Since 1978, the Ironman World Championship in Hawaii has almost become as famous for its outlandish bikes, clothing and accessories as for its heroic athletic performances.
Free from the rigid restrictions of the UCI on the bike and the (admittedly less stringent) rules of World Athletics on the run, triathletes and kit designers have long had free reign to experiment, innovate and see their wildest prototypes become reality.
Kona has given us Scott Tinley’s triangular handlebars in 1985 (which broke the day after the event), the Softride bike (whose frame-disrupting influence is still being felt today) and data-driven Finnish pioneer Pauli Kiuru and his heart-rate monitor of the early nineties.
Not to mention Torbjorn Sindballe’s all-white suit in 2008 and the Dimond bikes of 2015. Plus plenty of two-piece tri-suit action in-between.
And the long-awaited return of 226km racing to the Big Island in 2022 was no different in the innovation stakes. But what caught our eye on triathlon’s most iconic race course this year?
Cue giant helmets, oversized shoes to the power of 10, and enough aero armoury to make WorldTour cyclists ripe with envy…
Langridge channels Moranis
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Okay, it can’t compete with the holy Mel Brooks’ trinity of Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein and The Producers, but Spaceballs has enough laughs – Pizza the Hut! The Power of the Schwartz! – to warrant multiple viewings.
Brit athlete Fenella Langridge seems to agree, wearing an oversized aero helmet that’s surely a mighty nod to Rick Moranis’ Dark Helmet character.
Wearing the Uvex Race 8 didn’t seem to do the 30-year-old Brit any harm as she powered her way to the front of the bike leg before finishing sixth overall.
The aim, we’re guessing, is to let the wide and sleek-surfaced helmet – and not an athlete’s shoulders, ears or even hair – keep aerodynamic resistance as minimal as possible.
To quote Spaceballs’ Captain Lone Starr, “Ludicrous Speed, Go!”
Pump it up
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The rules of World Athletics (formerly the IAAF) state that the stack height on shoes must not be in excess of 40mm.
Those rules, it turns out, don’t apply to Ironman, with the men’s winner and new course record holder Gustav Iden being a major benefactor of this.
The Norwegian also ran a new run course record of 2:36:15 on his way to victory, his pumps of choice being some maximal shoes from not Hoka, Asics or Nike, but Swiss brand On, previously largely known for their fairly minimal shoes with ‘cloud’ lugs on the outsole.
Iden went for a modified prototype of On’s Cloudboom Echo 3 shoes, adjusted to his specific needs for Kona and said to boast a stack height in excess of 50mm. Tom Cruise, eat your heart out!
Ryf’s cockpit solution
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Few triathlon cockpits have ever been as integrated as Swiss star Daniela Ryf’s in Kona this year.
The bars cradled her arms, while a bottle, carbon bottle holder and bike computer unit were all nestled under her head, the wide surface area making us wonder if this was the first tri superbike complete with room for a cheeseboard.
While the ‘Angry Bird’ struggled on the run, she once again produced a race-best bike split, powering through the field with a 4:36:11 time over the 180km course.
Blummenfelt’s bike
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Reigning Olympic champ, winner of Utah’s Ironman Worlds in May and third-placed finisher at Kona, Kristian Blummenfelt isn’t a man afraid of innovating on the race course (we had to cover our children’s eyes from his barely-there Tokyo race suit).
That theme continued apace in Kona, with the Scandi superstar’s Cadex tri-bike dispensing with a top-tube, offering long, bladed forks, and a bulky downtube and headset design.
With disc wheels banned in Kona, the Bergen boy went for a four-spoked wheelset from Cadex on both front and rear. The result being a 4:11:16 bike split over 180km and a third-placed finish overall.
Chest fair?
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Those zany Norwegians weren’t done with prototype shoes (Iden), outrageous bikes (Blummenfelt), a visor-less Giant TT helmet (Iden) and, erm, a cap from a Taiwanese temple on the run (Iden, again).
In a bid to match Blummenfelt’s Hulk-esque chest, Iden was one of a few pro athletes (along with Brit Joe Skipper) who snuck a lightweight fairing down their tri-suit top and stretched the rules of what’s legal on the bike course.
Aside from looking like they’ve just done a runner from the Kona Farmer’s Market with the last peanut butter tubs in town, the benefits we speculate are to divert air around the body instead of directly onto it.
The practise was used and swiftly banned in pro cycling a decade ago with a CamelBak worn on the chest, but it’s been reported that the Norwegians have witnessed positive velodrome results with chest fairings.
There’s also the matter of whatever was stuffed down there potentially offering cooling properties in the furnace of Hawaii.
The Skipper Show
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I’ve been lucky to share plenty of time and cake with Joe Skipper over the years and his company is never dull.
Occasionally to his cost, this is an athlete who always speaks his mind and never hides behind boring platitudes beloved of many pro athletes.
East Anglia’s finest since Chrissie Wellington romped her way to four Ironman titles, Skipper also does his talking on the race course, finishing fifth in 2022 after a blistering 4:11:11 bike split and showcasing a wealth of aero ambition on the course.
This starts with his tri-spoke Revolver wheels and a chest fairing on the 180km bike leg, before donning a prototype Hoka shoe on the run along with fellow Brit Laura Siddall.
The 180mm-deep wheel
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The donut swim float? That’s just so 2021. This year is all about the donut-shaped wheel, with the Hed Jet 180 on display in Hawaii.
With disc wheels banned in Kona due to the potentially extreme crosswinds on the coastal course, this was as close as you could get to a disc wheel without it being a disc wheel, the 180mm-deep (yes, 180mm-deep) rear wheel at a depth I’ve never encountered. It can be yours for $1,900. Or about 4,000 jam donuts.
Top image credit: Ezra Shaw/Getty Images for Ironman