I mainly do short course triathlons, but now that my schedule is lightening (senior college student who is already into med school), ive decided to do a half iron. As i was looking on various websites, i came across m-dot’s offical store. Some of the ironman clothing looked pretty cool, but i felt weird buying it because i hadnt completed an actual ironman event. This isnt gear from a specific race, but is definately covered with the m-dot logo, and if i saw someone wearing this, i would think they were an ironman. So, my question is this, is it ok to wear generic m-dot stuff if you havent competed an ironman? I am especially curious what people who have completed ironman events have to say on the matter…
Do you drive a Ford Explorer? Do you have to be an “explorer” to do so? Ever owned a pair of shoes named after an Olympic venue? Were you a part of that Olympics? Every have a “Navy SEAL” watch? Were you a Navy SEAL?
It is standard practice for companies to align their products with highly visible events in order to leverage image equity and draw parallels to make it easier for people to identify with a product.
Sometimes it back fires and this has been the case with the “M dot” and “Ironman” logos. We frequently have people walk past a good deal on a bike that fits them correctly becasue it has the “M-dot” and “Ironman” logo on it. The customer says, “But I haven’t done Ironman and I’m not going to.” It kills the sale. One of the reasons (one of several) we stopped selling Ironman brand wetsuits was because we had A LOT of customers telling us they did not want to wear that logo because they hadn’t done and were not doing Ironman.
For customers, I wouldn’t worry about.
For product managers, the “M-dot” logo on tri-specific products is a big risk at best, a guaranteed loser at worst.
For triathletes, it belongs in the souvenir tent at Ironman.
I own an Ironman wetsuit, an Aqua Seal Mask, Profile aero bars, and a few other things that are all covered with the M-Dot logo. I haven’t completed an M-Dot race, and the logo was a deterrent, if anything, to my purchasing these products. I bought the mask because it works great, the wetsuit because it fit right, and the aero bars because they were adjustable enough for my needs.
Wear whatever you want, and don’t worry about what other people say. My only rule is that I only wear the race jersey if I finish the race, but even then, that’s just my opinion.
There is a special line of “Finisher” gear, which we I must assume is intended for… finishers.
I agree. It is interesting that WTC has been successful in selling companies on the idea that licensing the Ironman brand will help sell products. In some product categories it works: Watches, etc. But in others it is a white elephant.
Does it strke anyone as odd that there is an official “Ironman” trash bag?
There’s a big difference between wearing “souvineer” apparal and wearing a “finishers” shirt. I wear Ironman brand clothing because I like the style and colors. I would never wear any race’s “finisher shirt” unless I did that event. Of course, I’ll wear a shirt for an event that I volunteered for but that still isn’t a finisher’s shirt.
I’m with the rest of the folks here. Ironman brand clothing - sure, why not…Timex Ironman watches are worn by everyone on the planet practically, most of them have never been near an Ironman. (Mine has been through 3 and about a dozen bands)
As for Ironman “finisher’s” merchandise - don’t let me catch you wearing that stuff unless you’ve gone the distance.
I wear a Polar HRM but have never seen Eskimos or penguins. 
jaretj
Personally, if it were on equipment, I wouldn’t mind getting something with an M-dot on it (i.e. IM wetsuit, IM branded bike components, etc).
As far as clothing though, I’d never wear an M-dot branded article of clothing until I had finished an IM.
Tom I agree. That’s why I always talk aginest using the term Poser. Everytime I hear it I think of all the newbies, sometimers, etc. that we run off. Some look down on people who have good bikes but are judged to have slow times, people who wear the newest clothes but may be a tad out of shape.
I get FLAMED everytime I bring this up but it seems that some feel that if they can beat you and you wear,ride,drive anything better than they do then you are a poser BUT if they ride , wear, drive something better than someone who beats them w–e–l–l that’s somehow different.
Wearing Ironman stuff is for Fans, Triathletes, their family, People who plan to race, watch,go to an Ironman someday or just people who like the lifestyle. Anyone !!! If you have finished one then it says Finisher (IMHO)
I usually feel like no one likes what I have to say but francis, fransaaaaa Oh heck that french guy
When I first got into the sport there would sometimes be T-shirt swaps that was sort of fun you would end up with shirts from all over and it was great advertising, Also My kids, wife, mom often wear my t-shirts But my biggest t-shirt fans are my grandsons. they wear these BIG shirts to school anytime they can . They just love them.
I agree with the “where what you want” crowd.
Did anyone else notice that the Medic/Corpsman that was inspecting Sadam was wearing a Timex Ironman watch?
I did. I seem to remember IM or Timex sending out something that asked, what do all these people/things have in common? There was a list of people or something, and all of them had a Timex IM watch.
In 1995 I was in Kona on my honeymoon. I bought an Ironman t-shirt because I thought it looked cool. The t-shirt looks exactly like that year’s finishers shirts except it doesn’t say “finisher”. At that time I had never done a triathlon and never really thought I would. I started doing tris in 2001 and like many others hope to someday race in Hawaii. I still wear the shirt occasionally and I couldn’t care less what others think. I wear it because it’s a great looking shirt. I can’t control what other people think and if they don’t like it, that’s their problem.
Wear what you want.
All - wanted to chip in here as it’s something I’ve thought about quite a bit. I run Ironman Wetsuits and obviously clearing the “I haven’t done an Ironman” barrier is an important one for us. Certainly the products we make are for all athletes and we spend particular focus on getting fit and patterns right for the widest selection of body types, including women’s sizing…something that most others overlook. We believe in making the best suits to get you the swim you want and get you out on the bike with least hassle.
We started in Ironman, hence the name, and have thought about introducing a new brand to remedy the issues, but at the end of it, Ironman Wetsuits is about quality and performance. It’s not simply a “distance” suit and there’s no ego attached to the product either. Wear one because it fits and lets you swim with least restriction, and that applies to the athlete doing a sprint as much as it does to the one exiting Lake Placid. We have (for anyone interested) toned down the overt “Ironman” branding on the suits which has resulted in more interest from shorter course athletes, but there are always those with firm beliefs that any amount of reasoning cannot change.
Thanks to all those who put views up, the one I believe is that Ironman signifies commitment, determination focus and quality so I’ll wear the brand just as I wear Patagonia (even though I know I’ll never be one of those mad skiers in the catalogue). The only sacred m-dot item is a Finishers Shirt…unless you’re the finisher.
tim moxey
I own an ironman lanzarote bike jersey and two im lanzarote t-shirts (NOT finisher shirts). I like them and wear them. I also have a yellow tdf jersey (sadly never having won the tour) and a saeco and usps team kit. I’ve finished two longdistance triathlons (no m-dot races) and several shorter races. I wear what I like and don’t mind if someone has the opinion that I’m not worthy wearing this stuff.
regards,
Frank
I think that anyone should wear anything…BUT finishers gear.
There is the extreme though - you know, the fat lady that has an M-Dot tattoo, IM shirt, vest, hat and sweat pants on at the YMCA…never done ANY tri, let alone an IM…
I never knew it was so common to wear M-dot branded stuff despite finishing an IM. In walking around, I’ve always assumed that people wearing the clothing had finished an IM. I’m going to have to ask which race they’ve done from now on.
If ya’ll were wondering what i specifically am interested in, its the ironman mesh hat, and one of the t-shirts. Ironman aside, those are some really sweet lookin clothing items (though i do consider the hat a training item, i really wouldnt wear a mesh hat to class). Due to the fact that triathlon is still a pretty fringe sport, the only organization that seems to have the money to produce really nice triathlon related casual clothing is Ironman. Every other tri-company seems to only make training gear.
Certainly the products we make are for all athletes and we spend particular focus on getting fit and patterns right for the widest selection of body types, including women’s sizing…something that most others overlook. <<
And those of us who aren’t stick-thin, thank you! I love both of my Ironman wetsuits. You guys always have the best staff at the IM NZ expo, especially Erica.
clm