| Tri Necessities |
| Written by Clint Lien |
What gear do beginning triathletes really need to get into the sport—and how much does it cost?
The sport of triathlon has driven the tech age of cycling and exercise advancement more than anything else in the last quarter century.
It didn’t take long before I realized I’d need more equipment to finish this thing with any dignity—goggles for one, and a reading of the rules revealed a helmet was mandatory as well. I managed to find a used leather net that set me back a whopping nine dollars. My friend Robert avoided the additional cost by using his hockey helmet. My kit consisted of cut-off rugby pants and a singlet from Zellers. I don’t recall seeing a single wetsuit out there. There were 753 people in that first race, and I beat thirty-nine of them. I had room to improve, and upgrading my equipment was going to be one of the ways I’d do that. One of the glaring differences between me and the guys going almost an hour faster (it was essentially an Olympic-distance event) was in cycling footwear. These guys actually had dedicated bike shoes with toe clips that locked the foot to the pedal. Crazy! The thought of getting a foot to the ground quick enough at a stop light—let alone after a crash—filled me with fear. But I bought a pair, put them on my bike, and so began the process of buying my way to a faster time. Twenty-five years later my wallet has remained open and the rubber on my current time trial bike costs more than that blue Apollo. It’s inarguable that the sport of triathlon has driven the tech age of cycling and exercise advancement more than anything else in the last quarter century. Prior to the cash-heavy triathletes’ entry to the equation, the bicycle had remained virtually unchanged for close to century. Then, in 1987, Boone Lennon developed his Scott bars, and an industry would realize that if you came up with something that gave the triathlete a perceived advantage you could make a lot of money. When I first started running I used to stand at the door of my kitchen, wait for the little hand to hit the twelve on the wall clock, and away I’d go. I’d get back to the kitchen and mark my time. Now I have to wait for my watch to find a satellite signal before I can start the session. There are different categories of equipment, to be sure. Some stuff will make you go faster if used correctly; lace locks to wet suits and race wheels to aero bars fall into this category. Some equipment will increase the likelihood of training. This category includes indoor bike trainers that range in price from $179 all the way up to $1,800 for a Computrainer. High-end winter tech clothes, treadmills, and Endless Pools are all great ways to make it easier to train but also require you to spend your kids’ inheritance. There is also equipment designed to make training more effective. In this category you find $12 swim paddles and $8,400 Velotron trainers. Heart-rate monitors, tempo trainers, power metres, and GPS watches also fall under this heading. And we can’t forget the equipment designed to make training more pleasant, thus increasing the chances you’ll train. IPods and $350 sunglasses fall into this category. Body Glide might fall into all three catagories. But how much of this stuff do you really need? I demonstrated in 1984 that you obviously don’t need much to finish a race, but depending on your goals you may have to make some sacrifices to get everything you want. (Do the kids really need to go to college?) Let’s break it down into three categories of competitor: A) Wants to finish before the awards ceremony begins, B) Hopes to place well enough in their age group that they can brag around the water cooler the following Monday, C) Hopes to crush all who stand before them. Now let’s establish a base level of equipment needed for all three. You can take my list from 1984 and modify it slightly: a tri suit for racing, a swim suit for training, goggles, bike, bike shoes, helmet, and running shoes. We’ll add a wetsuit and a pair of sunglasses (not $350 ones). The wetsuit is for speed and the glasses for safety (a bee in the eye at thirty-seven kilometres per hour hurts). Competitors in the ‘A’ level can clearly get by with the base level of equipment, but I would recommend a cheap bike computer and a cheap heart-rate monitor as well. As long as both give averages, then you’ll have a valuable tool to monitor your training with a minimal amount of research. Let’s throw in a pair of clip-on aero bars (for your basic road bike) for comfort and speed. And finally, unless you live in one of the warmer regions on the planet, a budget trainer is a good idea as well. Of course one could easily spend in excess of ten grand picking up that list, but I’d only do that if ten grand was less than a month’s pay. You could fill that order with completely adequate equipment for less than $3,000—even cheaper if you find a good deal on a used bike. Athletes who fall into the ‘B’ level (I would say at least eighty-five per cent of the triathletes racing) will want to invest a little more. They will have all the same stuff, only more expensive. They may want to consider a dedicated time trial bike (on top of their road bike) and a cross bike for those wet winter rides. They’ll also have a pair of race wheels, a travel bike box (because racing locally all the time is just not cool), and a full closet of training clothes designed for all conceivable weather combinations. While a $99 Polar will do the trick, a $350 Garmin will also tell you how fast you’re going, where you’ve gone, and will provide a virtual training partner if you choose. It may also make you a cup of coffee when you’re done. I’m not sure. The ‘C’ athlete, those hoping to win races, will be looking at a pretty ugly tab when all the carbon dust settles. Four hundred dollars a month on coaches, power metres, Computrainers, and one-piece aero bars are just a few of the items that will keep these athletes living in their vans and begging comp entries for years to come. The list of items this small group can invest in is as endless as the $20,000 portable swimming pool they’ll just have to have. While there is absolutely no doubt the law of diminishing returns applies to triathlon equipment in a real way, better equipment will make you faster. But if you put Simon Whitfield on my 1984 set-up, he’d still finish before I got off my $9,000 Specialized Transition. That’s because he uses his equipment—lots. So buy the best equipment you can afford, but more importantly, use it. In the end, it still boils down to a swim suit, goggles, bike, helmet, and running shoes. Everything after that is just excess gear—but I’m one of those ‘B’ athletes who likes all that excess gear. Clint’s list of necessary equipment:Tri suit for racingWetsuit (with Body Glide or diaper rash ointment) Swim suit for training Goggles Road bike (with spare kit) Clip-on aero bars Bike computer Bike shoes Helmet Running shoes (with lace locks or speed laces) Sunglasses Heart-rate monitor Bike trainer About the AuthorClient Lien is a coach with PR Peak Performance. Learn more at www.peterreid.com. |
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