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TRi On TV....surprised.

so after my morning biking came back to watch the british triahtlon coverage that has now started on tv (channel 4 8:30 each sunday)
i was real surprised by the lack of bike porn...lots of standard boardmans,specialiazed etc..but no fancy carbon demons or fancy dandy wheels...in fact the winner didn't even bother with aero bars...whats does this all mean?
(also leader had a cracking crash which i was sure was going to take out the camera crew on the motorbikes...but he jumped up..popped the tyre back on carried on and still won!)

Comments

  • diddsdidds Posts: 655
    I was interested in the tri bars thing too... with the limited coverage available its difficult to gauge the bike route well... is it a case of it being so hilly that bars don;t come into it or something ?

    Certainly few of the athletes seemed to use tribars, or certainly (limited chance for a survey etc) no more than 50%, both boys and girls.

    any ideas as to why? merely interested!

    didds
  • garyrobertsgaryroberts Posts: 869
    I have noticed the lack of tri-bars a few times now. I'm guessing they just don't bother over the shorter distances????

    Makes me look like a fool on mine doing my training
  • BritspinBritspin Posts: 1,655
    If they are draft legal races, then tri bars effect is largely eradicated, there are also rules as to how long they can be in some races...bit vague but since the closest to that type of racing I am going to get is TV watching I don't get involved in the deatails.
  • Ron99Ron99 Posts: 237
    Don't want to be impaling each other in a crash
  • diddsdidds Posts: 655
    britspin... brilliant.

    thanks wrt the drafting thang.

    didds
  • shadowone1shadowone1 Posts: 1,408
    I have since come to the conclusion that "The Fruity One" is an immortal who has been around forever........Britspin you are a plethora of information.

    cheer for that, I would never have known that.
  • gdh250467gdh250467 Posts: 237
    Yeah! Sat down with the family to watch and hopefully convince them i need some extra funding to buy the kit the kit the pro's use, and I'm faced with the winner on a bike from Halfords, no bling, no gadgets, and no black and red. Needless to say funding has been cut, and as I can't buy speed I'm going to have to train harder! Thanks Channel 4
  • SwizzlenapSwizzlenap Posts: 160
    I was gutted I missed this. Plans suddenly changed over weekend and I couldn't see it. Does anyone know if it's anwhere else to watch, 4OD or something?
  • joolzdjoolzd Posts: 245
    FYI...Blenheim is this Sunday (27th) at 8h30am for all those interested!!
  • ga02clrga02clr Posts: 11
    In the draft legal races the length of tri bars is indeed limited, they cannot protrude out further than the outermost point of the brake hood as a general rule of thumb. Also as Britspin pointed out if allowed to draft then riders should be going through and off and sheltering behind others so little benefit would be gained.

    On the quality of kit. Yes will Clark was on a Boardman but it was a carbon frame and the spec and especially the wheels I believe varied from the Halfords spec quite a bit!
    Tri courses are generally quite flat and with the drafting being allowed at elite level the benefits of aero wheels etc less and I imagine riders would prefer lighter wheels to your Zipp 404 dream wish list option.
    Although the race shown at the weekend didn’t really fit to this most of the elite races are largely decided on the run. I believe the performance spotters for triathlon look for kids with swim and run abilities with the assumption they can coach the cycling up to the required level.

    So never fear for us mere mortals it’s almost a completely different sport with different rules so spend away!
  • nivaghnivagh Posts: 595
    As I understand it, tri bars are permitted but they can't protrude any further than the front of your hoods.

    As for the coverage, well, I would say definitely patchy. A litle bit of interesting footage of Clarke swimming, some action from the bike, and some interviews.

    Finally, a five second shot of Jodie Swallow finishing first in the women's race. You wouldn't have known there were women racing if it weren't for that. Poor show Channel 4!
  • jon_gjon_g Posts: 318
    the malty oneis correct, the pro's race in draft legal races where aero bars arent allowed. they are allowed short ones, but they arent allowed to extend past the brake levers (so pretty short!). this is for safety because they'll be drafting very close to the bike in front and need to be in full control. non-drafting races are where you'll find full aero bikes. and as AGers, we're mostly going to be in non-drafting races, even if the pro's in the same race are allowed to draft, for example the london tri, but then the pro's will be starting in a seperate group. the pro's arent allowed to draft in long distance races, so if you want to see the proper bike porn, have a look at the half and full ironman distance races, thats where the sexy bikes are being ridden!
  • diddsdidds Posts: 655
    the show I saw covered the female event as well/almost as well as the blokes... deffo swim and bike and run coverage and interviews...

    ????

    didds
  • gdh250467gdh250467 Posts: 237
    Me too. First half before the adverts was women, then second half was the men.
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