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Slowtwitch's Kona Survey

Every year, Dan Empfield and his crew storm the pier at Kona to record the brands of bikes, the wheel size, the bars and more. Dan's report from the 2002 Hawaiian Ironman World Championships can be found at his incredibly informative site www.Slowtwitch.com. I've read it about a dozen times and now see it in my sleep. Here are some opinions that are mixed in with Dan's hard facts.

Empfield has been doing this since 1992 and he must have to bust his ass to make it happen. The World Triathlon People keep a pretty tight grip on everything that goes on in Kona during race week, and it's the biggest race in the world - so, having the permission to snoop around T1 the night before the race sounds like a technophile's dream. Dan and his gang are given just 2-3 hours to count about 1800 bikes, wheels, bars, etc., so he needs fairly full staff.

» In '95 it was recorded that the most popular bike was a Cannondale (150), followed by Trek (141), Kestrel (110), Softride (95), QR (83), and Zipp (57) and more are listed.

» In '96 Trek (151), Cannondale (150), Softride (126), Kestrel (114), QR (92) and more.

» In '97 Trek and Kestrel tie (148), Cannondale (133), QR (107), Softride (96).

» In '98 Kestrel (36), Cannondale (129), Trek (122), QR (120), Softride (115).

» In '99 Cannondale (160), Trek (130), Kestrel (123), QR (115), Softride (92)

» In '00 Cannondale (152), Trek & Kestrel (151), QR (92), Softride (89)

» In '01 Kestrel (156), Trek & Cannondale (143), Litespeed (95), Softride (72), QR (71)

The brands of bikes will likely only thrill you if a) you're a sales rep or b) you are currently riding the most popular brand used. The truly interesting details are more about frame materials, wheel size and seat tube angles (which I will only touch upon here). In 1992 only 200, of the 1400 bikes, were dual 650c wheels, while 1200 bikes had dual 700c wheels. Year after year those numbers grew closer until 1996 when the field was split almost down the middle. Now the trend seems to being going the other way: in 2000 there were 783 bikes using 700s and 673 bikes using 650s. That gap grew a bit larger in 2001. One explanation might be that in the good old days a 700 wheel set meant a seat tube angle the was raked back (better for climbing but harder to run off of that bike in comfort). Recently more bike manufacturers are making steeper seat tube angled 700 frames. More bike frames with "triathlon geometry" are now offered in both wheel sizes. The 650/700 wheel size debate continues to rage and the results from the Kona Survey don't provide any concrete answers to the best choice for long course triathlons. There are still some odd balls out there who ride a 650 front and a 700 rear. This position looks both incredibly aero and incredibly uncomfortable but for some (super successful Joe Boness, for example) it seems to work.

Frame material is always a great topic and Dan's crew records that as well. In '95 carbon led the way with 39%, next was aluminum at 31%, followed by steel at 19% and last was Titanium at 11%. In '96 aluminum took over the top slot with carbon close behind and ti still sat behind steel. Those numbers stayed pretty similar for the next few years. In 2001 aluminum grew to 54%, carbon slid to 30%, titanium over took steel with 11% and steel slid to 5%. I had the chance to speak with a metallurgist while I was in Kona. This guy's job is to go into the aftermath of a place crash or a car wreck and study the success or failure of metals involved. We discussed bike frame materials and what was better in terms of stiffness. The conversation wandered into some technical areas that were a bit over my head but I came away with one very logical conclusion: a bicycle's frame is too short to really demonstrate a dramatic difference between materials. If the distance between joints were measured in meters instead of centimeters then maybe there would be an issue but since the tubing is jointed at such short distances the frame could be made of bamboo and have similar stiffness to steel or ti or carbon or aluminum. Speaking of bamboo frames. There was one of those in Kona in 2001 as well. The bike had been custom made by the guys at Calfee and it had an actual bamboo top tube, down tube and seat tube. Now that's a bike every eco warrior can love.

Other articles in this series:
   » Triathlon, the Olympics, and the Evolution
   » Triathlon Keeps Inching Towards Mainstream
   » Olympics in Athens and how athletes try and make the grade
   » Another course change at the IM World Championships
   » Put your mind to work in your favor before and during the race with
     visualizations

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