After arriving in Lahti last year feeling like he was ready to push for the podium, Jason West ended up getting sick and not even being able to start the race. It was one of the few down points of a stellar season that included wins at Clash Miami and Ironman 70.3 Los Cabos, along with podium finishes at Ironman 70.3 Oceanside, the PTO US Open and the PTO Asian Open.

He’s back for another go at the 70.3 Worlds, but arrives in Taupo after a self-admittedly tough season. West spent much of the first half of the year fighting through injury and pain, and after taking a long break halfway through the year, has been steadily building back to his 2023 form. While most of the pros here in New Zealand are yearning for a break after a long season, West would love to keep things rolling.

The 31-year-old American will hit the course here in Taupo on the new Ventum Tempus.

“It’s been awesome to be on the new bike,” he said. “I think they did an incredible job with it. It handles really, really well … the responsiveness of it. It feels more like a road bike, which is great, ’cause you get on your bike and you feel like you can whip around corners. You feel really connected with your bike, like it’s almost an extension of you.”

West has also been impressed with the new bike’s front end – “it is super adjustable and super clean, and they are continuing to develop more things to provide extra reach and bridges to get bottles in the right place.”

West has tested the new bike and his position in the wind tunnel – “we know we’re fast,” he said.

FRAME: Ventum Tempus

COCKPIT: Profile Design Wing ultimate 42cm w/Asc pro

HYDRATION: Profile Design HSA/800 EVO and Profile Design Hsc250 gel bottle

DRIVETRAIN: SRAM Red 2x, 165mm cranks, 56/43 chainrings, Quarq Powermeter

WHEELS AND TIRES: Swiss Side Hadron Disc and 80mm front with Continental GP5000 tubeless tires

SADDLE: Wove V8 and what we hear to be a prototype cage from Wove.

PEDALS: Wahoo Speedplay aero

The post Jason West’s Ventum Tempus first appeared on Slowtwitch News.

Go big or go home they say. And Wahoo has gone biggest with the ELEMNT ACE.

Whats in the box? User manual, little cute safety strap, USB-c cable, massive (yet lighter) mount and, of course, the computer itself.

One, Two, Three is the current count now when it comes to bike computer options from Wahoo.

ELEMNT BOLT – ELEMNT ROAM- ELEMNT ACE

The above and below will give you an idea on size of the offerings

The new mount really breaks the “mold” and comes in metal instead of plastic.

Elemnt BOLT at 3.05″ x 1.86″ x .84″ with a 2.2 in display and 15 hour battery life.

ELEMNT ROAM with a 3.56″ x 2.34″ x 0.8″ and 2.7 in display and 17 hour battery life.

Now that you have a visual Idea on the size of this sucker the ELEMNT ACE, let’s dive in a little.

With a massive 3.8″, 3:2 aspect screen that comes in with a weight of 208g // 7.4 oz, Wahoo isn’t trying to attract the weight weenies with this new computer. Instead they are after the information-seeking geek that wants to not only see what’s going on, but also has buttons that make getting around the device as easy as possible. This thing even comes with a digital bell: a “ding ding, get out the way” sort of ring to it. This size and spec makes the ELEMNT ACE the largest bike computer on the market today. So what’s inside all of that space and what do we think about it?

WAHOO APP

One of coolest part of the new product offering for me is sort of misleading is the Product Name “ELEMNT ACE.” The reason it’s sort of misleading and exciting to me all at the same time is the this is first time that Wahoo has any of their bike computers sync with the Wahoo App, instead of the Elemnt App. Meaning they are going in the direction of a single app and that now I can pretty much have almost all of my stuff in one app instead of trying to remember what app I need to control my Wahoo tools. And being a triathlete that is entering winter and the pain cave months that is pretty nice to have. As Wahoo continues to consolidate the ELEMNT app into the main and single Wahoo App we will all benefit that’s for sure.

These are going to be all the tools I live by for the next 3-4 months and its nice to be able to see everything in one control center.

Massive Digital Display

First off the extra large screen is not only big but it’s touch screen. It’s not the first or only touch screen bike computer on the market but it is the largest touch screen. And when it comes to trying to mess with your computer while riding your bike ,sometimes having that larger field of play helps you get the touch point just right. Don’t get me wrong; this isn’t like playing around with your iPhone but the touch screen is pretty legit when it comes to moving from page to page. Sometimes buttons just get old. While the screen is larger then its competitor, the Garmin Edge 1050, it does have a smaller pixel count by 80; the Wahoo Ace coming in with 480×720 instead of Garmin’s 480 x 800 pixels. (That’s the photo geek in me.) What impresses me the most is the 30 hour+ battery life that this massive display allows. A lot of this is because of the way Wahoo designed the display using the transflective thin-film transistor (TFT) screen. It provides excellent anti-glare and anti-reflective properties and allows for not only the LED backlight but also the sun to power the device in regards to visiblity.

INTERGRATED WIND SENSOR

Wahoo is dubbing this a category first – and I have to agree that this is pretty freaking cool. Although way more of this will be in our follow up article, but for now does this mean we are going to be able to buy this device and skip the wind tunnel? Probably not. But will this tell you in real time you are getting a solid draft off your buddy that you are sitting behind? 100%. Just look at the 13 minutes I sat right on my buddy Ryan’s wheel going up the canyon while we had a head wind. Heavy airboost on! Don’t worry, I don’t need his wheel; I needed to test the product! What does this really mean? It means that if you are in a draft legal event (triathlon or otherwise), you start to use this tool to help you pace yourself in a pack. Maybe it can also help you figure out what the difference getting in the drops makes.

Using the front facing opening shown below, the ACE allows for riders to not only see real time data while in or in front of the pack,but also post ride ELEMNT ACE provides Wahoo Wind Dynamics (WWD) to the Wahoo App that can be used to analyze performance and to help understand wind speed and its impacts on performance.

Does the computer come with all the bells and whistles of the Air Sensor? Not yet, but the basics are live and the rest will come in the forthcoming updates, some of which are listed at the end of this article.

MAPS

Not only does the ACE support Google and Apple Maps, but the Turn by Turn navigation is now also audio enabled which allows for riders to explore safely. This is where screen size really comes into play. Riders can not only see the direction they need to go, but what is ahead of them with overlays of your desired data points and/or graphs. Nothing drives me more nuts then going on a ride and not knowing if I have a 4 mile climb coming up or not. I really like to explore but in my older age I want to be prepared for as much as possible too.

Using MAPBOX in the new userface really does an awesome job at allowing riders to dive into the what they just completed. Seeing everything in 3D and having mulitple viewing options not allows for riders to get a feel for things, but they can really start to see where they can improve as everyone is searching for KOM and QOM’s these days.

Adding routes from other platforms seems to be about as easy and I have seem. I sync’d this from Ride With GPS.

So if you’re getting maps from friends or your coach, connecting and creating routes is pretty seamless.

The post event data is just a whole new level as well. Everything a Slowtwitcher would want to see.

INITIAL THOUGHTS?

I sort of laughed when I got the package and opened it up. All I could think about was how big this thing was. Then I plugged it in, turned it on and started to use it. I’m not sure I would ever use it in an IRONMAN or a 70.3. I just don’t know if I need that much data and size for a “guided tour.” But I will 100% use it at every single gravel race or long training ride I do. (Assuming I can fit it between my aero bars.) It’s about time Wahoo finally started to consolidate it’s apps into one. That has been one of my only complaints with their eco-system to date. All in all, it’s not so much the idea that I can see a thousand data fields on my screen as much as I can actually see the data I want. I can be a little more safe while trying to navigate in places where I have never been. I can see a little more clearly if an important call, text or email comes in so I’m not reaching for my phone to check it. These are the things that I think are important to a lot of us who live really busy lives that are trying to stay healthy at the same time.

We will have another write up and full YouTube video in the next week or so. Mostly because some of these updates didn’t really come out until the last day or so so I just didn’t have enough time with the holiday to get out and test them the way they I needed to. Below is the latest spec sheet from WAHOO along with their planned updates.

PRICING

• USD $599.99
• CAD $849.99
• GBP £549
• EUR €599
• AUD $999
• JPY ¥99,000

Forthcoming Updates

• Planned December 2024 Updates
  • Strava Live Segments
  • Offline configuration support (to supplement cloud based architecture)
  • “Workout Profiles” rebrand to “Activity Profiles”
  • Additional UI/UX Refinement and bug fixes

• Planned January 2025 Updates
  • Enhanced LiveTrack

• Ongoing Updates 
  • Wahoo is committed to improving rider experience through regular software updates – much of this is from customer feedback, alongside a company mission to keep improving the functionality of our products. There will be regular software updates unlocking new features, levels of performance and data-driven insights.

The post The All New Wahoo ELEMNT ACE first appeared on Slowtwitch News.

While at the booth we did find some time to look at the expanded offerings Dimond is bringing to the space. Like most triathlon-focused bike companies, Dimond found they needed to offer more than just flagship triathlon-specific bikes. That’s especially true for companies, like Dimond, that only offer non-UCI approved versions. Those bikes are fast – probably some of the fastest on the market. Cervelo went down a similar route with the P5X and P3X series (yes, they still have the UCI-approved P5 and P-Series), but even that approach comes with a price. I’m not talking about the lack of weight savings. I’m talking about how expensive they are, and how hard they are to produce. In the end, bike molds are not cheap, and manufacturing at small scale isn’t either. The other hardship that these companies run into is providing the necessary customer service required for these specialty bikes. No matter what the size the customer base, they still have to have parts on hand, along with customer support staff that know what they are talking about.

What has been very different with the companies that are offering non-UCI approved bikes is the wide variety of pricing. Dimond, for example, offers $10,000 frames that end up at $21,905.21 for a full build. But, because they have been able to utilize a modular building process, they can still have a $3,500 offering for a fully-built beam bike. (I personally think you need to get your head checked for spending $22,000 on a bike for a triathlon, but we live in a world where people spend that sort of money just getting to the race. So, I guess, if you have it, why not?)

So, lets look at Dimond’s flagship offering.

THE MOGUL

Frame Weight: 1.8 ± 0.05 kg (Size IV)

Dimensions: 43 x 32 x 11 in

Size: I, II, III, IV, V

Build: Frameset, Custom

Compatibility: Shimano Di2, SRAM eTap, Mechanical (1x only)

BB Specification: PF30 (46 mm dia. x 68 mm w.)

S.H.I.S. Specification: IS 41 28.6 / IS 41 30.0

Material: Carbon Fiber

MONARCH BASE BAR

Basebar Width: 40 cm

Stem Length: 90 mm

Pad Reach: Max. 150 mm

Arm Tilt Adjustment Range: +/- 10°

Steer Tube Clamp Diameter: 1 1/8 in / 28.6 mm

51 SPEEDSHOP EXTENSIONS

• 15mm Offset
• 30 Degree grip angle

LUNCH BOX

Large enough to fit your whole lunch, and almost three times the size of most storage systems, the Lunch Box is an integrated bento that’s built in to the beam behind the stem. The volume is significant – size IV and V hold approximately 700mL, while the II and III sizes hold about 550mL.

Some examples of what will fit:

• 13 Gels
• 8 Cliff Block Sleeves
• 6 PowerBars
• 2 Gel Flasks

TOTES

Tools Or Technical Equipment Storage (TOTES) is designed specifically for your flat kit and multitool storage. The compartment is located above the BB cluster. The TOTES improves aerodynamics and will allow you to fix a flat on those long training, or race, days. Your significant other will be happy to hear they won’t have to pick you up (again) because you left your flat kit at home.

Suggested contents: 1 Tube, 2 Tire Levers, 2 CO2 Cartridges, 1 CO2 Inflater Adapter, 1 Small multitool.. (Or, if you’re sure your significant other really loves you and won’t leave you stranded, more snacks.)

AERO

The fully integrated internal cable routing on the front end is super clean.

TIRE CLEARENCE

While one could fit a 30 mm tire on the Mogul, the margin of error is pretty slim. Dimond recommends 28 mm tires, which are shown here.

FYI

Because of the way the Mogul is built, if you plan to use it on a smart trainer, you will need to purchase the Stationary Trainer Adapter to keep your warranty active.

My thoughts have always been consistent with regard to the look and feel of the Dimond beam bikes: they are beautiful with a rear disc wheel.. They look a little odd without a disc on the back, in my opinion.

According to the company’s website, here’s the current Dimond triathlon line up:

• MOGUL $10,000 (Frame only) $21,905.21+ decked out.
• IKON $8,499
• MARQUISE $7,499
• MARQUISE RIM $7,199
• TRILLUANT $4,999
• CARBONADO $3,500

One of the things Tollakson and I spent some time talking about was how much overlap our companies have in the endurnace market these days. At Slowtwitch, I continue to point out that, in the end, our community is more “Endurance Sports” driven than “Triathlon” driven. Over the years Tollakson has been forced to follow the path of this loyal triathlete customers, too. That’s why it’s not only been a success, but a need, for him to produce Road, Gravel and even get into the Mountain Bike scene. The company also does little kids’ “Balance Bikes,” but that’s mostly becuase of Tollakson’s passion for youth cycling, and, in my opinion, his joy of being a father who trying to keep his kids as active as he can.

Dimond has been able to innovate, not just because of the modular build process, but by also keeping high-dollar accessories in house through the launch of Red Crown Cycling, which does bars and wheels. That ensures Tollakson avoids having more items shipped from overseas, and ensures he can keep things spec’d the way that these bikes need to be.

The latest from the company is the new GRANITE Gravel frame. That bike was born from the desire to get a 2.2 Mountain bike tire between the seat stays, while still using a road BB. They did end up about .1 short of that goal, but, maybe if you’re like the great “Caveman” Conrad Stoltz, you can just shave that little bit extra off the tires and be just fine.

The Dimond Granite:

Max Tire Clearance: 700c x 50mm or 27.5 x 2.2″

BB Standard T47 (86.5mm)

Fork steerer tube 1.5 to 1.125 tapered

Internal Cable Routing

Internal storage allows for a all sorts of stuff including “lunch”

The FIDLOCK system they use to keep your goods in the frame is the best one I have seen to date.

TIRE CLEARENCE

45c is what is shown here

Mounting’s Galore

This bike is made to go the distance with over 11 mounting points outside of the top tube. This frame can probably hold enough gear for even the longest backpacking adventurer.

The Red Crown Cyling and Intergrated Front End.

Dimond was born out of Tollakson’s desire to go faster. His engineering mind would just never stop thinking about things. He was the first professional triathlete to use the high-hand position – which is now common. His elbow pads may have been a little extreme, but using them still tested faster, and he was clearly onto something.

Starting and owning a business is hard work. I have always admired Tollakson for doing what he does, and I certainly applaud him for still being in game. What he currently makes in the triathlon space may not be for everyone. If it is something you’re interested in, you should go check the Dimond bikes out. They are far from the standard, UCI-approved frames so many other company’s are offering. You can get more information at www.dimondbikes.com

The post Dimond Bikes Continues to Press Forward first appeared on Slowtwitch News.

Thanks, at least in part, to the folks at Strava and Zwift, power is king to all the geeks. I would say this is perhaps even more so than watts saved in the wind tunnel. Power is something we see everywhere. Even if you don’t have it on your bike, Strava just makes it up for you. It’s so sacred that some pros won’t even share it.

Power started to come into cycling in the late 1980’s. It began with wired rear-wheel hubs, worked its way into cranks and Bluetooth and ANT+ data transmission, and then moved into pedals. It’s become one of the most recorded data sources next to HR for all things performance.

Like anything we have in our quiver, it is something that can be a huge help and, at the same time, can be a huge deterrent if not used correctly. So, who is leading when it comes to the source of your power?

Assioma made huge inroads on Garmin (compared to 2023 Kona), while Quarq remains the top dog. 2023 is in blue, and 2024 is in orange above.

Now, moving on to the men’s 2024 race, it appears that men have a larger appetite to have power-based cranks than pedals, compared to the women’s race here in 2023. We see from the 2024 stats that 62% of power meters were crank-based and 38% were pedal-based. The women last year were almost the exact opposite, with 30.1% crank power and 69.9% pedal power. And last month in Nice, there were even more pedal-based power meter’s on women’s bikes than there were at 2023 Kona.

The total breakdown was not all too out of the norm. We generally see the cranks win, but I will say that over time, that percentage is shrinking as we have more power pedal companies in the mix. With everyone having an N+1 bike need, it’s the most affordable way to get power on all your bikes. This is probably why Assioma is gaining so much traction on Garmin — they are about 30% less expensive for equivalent products.

The bigger question is not if, but when will Shimano and SRAM come out with a power pedal?

The post Who is the King of Power from Kona 2024? first appeared on Slowtwitch News.

It’s that fun time of year again when we get to count up the results of the Kona count, share the data, and put our opinions next to it.

Once again, Zipp owns the most significant piece of the wheel count pie. And they did it with very little help from others.

Here is the data for wheels from the 2024 Kona bike count.

This count gives us a total of 1972 wheels that were countable from our expert counters. The missing wheels are 100% non-identifiable wheels and the fifty-ish pros that we do not put into the count. I would like to note that the two superstar ladies who counted wheels are the best in the business. So if the two of them couldn’t figure out the wheel as it went by… well, it is what it is.

Now, with that disclaimer, we can all probably agree that with the law of averages, the count is what it is, and if you disagree. Please let me know if you would like to help next time we really do have a great time.

Here are my quick thoughts on the data. DT Swiss, who came in 2nd place, has made the intelligent choice to attach themselves to Canyon and others. These OEM partnerships paid huge dividends by putting wheels on bikes. But it also tells me that customers like the wheels, because as we know: the dudes spend big money on bikes. Just look at ZIPP. They have minimal OEM partnerships with Triathlon bike brands and continue to lead, so people continue replacing OEM specs with ZIPP wheels, although that lead is shrinking from years past.

HED had massive success with the count this year, and much of that is due to the continued success of the rear “Non-disc,” but almost a disc Hed Jet 180. The wheel was brought to life within 2 months of the 2022 two-day Kona race and, in 2024, there were 48 riders using the 180. That total alone is better than 17 of the wheel companies present. The wheel also set the new Kona Bike course record under Sam Laidlow in 3:57:22. Looking at this wheel, I’m starting to think the rule of no discs at Kona is time for a revisit.

Bontrager was in the mix in 4th, but it surprises me as we had 338 Treks, and considering they currently only spec Bontrager wheels and have for a while, this means the Speed Concepts are either older, many guys are jumping ship for other wheel brands, or they are buying frames alone and building up their own components.

ENVE rounded out the World Championship podium in 5th. The company lost a lot of its OEM business and volume numbers when it went into the bike manufacturer business years ago. However, it is on its way back to a healthy return to its roots in triathlon and rebuilding its D-to-C and OEM wheel business. We have more stories about that coming up. We shall see what happens with its efforts in the coming years. Having had many conversations with the brand, I can say that they are committed to the cause.

The biggest loser of the day was Shimano, which I find sad. Mainly because they genuinely have a better product than most people ahead of them. But when you turn your back on marketing to the people, sales, or the lack thereof, starts to follow. This also could be that Shimano has yet to bring wheels into the D to C market like most of these other companies, and with the triathlon market going heavily D to C, this may be something for them to really consider as dealers aren’t helping. Still, with all the nay sayers with hookless, they are one of the very few large companies making pure hooked carbon fiber wheels. It’s a little odd that a company with such a large market cap is neck and neck with Profile Design in the wheel department.

The post ZIPP Owns The Wheel Count of Kona 2024 first appeared on Slowtwitch News.

Canyon has won the Men’s Ironman World Championship bike count for the second year in a row. This shows that the company’s marketing engine doesn’t just reach Europe.

Photo Credit Talbot Cox

The post Canyon Wins Kona 2024 Bike Count first appeared on Slowtwitch News.

FRAME – Quintana Roo V-PRi

QR is known for its custom paint options, and this one is no different.

Cockpit – Drag2Zero .66 The non-UCI legal front end is Drag2Zero’s flagship setup. It’s clean, and unlike some others, we have seen it has no crazy 3rd part 3D custom parts that are duct taped together.

Matt will run a single rear Gorilla XT bottle and ISM PN 3.0 saddle.

Shimano is all around the drivetrain here. 56-44T for the front chainrings and 11-30 on the rear cassette. Matt also uses a crank-based power meter with 170cm arms.

DT Swiss ARC 1400 80mm front and rear. While he will ride the same depth wheel, he will ride different tires and sizes. There’s a Continental Aero 111 700 x 26c in the front, Continental GP500 Tour 700 x 28c in the rear.

Thanks to QR’s triathlon non-UCI roots, Matt will have plenty of storage for the long haul, although while discovering the tire plugs instead of a tube, I did ask Matt if gravel was in his future.

You can also find more information on Matt here on his Instagram:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Matt Hanson (@matthansontri)

The post Bikes of Kona 2024: Matt Hanson’s QR V-PRi first appeared on Slowtwitch News.

We stopped some of the top gravel pros before they ventured onto tomorrow’s race course for Life Time’s Big Sugar event.

ISABEL KING

Frame – Scott Addict Gravel RC

Drivetrain – Shimano GRX 2x 48/31

Wheels – Shimano GRX WH-RX880

Tires– 45 Panaracer X1 plus

Power – 4iii

Personal touch

Daily Reminders

CHASE WARK

Frame – Lauf Seigla

Tires – Continental Race Kings 2.2”

Cockpit – Vision Metron 5d ACR integrated 3k

Wheels – HED Emporia

Drivetrain – Sram Quarq 1x 48

HEATHER JACKSON

Frame – Canyon Grail CFR

Drivetrain – Shimano Mix Dura-ace 50-34 / GRX(wants the power)

Grips – Shimano GRX

Moto – Dirt Brigade

Cockpit – Canyon Grail custom

Tires – IRC Boken 45c

Alexey Vermeulen

Frame – Enve MOG

Drivetrain – Shimano Mix Dura-ace 50-34 / GRX(wants the power)

Grips – Shimano GRX

Tires – Kenda rush 2.2 up front, Kenda prototype 50mm rear

Cockpit – Enve SES AR One-Piece

Custom – #noflats

The post The Many Bikes of Big Sugar first appeared on Slowtwitch News.

We are in Bentonville for the Lifetime Series Final Grand Prix race of 2024: Big Sugar. Here’s an in-depth look at Kyle Trudeau’s steed for the race, a Ventum GS1.

DRIVETRAIN

Shimano GRX 1 X 12 Mechanical with Wolf Tooth 48 Chainring

Out back, you find Shimano’s GRX RD-RX822-SGS

He’s also using a 10-51 rear cassette for all the speed — both up and down.

TIRES AND WHEELS

Shimano GRX WH-RX880 is here.

They’re wrapped by Continental Terra Speed 700x50mm tires.

POWER AND PEDALS

Shimano 105 Left Crank Arm (170)

At the end you’ll find Shimano XTR pedals.

BARS AND STEM

It’s an FSA 40cm bar mated to a Pro 130mm Stem.

SADDLE OF CHOICE

Specialized Power 143mm

The post Kyle Trudeau’s Big Sugar Ride: Ventum GS1 first appeared on Slowtwitch News.

Every time we do the old famous Bike Count, it requires a lot of things and a lot of skilled people, all of whom are either volunteers or “voluntold” to do so. These fine humans, the day before the biggest race of the year, get to (instead of planning and resting up for the hectic day to come) hang out in the sun and spend hours hyper-focused on counting bikes, wheels, pedals, power meters, etc. So for about 8 hours, they and we get to catch up and try to have some fun doing it. And without these people, the count would never happen. I’m convinced that the bike count is the real reason we have the famous TGINR Party.

The count’s history goes back some 20 years. And because of that, the tools matched and have evolved with the times. They used to have clipboards, pens, paper, and sheets that looked like this.

The day would be filled with frantic counting and making sure you could catch a pee break without missing numbers. Then, everyone would gather around as we started counting the chicken scratch. Wet pieces of paper with ink all over were effectively turned into totals and then turned into percentages. Then, that was turned into data records and new articles. It was indeed a product of passion.

And for the most part, it was a somewhat bulletproof system (because of the people, not the process). Time passed, and the people who knew how to do it stopped going to Kona. Ironman was, at times, challenging to work with on access, and then all of a sudden, in 2022, we had two counts to do: Wednesday’s count for Thursday’s race, and Friday’s count for Saturday’s race, and the whole history of data was different. I left the massive 2-day adventure in 2022 and started to think on how we collectively do this more effectively. Starting last year, not only did we have a count that doubled in location, but it was 100% gender-specific and also geographically inspired.

For Kona 2023, I showed up with digital form links that allowed people to kill the paper and the manual counting. Ironman gave us a dedicated wifi access point with our own password, so those who wanted to use the digital form did what they did best: stared at their phones, clicked away, and then left 5 mins after they were done. Meanwhile the software spit out the results. We still had some of the “OG’S” that wanted to use pen and paper, so they counted in analog and we hung out after and helped tally the numbers. And by the skin of our teeth, we had our annual bike count. And 2023 was the most odd set of numbers from the norm we had ever seen. Why? Because for the first time in the history of the bike count, it was 100% gender specific, we could now start to understand what men and women valued most regarding their bike equipment.

About 4 months ago I really wanted to make the bike count a big thing again. We all did: the media, the industry, and, of course, our readers. So we went all in on it and committed to the process and committed to making it happen. Now it’s no secret that Nice isn’t as popular as Kona; everything about that race is just smaller. From the expo to the number of participants to, well, everything. That also rings true for the people that are willing (and can) do the count right. Only a few people on planet earth are willing to stand around for 6-8 hours that can actually see what type of saddle someone is riding and be able to record that in the 1-2 secs they have to do it in.

So we needed to tighten up what we knew we could do from a person counting perspective, but also, we needed to look at the data and figure out anything we needed to cut. As in, data that simply doesn’t matter anymore, or isn’t relevant. Looking back at the decisions we made for the count, we likely made mistakes on two things (maybe more, but these stick out). First, rim versus disc brake counts, and secondly, we shouldn’t have killed Merida from the bike count, even though they can’t really be sold in the US.

Consoldation = new important catagory

Now, as for removing bike brands — the dead bikes. What is a dead bike, you might ask? They made up about 5.2% of the total bike count at the World Championship in Nice. When looking at how we could do the bike count better, we realized we had to streamline things. Remember: less options = more accurate count. Looking at the data, bikes have the widest variety with 38 options of bike brands on the original count list. We felt that 11 of those shouldn’t be included anymore. Why? These are companies that, although they might still be in business, their focus has changed. TT or triathlon bikes are either not part of their consumer offerings, or they simply don’t focus on it anymore. This saves the counter time and energy, but it also creates a new and important category: dead bikes.

Those brands we decided to no longer include are:

1. Kuota
2. Fuji
3. Merida
4. Boardman
5. Guru
6. Garneau
7. Kestrel
8. Cipollini
9. Planet X
10. Stevens
11. Blue

Now I know that Cipollini makes TT bikes, and Merida makes both a TT and triathlon bike, but the count of each has never really been meaningful to the totals. But after some additional information, I will put Merida back in for Kona.

Why does this matter? It matters because it shows us the unique purchasing choices of men and women. And after Kona we will be able to start to dive into that little bit more. But the fact that people are riding (as a whole) more bikes combined that aren’t even in our business anymore, versus some of the bike companies that are investing heavily into the endurance space is something to talk about.

Let’s take, for example, Cube. We have four times as many women riding bikes that are from companies no longer in business (at all) or in business in triathlon and are, at minimum, 4-6 years old, versus choosing to ride the bike that 2023 World Champion Lucy Charles-Barclay is riding and has been talking about for years now. Why is that? What is Cube doing wrong with its messaging, or design, for women? If we want women to be successful in this sport (which we do), we collectively have to be working towards helping them in a more significant way. And now one way we can do is within the data of the bike count.

With the ongoing relationship we have with tech and Ironman, we will be able to do more with less. That also means we’ll be able to cover more data and trends. We are also hoping this process, that as we refine it, anyone can use it for other races. We as well as other media outlets are looking forward to getting to Kona for what will be the first year where the combined resources will have data from both men’s and women’s races. And we’ll also have complete data, for the first time, after venues have flipped for each gender.

What will change? What will look the same? And we learned a lot from our first live count article, and we have that all sorted too.

The post 20+ Years of IMWC Bike Counts: What’s Changing, and the New Dead Bikes of Nice and Kona first appeared on Slowtwitch News.