, get a cheap bike from walmart and your all set. If they have money to throw around, go to the LBS and get a P5. When I bought my first tri bike (Once I decided to upgrade from my walmart bike), the guy at the LBS said someone came in right before me with zero triathlon/bike experience and dropped $12k on a bike.
