Triathlon Gear: Necessary evil or fourth discipline?

No one will deny that triathlon can be an expensive endeavor. In fact, it’s likely the biggest factor holding back the younger generations from picking up the sport. How are we going to afford our avocado toast and Gamestop stock if we have to buy the newest $10,000 superbike every year? Triathlon however, is by no means the only expensive hobby out there. Want to use more than your phone to take pictures? Have fun drooling over a single $4000 camera lens. Want the best gaming experience possible? Good luck getting your hands on a new Nvidia GTX 2090 graphics card for less than $2000. Despite these seemingly absurd gear costs, I’d argue that no photographer or custom PC builder doesn’t take some sort of pride in their ability to choose the perfect piece of equipment for the job. 

Building the proper arsenal of gear isn’t just a precursor to your ability to compete; it’s a constantly evolving and crucial aspect of the sport.

Let’s be clear, I’m not trying to sell you a bike, wetsuit, watch, or any other piece of gear you’d find in my transition bag. I’m trying to sell you on the idea that the philosophy you adopt when training your body should extend to the way you choose to equip yourself. I may have 60 hours I could spend training each week, but my body simply can’t handle that volume. Nearly all of us are the same with our monetary budgets. Just because someone may have more money to spend on bike gear than you, doesn’t mean they’re automatically ending up with the faster setup. Lets go over a few ways to ensure that you’re as prepared as possible for your next race.

Know your gear.

The fastest option is not always the fastest option.

Well, except for frikin’ Nikes. C’mon other companies, catch up!

Not every piece of gear is created equal, but more importantly, not every piece of gear will perform equally in every situation. What do I mean? First off, I hate to break it to you, but you don’t swim as fast as Lucy Charles Barclay. Just because a Roka wetsuit is the fastest on her (or they pay her the most money), doesn’t mean it’s also going to be the fastest on you. Each of us will interact with and utilize our gear differently. Aero helmets are one piece of gear notorious for testing fast on some people and incredibly slow on someone else. While of course it’s not possible to test every item, never settle into a product assuming it’s the fastest option for you. While most of us will never have a chance to test helmets in a wind tunnel or line up 10 wetsuits for a swim test, there are other ways to make smart choices. 

Never trust what a company tells you on the product page. 

I recognize that as a sponsored athlete, that could be interpreted as fairly sacrilegious, but hear me out. I’m not saying the company is lying to you, I’m just saying take it all with a grain of salt. Go out of your way to read reviews and find independent tests. For the bulk of triathletes, comfort is key. Like I said, a Roka Maverick Pro may look fast on Lucy, but if you’re 6’8” and lifting your arms feels like doing an overhead press, maybe it’s time to look into a two piece wetsuit. Be happy when you feel like you have a good setup, but always be on the lookout for how you can improve it.

Secondly, even if a product is objectively faster than something else, there’s almost always a way to ruin it. Let’s look at wheels. I ride what I believe to be one of, if not the fastest, front wheels in the world. They have been ridden to a number of world tour time trial victories, as well as gold in the TT World Championship race. Empirically, the fastest tire in the world is the Corsa Speed 2.0. (The Veloflex Record is brand new and relatively untested, yet probably in a class of it’s own. I’m going to ignore it for now.) Surely, combining the fastest wheel in the world plus the fastest tire in the world means the fastest possible setup. Correct? Wrong. There are half a dozen other factors to take into account when choosing the proper wheel setup. Choosing a 25mm tire that would balloon to 28mm on my 25mm rims would almost immediately negate any aero benefits over another wheel. Running any tube setup other than tubeless or a Vittoria latex tube also immediately negates any rolling resistance advantage gained from running a fast tire. Run 10 psi too high and you might as well be running Gatorskins. While these are the low hanging fruit in this equation, you could go deeper still. What is the average yaw angle of the course and how would tire choice affect aerodynamics? How will the width of my wheel interact with the fork on my bike? I can’t claim to know the answers to these questions, even in my own setup, but being aware of the way each individual part of your setup interacts with each other is crucial. Remember, you’re not riding a frame, wheel, or tire to T2. You’re riding a bike. A bike is a mechanical system, a collection of individual components working together. Treat it as such.

I’ve got a ton more to say, but I just scrolled up and realized how much I’ve already written. If you’re still reading, I applaud your attention span. Let me try to summarize. 

Being intentional about your gear selection costs you absolutely nothing. 

Sure, your budget might prohibit you from buying the bike you really want, or a pair of Alphaflys, but that doesn’t mean you can’t optimize your setup. When I qualified as a pro, I had less than most (relative to our sport), but still more than many. I can proudly say that I made the most of what I had, scrutinizing every detail to ensure I didn’t leave any “free” speed out on the course. Gear is a part of the sport and that’s not going to change. The way I see it, you can grumble as you prepare to swipe a credit card for your next upgrade, or take the opportunity to treat the gear as a fourth discipline for the sport. Take each potential purchase as an excuse to truly learn and build up your knowledge base. A poor craftsman may blame his tools, but a crafty craftsman knows he doesn’t have to spend a sh*tton of money for nice tools. At least, I’m pretty sure that’s how that saying goes.