Are triathlons won/lost on the bike?

[m1and1m]

Looking at results from DD's Tri, most of the kids came in overall pretty close to where they placed on the bike. Swim numbers were all over the place.

I'm just curious if this is typical, or more because it was kids.

[Deleted]

I'd bet it's arguable. The bike is typically the longest chunk of time spent during a tri. I'm curious what some of the more seasoned triathletes think.

[al320]

Ive done one sprint tri. But all my friends who beat me by signifcant amounts, did the swim and run considerably slower than me.

[shorewife]

Good question. I'm interested to hear what others think but I think they are won/lost on the run. The bike is certainly important because it's longest part of a tri but I think what you do on the bike can make or break your run.

[kams]

I'm sure there is real data on this, but I think (at least in adult racing) it's really how someone puts a bike and run together. I mean, a fast bike split is just a fast bike split. A solid run after a good bike split is a good race, kwim?

And, I don't really think you can win in the water, but you sure can lose.

[chw57]

I don't think so. Plenty of people kill themselves on the bike an then End up walking the whole run. Like kams said, there has to be a balance between the two

[labbie]

Sept 15, 2014 17:03:05 GMT -5 al320 said:

Ive done one sprint tri. But all my friends who beat me by signifcant amounts, did the swim and run considerably slower than me.

I'm a tri newbie, but this was me in my sprint tri. I sucked on the bike, but was 3rd in my AG for the swim, and had a 5k pr on the run, with a much higher place in the run than the bike. 

[trigal]

Sept 15, 2014 19:22:37 GMT -5 kams said:

I'm sure there is real data on this, but I think (at least in adult racing) it's really how someone puts a bike and run together. I mean, a fast bike split is just a fast bike split. A solid run after a good bike split is a good race, kwim?

And, I don't really think you can win in the water, but you sure can lose.

I would agree with this.

[joenali]

God I so wish you could win just by your swim. I'm all for changing it up a bit: run, bike, swim.

[kams]

Sept 15, 2014 21:17:21 GMT -5 joenali said:

God I so wish you could win just by your swim. I'm all for changing it up a bit: run, bike, swim.

We do a few reverse order races here (in pools in the winter). the distances are the same, and unless you are the first wave of the fastest people, you just get stuck behind earlier waves. It sucks so bad

[woowoo]

The bike is the longest distance, so while I don't think you can win (especially at Pro level) with just a strong bike, I think the bike can be the determining factor of the race. If you are really strong on the bike, you won't "blow it out" being faster than everyone else, you'll just be faster, and finish stronger so you can have a strong run. As an age-grouper, I do think that there should be a lot of focus on the bike and on bricks (from bike to run).

However, at the pro and elite level....those athletes are all strong, solid runners. Those races are often won in the run, especially at the olympic distance. It was incredible how closely the lead women and men came in off the bike at the ITU Chicago race this summer....but the run was a different story.

[m1and1m]

Well damn, DD is strongest in the water. Lol. In DD's age group (5-6) there are still training wheels so the bike times vary widely.

All I really know about tri's I learned from here and google, poor DD....

The 7-10 group is much closer but obv there's a big variation between 7yo's new on two wheels and 10yo's. The slowest kid on the bike that group took 40min for the 2.2mi, while the fastest took 9min. He was out there for a good 20min longer than the kid before him, but damn if that's not grit for a 7yo to be out there by himself for so long and not quit.

[Susie]

I think tris can be lost on the bike, and won on the run. Depending on the distance, nearly half the race (time wise) is spent on the bike. You won't win it there, since you have to be able to rock the run after, but you can not lose it, and put yourself in a position where winning it on the run is possible. If you fail to deliver on the bike, winning is largely out of the question. The run is where you either seal the deal and win it, but in order for that to happen you have to have not lost it on the bike. KWIM?

Alas for people like me, swimming really doesn't factor in that much, and it factors in less and less, the more elite you go. The difference between a really good and a great swim split in a HIM is like a minute or two, or less. Woop?

It varies a little depending on the distance, since the swim/bike/run proportions are not the same from distance to distance. I consider the Oly distance to be the swimmer's tri, because the swim makes up a larger percentage of the total miles than, e.g., a HIM/IM. Even there, though, it's the cyclists and runners who tend to be most successful.